Religion130b
Material Religion in America
M/W 2:30-4, Chase 104, Spring, 2006
Ken Koltun-Fromm
kkoltunf@haverford.edu
610-896-1026
Summary
This class will explore the ways in which Americans express,
explore, and negotiate their religious identities in and through
material objects, rituals, and performance. The course is divided
into four themes:
religion and sports
religion, music and performance
religion and the body
the home as sacred space
We will read theoretical literature to help us think well about
material practices, and read, listen, and view various texts
including written works, music, photographs, and movies. Students
will create posters on some aspect of material religion for their
final projects, and present them as part of a symposium on material
religion in America on May 3rd and 4th.
Requirements
Preparation for class discussions is required and necessary. You
should be fully prepared to engage the reading material in class,
and offer reflective comments upon the reading and the ideas of
others.
You will write 3 four page, doubled-spaced papers during the
semester, and produce a creative, dynamic poster for your final
paper. The due dates for the papers are as follows:
First paper: February 3rd, Friday (5pm)
Second paper: Mar 3rd, Friday (5pm)
Third paper: March 31st, Friday (5pm)
Poster: May 6th, Saturday (5pm) for Seniors or May 12th, Friday
(12pm) for everybody else
All papers must be turned in on the second floor of Gest building
in the appropriate box labeled for this class. If coming to the
Haverford College campus proves difficult on Fridays, you may email
a copy of your paper to me by the 5pm deadline, but only if you inform me before then that you
wish to do so, and I confirm. I suggest that you cc a copy
to yourself, and seek a reply from me that I have received and can
open the document. I will not consider the paper to be turned in
until I can open the document and print it from my computer. Your
paper will be marked down for each day late.
Grading
Your final grade will be based on the above assignments, with
significant weight placed on your engagement in class discussions.
I do not evaluate each task with percentage accuracy (your final
paper is not worth, say, 30% of your grade, for example), but
instead examine all your work as a piece, and provide a grade that
I hope fairly expresses the work and attention rendered to the
class assignments, your peers in class, and your class
participation. This process also allows me to take into account
improvement over the course of the semester. Your final poster
session grade will be partially based upon the amount of time and
effort you put into it over the course of the semester.
Students who think they may need accommodations in this course
because of the impact of a disability are encouraged to meet with
me privately early in the semester. Students should also contact
Rick Webb, Coordinator, Office of Disabilities Services
(rwebb@haverford.edu, 610-896-1290) to verify their eligibility for
reasonable accommodations as soon as possible. Early contact will
help to avoid unnecessary inconvenience and delays.
Texts to Purchase
Magdalinski and Chandler, With God on their Side
Marini, Sacred Song in America
Arthur, Religion, Dress and the Body
McDannell, Material Christianity
Cash, Living Shrines (buy at Amazon.com, not in our
bookstore)
Jan. 16th
Introduction to class
Religion and Sports
Jan. 18th
Durkheim, Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, pp. 13-63 (for
background on Durkheim, see this website)
Movie Showing: "Go Tigers" at
7:30pm in Gest 101
Jan. 19th (Thursday)
Moving Showing: "When We Were
Kings" at 7:30pm in Gest 101
Jan. 23rd
Magdalinski and Chandler, With God on
Their Side, pp. 1-16
Demott, “Jocks and the Academy,” in The New York Review
of Books, pp. 29-32
Chandler, “Manly Catholicism,” in With God on Their Side, pp. 99-116
Discuss “Go Tigers”
Jan. 25th
Borish, “Women, sport and American Jewish identity in the
late 19th century,” in With God
on Their Side, pp. 71-90
Smith – “Muhammad Speaks and Muhammad Ali: intersection
of the Nation of Islam and sport in the 1960’s,” in
With God on Their Side, pp.
177-190
Discuss "When we were Kings"
Jan 30th
Prebish, “Heavenly Father, Divine Goalie,” in Sport and
Religion, pp. 43-53
Mathisen, “From Muscular Christians to Jocks for
Jesus,” in The Christian Century, 11-15
Higgs, “Muscular Christianity, Holy Play, and Spiritual
Exercises,” in Sport and Religion, pp. 89-101
Tom Krattenmaker Visit and Talk in Class
Feb. 1st
Student Research Projects and Technnology (meet with Jeff White at
Computing Center, 2:30-3:15)
Student Research Projects and the Library (meet with James Gulick,
3:15-4:00)
Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,"
217-251
Feb. 3rd (Friday)
Four page essay due
Religion, Music and
Performance
Feb. 6th
Marini – “Introduction: What Is Sacred Song?” in
Sacred Song in America, pp.
1-12
Slobin, “The Big Picture,” in Subcultural Sounds, pp.
11-23
Visit by Tom Porett
Feb. 7th (Tuesday)
Movie Showing: "Powwow" at
7:30pm in Sharpless Auditorium
Feb. 8th
Marini – “Songway: Sacred-Song Traditions of Native
America,” in Sacred Song in
America, pp. 17-38
Discuss "Powwow"
Listen to Native
Radio
Feb. 13th
Marini – “Klezmorim and Sephardim: The Jewish Music
Revival, ” in Sacred Song in
America, pp. 130- 157
Listen to Radio
Free Klezmer
Feb. 15th
Marini – “Is It Going to Save Somebody?: The Black
Church at Song,” in Sacred Song
in America, pp. 100-127
Listen to Black Gospel Radio
Feb. 16th (Thursday)
Movie Showing: "The Jazz
Singer" at 7:30pm in Gest 101
For background on movie, see this website
Feb. 20th
Lott, Love & Theft, 3-37
Discuss "The Jazz Singer"
Ari Kelman visit to Class
Ari Kelman's talk: "Learning to Listen to Yiddish Radio" (Gest 101,
4:15pm)
Feb. 22nd
Rogin, Blackface, White Noise, pp. 3-18
Rosenberg, "Rogin's Noise," pp. 221-239 (optional: this is a nasty
review of Rogin's book)
Melnick, A Right to Sing the Blues, pp. 60-80
Feb. 27th
Naomi Sarig visit to class
Mar. 1st
Rosen, White Christmas, pp. 65-91, 157-166
Melnick, A Right to Sing the Blues, pp. 114-119
Berlin, White Christmas (song)
Mar. 3rd (Friday)
Four page essay due
Spring Break
Religion and the Body
March 13th
Connerton, How Societies Remember, pp. 21-40
March 15th
Arthur and Graybill, “The Social Control of Women’s
Bodies,” in Religion, Dress and
the Body, pp. 9-28
Hamilton and Hawley, “Sacred Dress, Public Worlds: Amish and
Mormon Experiences and Commitment,” in Religion, Dress and the Body, pp.
31-50
March 16th
Public talk at 4:30 in Stokes 102 by Tom Porett on his
photography and mulimedia work
Workshops with Tom Porett in
ACC Language Lab - March 19 & 26,
April 2 & 9, 1-5 pm
March 20th
Evenson and Trayte, “Dress and Interaction in Contending
Cultures,” in Religion, Dress
and the Body, pp. 95-113
O’Neal,“The African American Church, its Sacred Cosmos,
and Dress,” in Religion, Dress
and the Body, pp. 117-130
Joselit, A Perfect Fit, pp. 101-127
Crowns, pp. 2-5, 32-35, 56-59, 68-71, 124-127, 132-135, 184-187,
192-195
March 22nd
Daly, “The Paarda Expression of Hejaab among Afghan Women in
a Non-Muslim Community,” in Religion, Dress and the Body, pp.
147-159
Anijar, “Jewish Genes, Jewish Jeans: A Fashionable
Body,” in Religion, Dress and
the Body, pp. 181-199
Prell, Fighting to Become Americans, pp. 177-194
Becoming American Women, 9, 32-33, 50-51, 56-57, 60-61, 92, 94-95,
123
March 27th
Student Research Projects
The Home as Sacred Space
March 29th
McDannell, Material
Christianity, pp. 1-16
Brown, Mama Lola, pp. ix-xvi, 1-20
March 31st (Friday)
Four page essay due
April 3rd
Brown, Mama Lola, pp. 36-78
April 5th
Cash, Living Shrines, pp. 43-115
April 10th
Turner, Beautiful Necessity, pp. 26-59
April 11th
4:15 - An afternoon with Alfred
Maysles. Screening of film "Salesmen" (1968) with discussion to
follow
6:30 - Festive dinner
April 12th
Passover (no class)
April 17th
Sciorra, “Yard Shrines and Sidewalk Alters” in
Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, III, 185-198
Seriff and Turner, “Giving an Altar” in Journal of
American Folklore, 446-460
April 19th
McDannell, Material
Christianity, pp. 17-66
April 24th
McDannell, Material
Christianity, pp. 222-269
April 26th
Poster Sessions, Bryn Mawr Room
May 3rd and 4th (Wednesday and
Thursday) – Symposium (May 3rd, 6-9 PM in Bryn Mawr Room)
(May 4th, 9 AM - 5 PM, Sharpless Aud)
Read Marini, “Sacred Harp Singing,” in Sacred Song in America, pp. 68-97
Visit "Picturing Faith" Photography Exhibit
Final Posters due: May 6th,
Saturday (5pm) for Seniors or May 12th, Friday (12pm) for everybody
else