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