Quick Overview: 

With congregations increasingly barraged by electronic inputs, ministers must learn the art of interpretive leadership--finding God within digital media.  This multi-disciplinary course will engage students in a two-way dialogue between pop culture and theology,  with emphasis upon music, movies, TV, art, fashion, and sports. Students will develop a biblical, theological, and sociological understanding of these art forms and a critical understanding of the advertising, consumerism, and globalization that drives pop culture.    

What Others Have Thought:     

"This class will be the foundational lens by which I approach pop culture. More than ever before, I have eyes and ears to see and hear beauty in our culture. God is active and alive, more than I've ever realized."       

"The theological application and subsequent meandering through pop culture opened my eyes to my preferred starting points for theology and ministry and then opened up new possibilities of communicating Christ and Culture."        

Course Project:      

The class will attend two pop cultural events to practice cultural exegesis.  Following the class the student will do a project that focuses on one particular postmodern trend and one pop cultural form. Special emphasis will be placed upon the practical ministry application of the project.       

Sample Readings From This Course May Include:      

Detweiler, Craig, and Barry Taylor. A Matrix of Meanings. Baker Academic, 2003     

Moltmann, Jurgen.God for a Secular Society:  The Public Relevance of Theology. Fortress, 1999.        

Staub, Dick.The Culturally SavvyChristian. Jossey-Bass, 2007. 

Tickle, Phyllis. God-Talk in America. Crossroad Classic, 1998.           

If you would like more information about this course please email the DMIN office at dmin@fuller.edu 

For a sample course description please click here.  NOTE: This is not to be used as a source for course preparation.