You may download a copy of the paper syllabus distributed on the first day of class here. The readings and assignments on this page are the most updated and current at all times.

 

All readings should be done for that day before coming to class. Please bring all reading assignments with you (especially the biblical fictions) to facilitate class discussion.

 

If a reading is underlined in blue, you may click that link directly to be taken to the reading.

 

If a reading is underlined in red, that means it is a PDF file housed in the Blackboard site. If you are not already logged into Blackboard ([link removed]), you will have to log in before being able to access that reading. [note: These links have been removed for the archived version of this website.]

 

Note: The first reading for October 6 can only be accessed from a UCR computer.

 

If you have any trouble accessing any reading, contact the professor immediately!

 

Introductory issues

Mon. 9/29: What is the Bible? What is Fiction?

No reading

 

Wed. 10/1: Canon, Apocrypha, Interpretation

Biblical reading: Genesis 22

Riches, The Bible, chs. 3-4 (pp. 31-69)

Recommended for Bible "novices": Riches, The Bible, ch. 2 (pp. 9-30)

 

Mon. 10/6: "Popular" culture and religion

Riches, The Bible, ch. 7 (pp. 99-116)

"Introduction," from Religion and Popular Culture in America, ed. Bruce David Forbes and Jeffrey H. Mahan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), pp. 1-18 ([link removed])

* Allene Stuart Phy, "The Bible in American Popular Culture: An Overview and Introduction," from The Bible and Popular Culture in America, ed. Allene Stuart Phy (Chico: Scholars Press, 1985), pp. 1-23

 

Staging Scriptures--DRAMA

Wed. 10/8: Passion Plays and the Otherness of Jews

Biblical reading: Matthew 26, 27, 28; Mark 14, 15, 16; Luke 22, 23, 24; John 18, 19, 20, 21

* Glenn Loney, "Oberammergau, 1634-1990: The Play and the Passions," New Theatre Quarterly 27 (1991): 203-216 and images (1, 2, 3, 4)

* Marvin Perry and Frederick M. Schweitzer, "The Medieval Passion Play Revisited," in Re-viewing the Passion: Mel Gibson's Film and its Critics (Palgrave, 2004), 3-20

Gordon R. Mark, "Christ's Passion on Stage: The Traditional Melodrama of Deicide, "Journal of Religion and Film 8.1 (2004)

 

Mon. 10/13: Victorian drama and the Otherness of the Self

Biblical reading: Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29

Wilde and Beardsley, Salomé

Response paper 1 due at beginning of class

 

Wed. 10/15: Bible! (or, the Bible in musical theater)

Biblical reading: Mark 14:3-9; Matthew 26:6-13; Luke 7:36-50; John 12:1-8

Mark Goodacre, "Do You Think You Are Who They Say You Are? Reflections on Jesus Christ Superstar," Journal of Religion and Film 3.2 (October, 1999)

Jeffrey C. Fenholt's Jesus Christ, Superstar website (specific webpages are linked on the course homepage)

Broadway cast photos

 

Reprint of Time Magazine article, "Gold Rush to Golgotha" (pages one, two, three, four, and photos)

Michael Convey, "Meet the Artists," Great Performances: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (PBS) (also peruse the rest of this companion site)

 

 

The Whole Story--PROSE

Mon. 10/20: Filling in the Story: Ancient "Fiction"?

Biblical reading: Genesis 41:38-54

The Acts of Paul and Thecla

Selection from The Tale of Joseph and Aseneth (only read chapter I-IX and XXI-XXIX)

* Ross Shepard Kraemer, When Aseneth Met Joseph, pp. 191-221

 

Wed. 10/22: Satire and Humor

Biblical reading: Genesis 2, 3, 4; Genesis 25:1-11

Mark Twain, Diaries of Adam and Eve

The Testament of Abraham

* Erich S. Gruen, Diaspora, pp. 182-193, 327-329

 

Mon. 10/27: Pictures and Words: From Stained Glass to Graphic Novels

Biblical reading: Gospel of Luke

Magna Messiah

* Adam Schwartz and Elaine Rubenstein-Ávila, "Understanding the Manga Hype: Uncovering the Multimodality of Comic-Book Literacies," Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 50:1 (September 2006): 40-49

David G. Burke and Lydia Lebrón-Rivera, "Transferring Biblical Narrative to Graphic Novel" (Society of Biblical Literature Forum)


Wed. 10/29: Biblical Novels: Piety, Pop Culture, and Playfulness

Biblical reading: John 1:19-51; John 11; Matthew 26:36-56; Acts 9:1-19

* Leo Scott Theisen, "'My God, Did I Set All of This in Motion?' General Lew Wallace and Ben-Hur," Journal of Popular Culture 18 (1984): 33-41

* Selections from the following novels (be sure to click each link!):

Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ (1880);

The Last Temptation of Christ (1960);

The Great Lion of God (1970);

Kingdom of the Wicked (1985)

 

Mon. 11/3: Forgotten Figures: Slaves, Women, and other Extras

Biblical reading: Genesis 34 (you can also skim the entire "Jacob cycle," Genesis 29-50)

Anita Diamant, The Red Tent

Skim through on-line review's of the book on amazon.com

Response paper 2 due at beginning of class

 

The Pearly Screen: CINEMA

Wed. 11/5: Christ on Screen

Biblical reading: Choose any one Gospel and read it all the way through

One of the following two articles:

Adele Reinharz, "Jesus in Film: Hollywood Perspectives in the Jewishness of Jesus," Journal of Religion and Film 2.2 (1998) or

Adele Reinharz, "Passion-ate Moments in the Jesus Film Genre," Journal of Religion and Film 8.1 (2004)

 

Mon. 11/10: Swashbuckling: The Roman-Christian Struggle

Biblical reading: Acts 27-28

* Bruce Babington & Peter William Evans, Biblical Epics, pp. 169-205

 

Wed. 11/12: Three Moseses: The Old Testament Epic

Biblical reading: Exodus 1-20

G. Andrew Tooze, "Moses and the Reel Exodus," Journal of Religion and Film 7.1 (2003)

Charles Taylor: "The Zion King (Review of Prince of Egypt)," Salon Dec. 18, 1998

Response paper 3 due at beginning of class

 

Mon. 11/17: The "Little" Screen: TV Bibles

David Bruce, "The Jesus Mini-Series on CBS: A Hollywood Jesus Review (Interview with Lorenzo Minoli," HollywoodJesus.com (May 26, 1999; updated Dec. 9, 2002)

Also scroll through images and capsule reviews: 1, 2, 3

* Brian McFarlane, "'It Wasn't Like That In the Book!'" Literature/Film Quarterly 28.3 (2000): 163-169

* Mark I. Pinsky, The Gospel According to the Simpsons (Louisville: WJK Press, 2002), 112-19

 

Wed. 11/19: NO CLASS (Professor out of town)

 

Mon. 11/24: NO CLASS (Professor out of town)

 

Wed. 11/26: Project Presentation Previews

Students may volunteer to do their short presentations early on this date

 

Student Presentations Dec. 1 and Dec. 3