"Media, Spiritualities and Social Change"
June 4-7, 2008
University of Colorado, Boulder
.............................
CONFERENCE LOGISTICS
**NOTE: TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE, PLEASE GO BACK TO THE HOME PAGE AND CLICK ON "REGISTRATION."
INDEX:
SUMMARY OF CONFERNECE
CONFERENCE SPONSORS
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Keynote speakers
Program at a glance
Educational program
LOCATION
LODGING
TRAVEL
VISITING BOULDER
Summary of Conference
This interdisciplinary conference, held in the splendor of the Colorado Rockies in a city known for its commitment to natural living, will explore the ways in which media culture, civic engagement and spiritualities intersect to form practices, discourses and the material expressions of social change. In an era of globalization, the media age has introduced a new set of conditions and opportunities for the nature, practice and integration of spirituality and civic engagement. Increasingly, the concept of spirituality has become recontextualized, reinserted and reimagined within discourses about social and environmental change. Integral to this project are the media, which provide salient values and symbols to a synthesis of public and private identities, practices and beliefs. New spiritual sensibilities articulate with new imaginaries of the civic sphere through media culture. The key questions here are how and where values, practices and beliefs are articulated as spiritual and socially transformational.
In the interest of bridging theory and practice, we welcome scholars, activists, NGOs and health, business, and media professionals who wish to engage in an intellectual discussion about the engines of social change and its expressions through media culture and spiritual life. Papers and panels will employ any of a number of perspectives, issues and methodologies including the following:
- Economics; conscious capitalism; late capitalism
- Environmental, sustainable or green practices, products and beliefs
- Ethics; morality; truth; philosophy; religion and spirituality
- Media culture; media technologies and applications; media institutions/policy
- Popular culture; cultural studies; material culture
- Society; community; citizenship; public-private partnerships
- Activism; social justice; social movements; positive politics; philanthropy
- Globalization; public sphere; civil society; governance and control
- "New" / alternative spiritualities
- Gender; race; age; class; identities
- Methodologies and theory
- Ideology; power; discourse
Conference Sponsors
The conference is sponsored by the Center for Media, Religion and Culture at the University of Colorado in conjunction with Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado; The Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno; and The Fred W. Smith Ethics Seminar Series with the financial support of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Program
Keynote Speakers
Ronald L. Grimes, Ph.D.
Professor of Religion and Culture, Wilfrid Laurier University. Holder of the Chair of Ritual Studies at the Institute of Religious Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He is the author of Rite Out of Place: Ritual, Media, and the Arts, Deeply Into The Bone, Readings in Ritual Studies, Reading, Writing, Ritualizing, and Ritual Criticism. His research interests include: Ritual studies, Religion and the performing arts, Religious autobiography and biography, Anthropology of religion, ethnographic fieldwork, indigenous religions of North America, the American Southwest
Nina Rothschild Utne
Nina Rothschild Utne is the former CEO and current Editor at Large of Utne Reader, which she recently sold to Ogden Publications. Nina is a speaker on a wide range of topics that include “motherhood as a training-ground for business,” “the power of media to transform culture,” “spirituality and business,” and “the voice of independent media.” She holds a BA in English and American Literature from Harvard University and a Master’s degree in Human Development from St. Mary’s University. Nina is also a founding member of the Headwaters Fund, City of Lakes Waldorf School, UnReasonable Women for the Earth, and Code Pink.
Mark Silk, Ph.D.
Mark Silk is Director of the Leonard Greenberg Center on Media and Public Life at Trinity College. In June 2005, he was also named director of the Trinity College Program on Public Values, comprising both the Greenberg Center and a new Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture. Professor Silk is the author of Spiritual Politics: Religion and America Since World War II and Unsecular Media: Making News of Religion in America. He is co-editor of Religion by Region, an eight-volume series on religion and public life in the United States, and co-author of the forthcoming One Nation Divisible: Religion and Region in America Today.
Osprey Orielle Lake
Osprey Orielle Lake is an internationally renowned artist with a lifetime interest in diverse philosophies, indigenous worldviews and environmental sustainability. In her public presentations and work in bronze (sculptures and monuments), she combines contemporary and ancient images into meaningful statements that reflect a global consciousness and a vision of choice and transformation. One of the world’s few female allegorical monument makers, Osprey is the founder/artist of the International Cheemah and Mari Monument Projects, which celebrate environmental and multicultural themes. Osprey has taught and lectured in the U.S. and abroad, endeavoring to inspire others to appreciate the arts as a critical tool in societal transformation. www.cheemahproject.org; www.ospreyoriellelake.com.
Program at-a-Glance
*All sessions and events in University Memorial Center (UMC), CU-Boulder campus, unless otherwise noted.
Wednesday, June 4
12 pm Registration opens
2:00 - 3:15 pm Panels begin
6:00 - 7:30 Plenary: Nina Rothschild Utne (open to public); Old Main Chapel, CU
7:30 - 9:00 Reception. Heritage Center (registered attendees and invitation only)
Thursday, June 5
7:00 am Coffee and registration
8:15am - 12:30pm Panel Sessions
12:30 - 1:45 Lunch
2:00 - 3:15 Roundtables - free and open to public
3:30 - 5:00 Plenary: Dr. Mark Silk (open to public)
5:00 - 6:30 Reception, Aspen Room (registered attendees and invitation only)
7:00 - 9:00 Film and discussion panel; Humanities building , Rm 150
Friday, June 6
8:00 am Coffee/ registration
9:00 a.m. Plenary: Dr. Ronald Grimes (open to public)
10:30-11:45 Panel sessions
Lunch break
1:15 - 2:30 pm Panels sessions
2:45 - 3:15 Presentation: Osprey Orielle Lake (open to public), Room 235
3:45 -5:00 Panel sessions
6:00-9:00 Flagstaff Mountain Picnic (additional fee)
Saturday, June 7
8:00 a.m. Coffee/ registration
9:00 - 11:45 Panel sessions
11:45 - 1:00 pm Lunch
1:15 - 2:30 Panel sessions
2:45 - 4:00 Summation and Discussion
Evening events in Boulder- coordinated upon arrival - optional
Detailed Program
Wednesday, June 4, 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Coffee and Registration: Lobby, Room 235, UMC, CU-Boulder
Negotiating Identity
Chair: Robert Moses Peaslee, Ph.D.,University of Colorado, USA
Clay, Elonda; Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, USA: Mediating the Motherland: Negotiating African Diaspora, Home, and the Human Genome with Mediated Science.
Tregidga, Garry; Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter: The Celtic Spirit: Competing Narratives of Religious and Cultural Identity in Cornwall.
Cohen, Yoel; Liftshitz College of Education, Jerusalem; and Holon Institute of Technology, Israel; Mass Media as Instruments of Religious Identity and Spirituality in Israel.
Spirituality in Activist Movements
Chair: Lynn Schofield Clark, Ph.D., University of Denver, USA
Hicks, Tessa: Claremont Graduate School, USA: Integration or Fragmentation? Locating Spirituality in the Profession and Movements of Social Justice Activism.
Johnston, Lucas; University of Florida, USA: We’re All Related” For Better or for Worse: Image Events, Interconnection and “Intertwingling” in Sustainability Movements.
Kapur, Sudarshan and Candace Walworth, Naropa University, USA: The place of Spirituality in the Life and Work of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Joanna Macy.
Dualism and Holism
Chair: Lynn Ross-Bryant, Ph.D., Religious Studies, University of Colorado, USA
Kudsi-Zadeh, Chantalle; Communications, Industrial Relations: Seeing Ability: Communication, Movement and the Principle of Non-Dualism.
Hoodenpyle, Lori; Greater Kansas City Institute of Psychoanalysis: The Problem of Punditry in American Media: Commentators, Culture Warriors and a Surprisingly Spiritual Solution.
Simon, Kathryn; Parsons School of Design: Visual Culture: Fashion, Sustainable and Critical Thinking in Design.
6 | 7:30 p.m
Keynote: Wednesday, June 4th, Old Main Chapel
Welcome: Dr. Stewart Hoover and Dr. Paul Voakes, Dean,
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Introduction of Ms. Utne: Prof. Ed Lenert, University of Nevada, Reno
“FutureFit: Managing our Lives toward Sustainability with Flow and Efficiency” With NINA ROTHSCHILD UTNE, Editor-at-Large, Utne Reader
Ms. Utne is the former CEO and current Editor-at-Large of Utne Reader, the respected guide to the alternative and independent press. An internationally recognized speaker on the power of media to transform culture, she is a champion for independent media. As a journalist and activist, Ms. Utne has been a central figure in areas related to both healthy living and social change. She is a founding member of the UnReasonable Women for the Earth, and Code Pink. In her keynote presentation, Ms. Utne speaks to how we can focus on sustainability with maximum flow and efficiency.
Sponsored by: The Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno; and The Fred W. Smith Ethics Seminar Series with the financial support of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, Las Vegas, Nevada.
7:30 pm:
Private reception for conference delegates and invited guests, Old Main, Heritage Center
Thursday, June 5
7:00: Registration and coffee
All Day: Book Exhibit, Room 235, UMC
8:15 -9:30 am
The Religious Right and New Notions of Fate
Chair: Nadia Kaneva, Ph.D., University of Denver, USA
Mason, Carol; English and Women’s Studies, Oklahoma State University, USA: Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Apocalypse (But Were Afraid to Ask).
Krzych, Scott; Screen Studies, Oklahoma State University, USA: Waiting for No-thing: Skeptical Belief and Political Critique in Evangelical Apocalypse Films.
Burlein, Ann; University of California, Berkeley, USA: When Memory Becomes Molecular: Changing the Biological Body, Changing Religion.
Studies of Consciousness
Grossenbacher, Peter (Naropa University, USA) and Cynthia Drake (University of Colorado, USA): Love and Theft: Bob Dylan, Worldview, and the Ghosts of Change.
Gackenbach, Jayne; Grant MacEwan College: Video Games Effects on Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming and More.
Flood, Barbara and Christina Tomacic-Niaros; Cook County, IL, USA, State Attorney’s Office: The Spiritual and Psychological Impact of Forgiveness on Victims of Violent Crime.
The Mediation of Religion
Hoseini, Hassan Seyyed; Philosophy of Science Department; Sharif University of Technology: Media Philosophy and Religion an Analysis of Foundations and Consequences of Philosophical Theories on Media in Connection with the Diverse Approaches to Religion.
Reed, Holly G.; Theology, Boston University, USA: Can the Church be the Church Online? Defining a Virtual Ecclesiology for Computer-Mediated Communities.
Palakeel, Jose; Initiatives for Missionary Pastoral Animation and Communication Theology (IMPACT), India: Spiritual Sensibilities, Electronic Media and Digital Culture.
9:45 am -11:00 am
Issues of Globalization and Culture
Kutscher, Jens; Faculty of Law, Friedrich Alexander University, Germany: Online Fatwas -- One Type of Islamic Law and Its Meaning for the European Union.
Shaping Public Discourses and Attitudes
Souynaye, Abdoulaye; Dept. of Religion, Northwestern University, USA: Mediating Islam: Preaching, Media and Moral Economy in Niger.
Billings, Linda; NASA, USA: Media and the Spiritual Aspects of Space Exploration in the 21st Century.
Amari, Radia; Dept. of Religious Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA: The Use of Humor in Constructing the North American Muslim Subject.
Food and Wellness in the Public Sphere
Chair: Maura Troester Nunez, Ph.D., University of Colorado, USA
Badaracco, Claire; Marquette University, USA: Nutrition, Food Safety, & Branded Wellness in the Medicated Public Square.
Schanbacher, Will; Claremont Graduate School, USA: Food Sovereignty, Food Security and Discourses on Sustainable Development: Competing Voices in the Global Politics of Food.
Taylor, Deirdre, Media Consultant/Author; Founding Publisher, Executive Editor, Spirituality & Health Magazine:, Boulder, CO USA: The Power of Mindful Eating in a Chaotic Culture: Impacts on Physical, Social, and Global Wellbeing.
11:15-12:30 pm
The Technologies of Social Change and Spiritual Life
Chair: Nadia Kaneva,Ph.D., University of Denver, USA
Tiitsman, Jenna; Religious Studies, University of North Carolina and Auburn, USA: Who Needs Geography?: Technologies beneath Divine and Democratic Promise.
Schimmel, Solomon; Jewish Education and Psychology, Hebrew College: Anonymous Blogging as a Safe Haven for Challenging Religious Authority and Creating Dissident Communities.
Lombaard, Christo; Christian Spirituality, University of South Africa: Fleetingness and media-ted existence--From Kierkegaard’s Legacy on the Newspaper to Broderick’s Legacy on the Internet.
Preachers And Politics: Understanding The Interplay Between The Media, The Pulpit And The Body Politic
Chair: Stuart Sigman,Ph.D., Vice President, Academic Affairs, Naropa University, USA
Einstein, Mara; Queens College, USA: Whatever Happened to the Social Gospel?
Moore, Ellen; Institute for Communications Research, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign: Joining the Revolution: The Relationship between Entertainment Media and Militarism in Evangelical Churches.
Healy, Kevin; Institute of Communications Research, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA: Trouble on the Right: Critical Junctures in Media and Evangelicalism.
Media, Myth and Mobility: Taking Stock of the Spiritual in Global Tourism and Exhibition,
Coats, Curtis; School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado, USA: New Age Tourism and the Case of Sedona.
Oakes, Timothy, Geography, University of Colorado, USA: The Hierarchy of Ancestors: Identity and Genealogy among the Rural Han in Guizhou.
Nucci, Mary and Lewis, Libby Ball, USA: Islamic Science Rediscovered.
Peaslee, Robert Moses; School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado, USA: Notes from Hobbiton: Ritual and Authenticity in a Far Away Land.
12:30 -- Lunch on your own
2 p.m. -- 3:15 p.m.
Widening the Dialogue: Three Roundtable Discussions with Scholars, Activists, Journalists and Industry Representatives
- Conscious Capitalism
Moderator, Mark Wilding, PassageWorks, Boulder, Colorado.
Panelists: Frank Lampe, Executive VP, InnoVision Health Media; Bud Sorenson, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Leeds Business School, University of Colorado; Tami Simon, Founder, Sounds True, Boulder, CO.
- The Green Imperative: Challenges for the Sustainability and Green Movements
Moderator: Deserai Crow, Ph.D.,Center for Environmental Journalism, University of Colorado
Panelists: Marc Bekoff, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado; Jen Schneider, Ph.D., Colorado School of Mines; Edward Lenert, Ph.D., University of Nevada-Reno.
- Media, Activism and Philanthropy: Images and Voices of Influence
Moderator, Dierdre Taylor, Media Consultant/Author; Founding Publisher, Executive Editor, Spirituality & Health Magazine, Boulder, Colorado.
Panelists: Siona van Dijk, Director, Gaia Community, Gaiam, Inc.; Janice Peck, Ph.D., School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado; Marion Bowman, Ph.D., Religious Studies, Open University, UK; Osprey Orielle Lake, Sculptor, San Francisco, CA.
3:30 pm
Keynote: Thursday, June 5th, Room 235, UMC
Welcome Address: Dr. Bud Peterson, Chancellor, University of Colorado
Introduction of Dr. Silk
"Think Locally, Act Globally" with DR. MARK SILK, Director, Leonard Greenberg Center on Media and Public Life, Trinity College
For forty years, the environmental movement has been animated by the imperative to think globally and act locally. But the challenge of our time is to know how to think locally in order to achieve global objectives. Local ways of conceptualizing community differ profoundly, even within a society so seemingly interconnected as the United States. In a world that often seems overwhelmed by transnational forces and institutions--in economics, media, and religion--accomplishing global ends will require profound awareness of the social metaphysics of particular places. Professor Silk is the author of Spiritual Politics: Religion and America Since World War II and Unsecular Media: Making News of Religion in America. He is co-editor of Religion by Region, an eight-volume series on religion and public life in the United States, and co-author of One Nation Divisible: Religion and Region in America Today.
Sponsored by: Naropa University
5 pm -6:30, Aspen Room, UMC
Private Reception: for conference delegates and invited guests
Honoring: Dr. Mark Silk and Dr. Ron Grimes
Sponsored by Naropa University and the Center for Media, Religion and Culture, University of Colorado-Boulder
7 pm - 9 pm, Humanities, Room 150
Film Event: “The Global Oneness Project: Finding our Shared Values through Film”
The Global Oneness team interviews creative and courageous people around the world who base their lives and work on the fundamental understanding that we are all connected and bear great responsibility for each other and our shared world. The result is a living library of films that the project makes available for free for events and educational use. The film is followed by a panel discussion.
The film is followed by a panel discussion.
Moderator: Lynn Scholfield Clark, Ph.D., University of Denver
Panel: Christina Welch, Ph.D., University of Winchester, UK; Michelle Moore, Outreach Coordinator, Global Oneness Project, San Francisco, CA; Stuart Sigman, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean of the Faculty,
Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Naropa University, Boulder, CO.
FRIDAY, JUNE 6
7:00 am
Registration and Coffee
Keynote: 8:15- 9:45 am, Room 235, UMC
Introduction of Dr. Grimes, Stewart Hoover, Ph.D., Director, Center for Media Religion and Culture, University of Colorado, USA
"Mediating the Santa Fe Fiesta: A multimedia presentation on ritual, media, and conflict " with DR. RONALD GRIMES, Professor of Religion and Culture, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
The word “spirituality” often connotes either a virtue or a phenomenon. As a virtue, spirituality is the holy grail\the evanescent embodiment of the good, the true, and the beautiful. As a phenomenon, spirituality has recently arrived on the scene, trouncing its opponent, the religion-ritual tag team. Spirituality is joined at the hip with health, everything green, all things nourishing and nothing combative, oppressive, or institutional. Religion is the god-box outside of which the spiritual-but-not-religious dance, and ritual, a charter member of the Old Boys Club, is the enactment of stodgy religion\book-driven, self-righteous, tradition-bound, and saddled with expensive-to-heat, mostly empty buildings. This presentation challenges this easy, clicheLd division of labor by exploring a specific enactment in a specific place: the 2007 Santa Fe Fiesta. The driving question is: In what circumstances do media mediate, and in what circumstances do they drive conflict?
A pioneer in ritual studies scholarship, Professor Grimes is the author of Rite Out of Place: Ritual, Media, and the Arts, Deeply Into The Bone, Readings in Ritual Studies, Reading, Writing, Ritualizing, and Ritual Criticism. He has a particular interest in religion and the performing arts and the indigenous religions of North America.
Sponsored by: The Center for Media, Religion and Culture, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado
10 -11:15 am
Commodifying Feminism: A Roundtable on the Healing Powers of American Culture
Chair: Lynn Schofield Clark, Ph.D., University of Denver
Travis, Trysh; Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research, University of Florida, USA: As Though Stopping Were Enough: The Possibilities and Limitations of Feminist Recovery.
Lofton, Kathryn, USA: The Gender of a (Re)New(ed) Age: Spirituality in the History of Religions.
Peck, Janice; School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA: Oprah Winfrey’s Global Philanthropy: The Displacement of Public Funding by Private Generosity, Or, the Politics of Empowerment.
Emerich, Monica, Center for Media, Religion and Culture, University of Colorado, USA: Quantum Post-Feminism: A Critique of Quantum Theory Media in Popular Culture.
Activist Art
Chair: Diane Cook, La Trobe University, ustralia
Lawrie, Samantha; Graphic Design, Auburn University, USA: [Re]Vision: the Role of Graphic Design[ers].
Michelle Moore, Outreach Coordinator, Global Oneness Project, San Rafael, CA, USA, USA: “Finding our Shared Values Through Film: The Global Oneness Project.
Media Bias, Power and Representations
Islam, Sharif; Dept. of Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign , USA: No More Mosques in Europe: The Intersection of Media, Religion, and Citizenship in the Mosque-Building Debates in Britain and France.
George, Cherian; Nanyang Technological University, Singapore: What’s Up: An Experiment in Values-Driven Journalism.
Oduyela, Samuel O.; African Interest Newspaper: Media Bias and Religion: How Showtime’s Mini Series Sleeper Cell Frame Islam.
11:30 am
Introduction of Osprey Orielle Lake: Susan Benally, Ph.D., Naropa University
"How Images and Stories Influence our Future as a Global Citizenry: Renewing our Relationship to Nature and Culture," with OSPREY ORIELLE LAKE, Founder/artist of the International Cheemah and Mari Projects
This provocative multimedia presentation is an educational and inspirational journey exploring the ways in which narrative and visual communication affect the way we think and act. Osprey will explore cultural and environmental stories in modern media and the importance of advancing positive messages at this critical time in history. The presentation will focus on how the use of symbol, image and language in the public sphere either enhances, or distances, the relationships that humans share with the living Earth and with diverse cultures. Osprey will address how we can create meaningful and positive images and narratives that help open the portal to exploring and renewing our individual and societal dreams in relationship to the places we dwell. What people see and experience on a daily basis in their communities influences our societal direction and cultural well being. Incorporating meaningful nature-themed images and symbols into public spaces is one of the challenges Osprey addresses in her international art projects and presentations. Public art has historically attempted to provide cohesion to communities as it represents the experiences, legacy, philosophies and aesthetics of a particular region and culture. Because globalization frequently leads to expansion in many spheres of society, attention to differing cultures and diverse natural habitats is essential. One way to do this is by respecting and protecting the uniqueness, history, language, worldviews, myths, the flora and fauna of each land.
Sponsored by: The Center for Media, Religion and Culture, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado
12:45 pm: Lunch break.
2 | 3:15 pm
Mass Media and Religious Shifts
Park, Jerry and Scott Draper; Dept. of Sociology, Baylor University, USA: Religious Consumption and Social Attitudes: Rethinking the Influence of Religion.
Sierra, Luis Ignacio; Dept. of Communication, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia: The Tele|Faith: Mass-media Religion. Strategies for the Experiencing of Religious Meaning by Tele-faithful Viewers of the Rede Vida Television Network in Porto Alegre, R.S., Brazil.
Gentry, Jeffrey; Rogers State University, USA: The God Intrusion: Richard Dawkins and the Refutative Critique.
Politics and Spiritual Discourse
Chair: Janice Peck, Ph.D., Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado
Henson, Lori; University of Indiana, USA: Concept of American Civil Religion to Mass Media Theory: Arguing for a Theoretical Framework in which We Do not Reify an American Sacred as a Self-Contained Entity with Fixed Characteristics.
Naser, Abu; Southern Illinois University: Influence of Religion on Public Culture: A Case Study of Bangladesh.
Roosvall, Anna; Dept. of Journalism, Media and Communications, Stockholm University: De-Spiritualization of Religion/Spiritualization of Politics
Islam and Communism in World News from the Days of the Cold War and into the Post September 11 Era.
New Spiritual Expressions
Chair: AnneMarie Galeucia, M.A., Religious Studies, University of Colorado
Wilding, Mark; Exec. Director, PassageWorks Institute, Boulder, CO, USA: The Soul of Education
Wood, TeBordo Kaitlyn; Dept of Language, Literature and Communication, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA: Conservatively Christian yet Culturally Relevant?: A Pilot Study on the Changing Church
3:30 -4:45 pm
Toward the Public Sphere
Chair: Janice Peck, Ph.D., Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado
AczeLl, Petra; Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Communication, PaLzmaLny PeLter Catholic University, Hungary: Dialogue as Rhetoric of Deliberation in the Public Sphere.
Pardo, Eldad; Truman Research Institute for Advancement of Peace, The Hebrew University: Media Policy and Social Change in the Arab World: The Case of Qatar and the Al-Jazeera TV Channel.
Yowell, Curt; Mass Communication Studies, University of Houston, USA: Media Social Justice and Presidential Campaign News Coverage.
Spirituality and the Marketplace
Chair: Loriliai Biernacki, Ph.D., Religious Studies, University of Colorado
Bowman, Marion; Open University, UK: Philanthropy and the Spiritual Economy in Glastonbury .
Hardy, Ann; University of Waikato, New Zealand: Spirituality in Flight.
Granholm, Kennet; University of Amsterdam: The Mass-Appeal of the Occult.
Peace, Prophecy and Revolution
Danforth, Christine; Communication and Biblical Studies, USA: Prophetic Communication as a Medium for Social Change.
Morello, Gustavo; Universidad CatoLlica de CoLrdoba, Argentina: Spirituality, Journalism and Guerillas: The Argentine Experience of Cristianismo y Revolucion.
Hochheimer, John; Southern Illinois University, USA: Communication, Reconciliation and the Human Spirit: Reconnecting Without and Within via Five Media Forms.
6 pm
Flagstaff Mountain picnic. For registered guests.
Buses leave for Flagstaff picnic at 6 pm and drop off at campus at 9 pm
Saturday, June 7
9 -10:15 am
(re)Emerging Spiritualities and Society
Chair, Lawrence Eson, Ph.D., English Dept., Front Range Community College, Westminster, CO
Luthers, Helga; Germanic and Slavic Languages, University of Colorado, USA: Reclaiming a Religion: The Un-popularizing and Re-spiritualizing of Norse Mythology.
Pearce, Michael, Religion Dept, University of Queensland, Australia: Crises of Modernity, Spirit Houses, and the Reinterpretation of Religion in Contemporary Urban Thailand.
Gilmore, Lee; Holy Names University, USA: Convergence Culture, Web 2.0, and DIY Spiritualities.
Spirituality, Media and Civic Engagement
Chair: Robert Moses Peaslee, Ph..D., University of Colorado
Galeucia, Annemarie; Religious Studies, University of Colorado, USA: My Name is Earl.
Busch, Laura; Dept. of Communication, University of Washington, USA: Saffron Revolution 2.0: An Analysis of Online Socially Engaged Buddhism During the 2007 Pro-Democracy Protests In Burma.
Roberts, Joseph; Political Science, Roger Williams University, USA: Islam, Social Movements, and Technopolitics.
Questions of Pleasure and Desire
Hays, Hal; University of Alabama, USA: Looking Beneath the Ecclesiastical Wet Blanket: How the Reflective Emotional Response to Mediated Revelation of the Divine Leads to Socially Transforming Behavior.
Boulton, Chris, University of Massachusetts, Amherst USA; Porn and Me(n): Men, Morality, and Religion at the Wheelock Anti-Pornography Conference.
Scrogin, Katy; Religion, Claremont Graduate University, USA: Media Reform.
and “Something Higher:” Transforming Desire, Transforming Media Practice
10:30 -11:45 am
Symbology and Social Change
Chair: Peter Simonson, Ph.D., Communication, University of Colorado
Allbright, Kyle; Religious Studies, Naropa University, USA: Spiritual Archetypes, Transcendence and Social Action.
Bliss, Carol; California State Polytechnic University, USA: Creating Deeper Connections: Exploring Values and the Potential for Transformation through New Media.
Torma, Ryan; Luther Seminar, USA: The Visualization of Religious and Ritual Practices as Responses to Terrorism in Photographs in the New York Times after September 11, 2001.
Mediated Resistance
Stone, Mary Louise; Calif. Institute of Integral Studies, USA: An Indian as President: Who Elected Bolivia’s Evo Morales?
Whedon, Sarah W.; University of California, Santa Barbara, USA: Fundamentalist Mormon Polygamous Women and the Internet as a Site of Resistance.
Scott, Lisa; University of Colorado, USA: The Five Percent Nation: A Grassroots Religious Movement of Oppressed Urban Youth
From the ground up: Building Interfaith Cyber-Democracies & Concrete Consensus
Moderator: Rebecca Self; Franklin College, Switzerland.
Esra'aAl-Shafe; MidEastYouth.com, a student-owned independent network dedicated to eliminate extremist ideologies and promoting tolerance in the Middle East.
Tori Egherman; MidEastYouth.com.
MiriamAsnes; MidEastYouth.com.
Questions of “Faith”
Jensen, Robert; School of Journalism, University of Texas, USA: Experiences of Public Declaration in a Congregation.
Noon, Derek R.: Religion & The Popular Atheist: A Differential Diagnosis
Kramer, Howard; Religious Studies, University of Colorado, USA: The Apocalyptic Speculations of the New Age Left: Social and Political Implications.
1:15 -2:30 pm
Sustainability Consciousness
Chair: Maura Troester Nunez, Ph.D., School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado
Schneider, Jen; Nature and Human Values, Colorado School of Mines, USA: The “Spirit” of New Environmentalism: Orion Magazine, Climate Change, and the End of the World.
Wee, Lionel; Dept. of English, National University of Singapore: Media Representation and the Cultivation of Social Consciousness: Comparing the Discourses of Climate Change and Animal Rights.
Lenert, Ed and Dailey, Larry; University of Nevada, Reno, USA: Interactive Journalism, Spirituality and the Environment.
Media, Religion and Culture
Welch, Christina; Theology and Religious Studies, University of Winchester, UK: Representing Religious Responses to Social Change through Contemporary Indigenous Cinema.
Repphun, Eric; University of Otago, New Zealand: A Fantasy Nonetheless: The Mass Media and the Reenchantment of the World.
Daneshgar, Majid and Azimidokht Sayyed Hossain; Yazd University Islamic Republic of Iran: The Study on Spirituality, Religions and Social Interactions
Christian Citizenship
Santoro, Anthony; Heidelberg Center for American Studies, University of Heidelberg, Germany: Preempting Godwin: Religion, the Death Penalty and Christian Citizenship in Virginia’s Political Blogosphere, 2005.
Balbier, Uta; German Historical Institute, Washington, DC, USA: Staging Christian Citizenship: Evangelical Spirituality and Christian Patriotism in Billy Graham’s Crusades of the 1950s.
2:45 -- 3:45 pm
Summation Panel: Stewart Hoover, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Center for Media, Religion and Culture, University of Colorado
Conference Location
The conference will be held at the University Memorial Center (UMC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder, located at the corner of Euclid Ave. and Broadway. Check-in and on-site registration will take place in room 235. See map at http://www.colorado.edu/Directories/WebMap/
Various events will be held at Old Main and the Humanities Building, a short walk from UMC.
The campus is within easy walking distance of Boulder's acclaimed Pearl Street pedestrian mall. Watch the many street performances, peruse the shops, or dine at fabulous restaurants.
Lodging
There are two lodging options--on-campus housing and local hotels. Please make your reservations for on-campus housing on the registration site (see the registration link on our homepage).
For hotel lodging, make your reservation directly with one of the following hotels. We have reserved a block of rooms. Mention the "reference" word listed here for each hotel to receive the conference rate.
University of Colorado | Kittredge Commons
On-campus housing.This option is available through the registration link on our home page.
Best Western Boulder Inn
770 28th Street
Boulder, CO 80303
800-233-8469 | reference “Media"
To make a reservation online, please visit:
http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/priceavail.do?propertycode=06103&promocode=media
Once there, enter "MEDIA" in the promotional code box. The special discounted group rates will be present.
Located directly across from the University of Colorado, the Boulder Inn gives guests easy access to Boulder's principal attractions, premier shopping, and fabulous dining. Stylish, well-appointed rooms reflect a gracious ambiance, found throughout the hotel. Rates include a complimentary continental breakfast every morning; free in-room, high-speed Internet access; and 24-hour business center. Other guest facilities include a large seasonal outdoor pool, sauna, hot tub, and conference center. For group rate reference “Media, Spiritualities and Social Change.” Conference rate: $89 for a room with one king bed, $99 for a room with two queen beds, includes continental breakfast. Unconfirmed rooms in block will be released May 3.
Boulder Outlook Hotel & Suites
800 Twenty Eighth Street
303.443.3322 or 800.542.0304, reference “Media, Spiritualities & Social Change”
800.338.5407
Boulder’s first zero waste hotel - “The Cure for the Common Hotel” mixes business with leisure, indoors with outdoors, technology with comfort, and service with personality. Located directly across from CU campus and has numerous amenities including: free local & toll calls, free parking, complimentary continental breakfast, iron and ironing board, hair dryer, coffee pot with complimentary coffee and tea, 27’ color TV, 24 Direct TV channels, including 7 HBO selections, and an in-room safe. Conference rate: $98 for standard room with 2 queen beds (includes full breakfast). Unconfirmed rooms in block will be released May 3, 2008.
Boulder Creek Quality Inn & Suites
2020 Arapahoe
303.449.7550 reference “Media & Spiritualities”
888.449.7550
The award winning property includes first-class amenities such as a fitness center, business center with free 24 hour DSL Internet access, indoor heated pool, sauna, whirlpool and a full breakfast buffet. All rooms have a microwave, refrigerator, hair dryer, iron and full size ironing board, coffee maker, 2 line data port speakerphones with voice mail, large working desk with a lamp that has an additional data port and electrical outlet and 25” color televisions with remotes. This hotel is about a 15 minute walk to UMC. Mention the Media, Spiritualities and Social Change Conference when you make your reservation. Conference rate: $99 for a standard room with two queen beds (includes full breakfast. Unconfirmed rooms in block will be released May 3.
Millennium Harvest House
1345 Twenty-Eight Street
303.443.3850
800.545.6285
http://www.millenniumhotels.com/millenniumboulder/index.html
Their friendly staff and attentive service exemplifies Colorado’s western hospitality. Amenities include: on-site restaurant, 16 acres of gardens, 15 tennis courts, indoor/outdoor pool, in-room coffee makers, and data ports. The Boulder Creek Path is right behind the hotel and about a 20 minute walk to UMC. Conference rate: $99, reference “CU -Unconfirmed rooms in block will be released May 3.
Boulder University Inn
1632 Broadway
303.417.1700
Downtown Boulder’s newly renovated inn, conveniently located 3 blocks from Pearl Street pedestrian mall & about a 15 minute walk to UMC. Enjoy biking, walking or running on Boulder’s famous Creek Path, which is adjacent to the hotel. Accommodations include complimentary continental breakfast, business center with free high speed Internet access, heated outdoor pool, free parking, free local calls and much more. University rate: $79 full bed, $80 - 2 queens, $89 - king
Travel
Air travel:
The nearest airport is Denver International Airport, about 40 minutes southeast of Boulder. The DIA Website www.flydenver.com provides information on ground transportation options from the airport to Boulder.
Ground:
We recommend Super Shuttle, www.supershuttle.com or the Skybus from the airport to Boulder.
- Boulder Super Shuttle phone is 303-227-0000.
There is no need to pre-arrange shuttle service. Upon arriving at DIA, the Boulder Super Shuttle will take you directly to many of Boulder’s hotels. Go to the "Boulder Super Shuttle" counter on the baggage claim level, level 5, of the Main Terminal to purchase a round-trip ticket.
A shuttle leaves DIA hourly at 10 minutes after the hour from door 504. The trip takes about 1.25 to 1.5 hours, sometimes a bit more, especially if it is rush hour. The cost for a one-way ticket is $25 for designated hotel drop-offs, $46 round trip; or $31 for other addresses in Boulder, $58 round trip. The return trip will require that you call the shuttle company and make a pick up reservation. You may be able to make this reservation when you pick up your ticket upon arrival at DIA at the shuttle counter.
- Skyride (bus)
The bus schedule can be found on RTD’s website (select route AB on www.RTD-Denver.com) or by calling 303-299-6000.
The RTD Skyride runs between DIA and Boulder (Route AB) every hour. The trip takes approximately 1.5 hours. The schedule can be found on RTD’s website (select route AB on http://www.rtd-denver.com/skyRide/ or by calling 303-299-6000. Arriving passengers at DIA should exit the airport from Baggage Claim area doors and cross to the RTD bus shelter located on the traffic island about 40 feet away. Tickets are paid directly to the driver upon boarding the bus | cash and exact change only. One-way tickets cost $10 and the bus stops at 14th and Walnut in downtown Boulder. RTD has an information booth on the baggage claim level of the Main Terminal, right next to the Boulder Super Shuttle counter.
- Driving Directions to Boulder from Denver International Airport (DIA)
Driving time between DIA and Boulder is approximately 60 to 90 minutes. From DIA, follow Pena Boulevard (10 miles) south to I-70, and exit onto I-70 west. Follow I-70 west to I-270 west. I-270 merges into U.S. 36 west and takes you west into Boulder (about 23 miles). From this point follow directions to your lodging.
Toll Highway: This is the quickest and shortest route but you must stop and pay three tolls of $2.00 each. Leave the airport on Pena Boulevard and stay in right-hand lanes to exit onto E-470 north. Follow this for approximately 35 miles. E-470 merges with Northwest Parkway. Northwest Parkway becomes Storage Tek Drive. Take the exit to Highway 36, west, into Boulder. Hwy 36 becomes 28th Street in Boulder. From here follow directions to your lodging.
- Other Driving Directions to CU
From Denver: Take I-25 north, merge onto Highway 36 to Boulder. Exit onto Baseline Road. Turn left onto Baseline. Follow to Broadway and turn right on Broadway. Turn right onto Euclid and turn left into Euclid Parking Garage. The UMC is the largest building flanking the Western edge of the parking lot.
From the North (Ft. Collins, Wyoming): Take I-25 south, exit on highway 7 through Lafayette. This becomes Baseline road. Follow Baseline road into Boulder. The road dead-ends at a four-way stop. Baseline doglegs to the left. At the next stop sign, turn right back onto Baseline Road. Follow Baseline to Broadway. Turn right on Broadway. Turn right onto Euclid and turn left one half block) into Euclid Parking Garage. The UMC is the large building flanking the Western edge of the parking lot and sits on the corner of Euclid and Broadway. Entrance is from Euclid or at the back of the building.
- Campus Parking
The Euclid parking lot rate is $1.25 per hour, 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, seven days a week. After 5:00 pm parking is free. From Broadway, turn onto Euclid and turn left one half block into Euclid Parking Garage. The UMC is the large building flanking the western edge of the parking lot and sits on the corner of Euclid and Broadway. Entrance is from Euclid or at the back of the building.
For more information on campus parking and transportation, visit http://ucbparking.colorado.edu/VisitorInfo/Default.asp
You may request a parking permit for campus Lot 308 with your online registration. Those who opt for lodging on campus in Kittredge Commons can purchase a permit for $20 for the week upon arrival. Kittredge Commons residence halls are located adjacent to Wolf Law School.
For ADA-Accessible parking information please contact CU Parking Services at: 303-492-7384.
Parking on campus is limited, therefore, we recommend for those staying in hotels adjacent to campus (Best Western Boulder Inn or Boulder Outlook Hotel) that they walk to campus for the conference.
- Buses in Boulder
Getting around Boulder is easy using the GO system of buses such as the Hop, the Skip or the Jump. visit http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=756&Itemid=320
- Taxi
Yellow Cab 303.777.7777
Metro Taxi 303.666.6666
Visiting Boulder
Remember that Boulder is a high-altitude city. Drink plenty of water throughout your stay and apply that sunscreen! Also, while Colorado temperatures can be hot during summer days with mostly brilliant blue skies, the night temperatures can drop substantially. It is recommended to bring clothes to layer along with a rain shell and a light jacket or sweater. If you plan to hike (many nearby trails!), bring proper boots, a water bottle, hat and sunscreen.
For information on Boulder, Colorado, please visit: www.bouldercoloradousa.com
There are plenty of attractions nearby including:
--Rocky Mountain Park
--Chatauqua Park
--Celestial Seasonings Tea Company
--The Great Stupa, one of the most significant examples in the world of Buddhist sacred architecture.
--Eldorado State park, a haven for rock climbing or nature walks.
--Denver Art Museum
--The Molly Brown House
--Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art
--National Center for Atmospheric Research
Speaker Information
Conference “To-Do” Checklist
- EQUIPMENT: Did you fill out your equipment requests at registration? If not, please notify monica.emerich@colorado.edu with your equipment needs. Laptop Computers, digital projectors, VCR/DVD players provided in meeting rooms. Presentations must be Microsoft compatible.
- LODGING: you are responsible for making your own lodging reservations.
- TRAVEL: Make travel arrangements. Closest airport is Denver International Airport.
- GROUND TRANSPORTATION: Make your local transportation reservations from the airport to Boulder.
- YOUR PAPER: Send a completed version of your full paper as a PDF file by May 15, 2008 to Monica Emerich, monica.emerich@colorado.edu, if you wish for it to be included on the CD of conference proceedings that will be made available in the program packets for attendees.
- YOUR BOOK: Notify us immediately if you wish your book to be included in the book exhibit/sales. Monica.emerich.colorado.edu
- PRESENTERS: Presentations should not exceed 15 minutes, to leave time for discussion. Please bring your own laptop computer for PowerPoint presentations.
Read the Call For Papers [Note: the call is now closed]
This interdisciplinary conference seeks proposals for papers and panels exploring the ways in which media culture, civic engagement and spiritualities intersect to form practices, discourses and the material expressions of social change. In an era of globalization, the media age has introduced a new set of conditions and opportunities for the nature, practice and integration of spirituality and civic engagement. Increasingly, the concept of gspiritualityh has become recontextualized, reinserted and reimagined within discourses about social and environmental change. Integral to this project are the media, which provide salient values and symbols to a synthesis of public and private identities, practices and beliefs. New spiritual sensibilities articulate with new imaginaries of the civic sphere through media culture. The key questions here are how and where values, practices and beliefs are articulated as spiritual and socially transformational.
In the interest of bridging theory and practice, we welcome submissions from scholars, activists, NGOs and health, business, and media professionals who wish to engage in an intellectual discussion about the engines of social change and its expressions through media culture and spiritual life. Papers and panels may employ any of a number of perspectives, issues and methodologies including but not limited to the following:
- Economics; conscious capitalism; late capitalism
- Environmental, sustainable or ggreenh practices, products and beliefs
- Ethics; morality; truth; philosophy; religion and spirituality
- Media culture; media technologies and applications; media institutions/policy
- Popular culture; cultural studies; material culture
- Society; community; citizenship; public-private partnerships
- Activism; social justice; social movements; positive politics; philanthropy
- Globalization; public sphere; civil society; governance and control
- "New" / alternative spiritualities
- Gender; race; age; class; identities
- Methodologies and theory
- Ideology; power; discourse
Abstracts and panel proposals due: Dec. 1, 2007 to: Dr. Monica Emerich, Monica.emerich@colorado.edu. By mail: Monica Emerich, Center for Media, Religion and Culture, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado, 1511 University Ave., 478 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0478.
This conference is co-sponsored by Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and the Fred W. Smith Center for Critical Thinking and Ethical Practices at University of Nevada, Reno.