- Department of Historical Studies
University of Toronto Mississauga
3359 Mississauga Road
Mississauga, Ontario
L5L1C6
Ken Derry
University of Toronto, Historical Studies, Faculty Member
- Gender Studies, Popular Culture, Post-Colonialism, Religion, Early Christianity, Christianity, and 21 moreTheory of Religion, Native Canadian Literatures, Religion and Violence, Religion and Film, Literature and Religion, Religion and Literature, Pedagogy, Religion, Media, and Culture, Religion and Media, Learning and Teaching, Teaching and Learning, Problem Based Learning, Problem-Based Learning, Syllabus, Religion and literature, film, media, and popular culture; global Christianity; postcolonial and cultural theory, Indigenous Literature, Indigenous Literature and Cinema, Indigenous Literature and Culture, North American Indigenous Oral and Written Literatures, First Nations, Inuit and Metis, and Metis Literatureedit
A collection of essays and reflections on teaching and learning in the academic study of religion, in honour of Michel Desjardins.
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The trailers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens made a strong impression on fans. Many were excited by what they saw as a return to the spirit of George Lucas’s 1977 creation. Others—including several white supremacy groups—were upset and... more
The trailers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens made a strong impression on fans. Many were excited by what they saw as a return to the spirit of George Lucas’s 1977 creation. Others—including several white supremacy groups—were upset and offended by key differences, most notably the shift away from a blond, blue-eyed, male protagonist. When the film was finally released, reactions similarly seemed to hinge on whether or not The Force Awakens renewed the “mythic” aspects of the original trilogy in ways that fans approved of. The Myth Awakens examines the religious implications of this phenomenon, considering the ways in which myth can function to reinforce “traditional” social and political values. In their analyses the authors of this book reflect on fan responses in relation to various elements of (and changes to) the Star Wars canon—including toys, video games, and novels, as well as several of the films. They do so using a variety of critical tools, drawing from studies of gender, race, psychology, politics, authority, music, ritual, and memory.
Research Interests: Musicology, Mythology, Film Studies, Film Analysis, Religion and Film, and 15 moreScience Fiction, Race and Religion, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, Analysis of Film Music, Fan Cultures, Fan Theory and Culture, Gender and religion (Women s Studies), Science Fiction and Fantasy, Myth and Religion, Star Wars, Star Wars and gender, Science Fiction and Religion, History of Star Wars, Star Wars and Philosophy, and Star Wars and Theology
Research Interests: Canadian Literature, Post-Colonialism, Native American Literature (Literature), Literature and Religion, Mimetic Theory, and 9 moreRené Girard, Margaret Atwood, Religion and Violence, Homi Bhabha (Cultural Theory), Beatrice Culleton Mosionier, Maria Campbell, Thomas King, Native Canadian Literatures, and Basil Johnston
For many years now I have put a question on the final exam in various religion courses that asks students to apply ideas from the course to a short film screened during the exam. This is a film we have not watched or discussed before, so... more
For many years now I have put a question on the final exam in various religion courses that asks students to apply ideas from the course to a short film screened during the exam. This is a film we have not watched or discussed before, so it is essentially new data for the class. In this article I discuss some of the challenges I encountered when I began using short films in exams and how I resolved them. I also discuss the many advantages of this approach, some of which I had anticipated (or at least hoped for), while others surprised me. These surprises include congruencies between using short films in exams and principles of trauma-informed pedagogy. The article includes specific examples from three courses of exam questions and films, and answers that three students provided.
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This is a story about the challenges and virtues of messiness for scholarship and teaching in academia generally, and Religious Studies in particular. It begins when I was first hired to teach Introduction to the Study of Religion at the... more
This is a story about the challenges and virtues of messiness for scholarship and teaching in academia generally, and Religious Studies in particular. It begins when I was first hired to teach Introduction to the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto Mississauga. It continues with a discussion of research into how introductory religion courses are taught in Canada, and reflection on that research – which includes examples of student learning from a world religions summer course I have taught in Hong Kong since 2012. It ends with a consideration of the ways in which messiness has been a key component of Michel Desjardins’ own scholarship and teaching.
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An introduction to the special double issue of Religious Studies and Theology honouring Michel Desjardins and focusing on pedagogy.
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The past few times that I have taught my course on religion and film I have included a number of Indigenous movies. The response from students has been entirely positive, in part because most of them have rarely encountered Indigenous... more
The past few times that I have taught my course on religion and film I have included a number of Indigenous movies. The response from students has been entirely positive, in part because most of them have rarely encountered Indigenous cultural products of any kind, especially contemporary ones. Students also respond well to the way in which many of these films use notions of the monstrous to explore, and explode, colonial myths. Goldstone, for example, by Kamilaroi filmmaker Ivan Sen, draws on noir tropes to peel back the smiling masks of the people responsible for the mining town’s success, revealing their underlying monstrosity. Similarly, Mi’gmaq Jeff Barnaby’s debut feature Rhymes for Young Ghouls makes cinematic allusions to 1970s horror films in its depiction of the residential school system. In this paper, I will draw on these examples to discuss how examination of the monstrous in Indigenous films can help us to introduce students to the ideological power of myth, specifically in relation to colonialism.
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Many critics have pointed out that when Christianity appears in Margaret Atwood’s work it is patriarchal, authoritarian, closed, institutional, and repressive. Others have indicated the ways in which much of Atwood’s work endorses a... more
Many critics have pointed out that when Christianity appears in Margaret Atwood’s work it is patriarchal, authoritarian, closed, institutional, and repressive. Others have indicated the ways in which much of Atwood’s work endorses a perspective that could be considered implicitly or explicitly religious in other respects. This perspective most often involves a kind of personal “spirituality,” one that is anti-patriarchal, nature-centered, and humanistic—and definitely not Christian. In contrast to this dominant critical understanding, a handful of scholars have noted that, even though Atwood appears to promote a total break with Christianity, her writing in fact at times favors this tradition in certain ways.
Cat’s Eye offers an important example of a text that embodies this complex regard for Christianity, and that also demonstrates Atwood’s trademark use of mimesis. The novel’s religious ambivalence in fact becomes apparent specifically through an examination of its mimetic tropes. This examination is undertaken using two different theoretical approaches—which themselves incorporate considerations of Christianity—provided by the work of Homi Bhabha and René Girard. Bhabha’s model focuses on the relationship between colonialism and mimicry, while Girard’s is concerned with mimetic conflict and sacrifice. Examining Cat’s Eye through the respective lenses of these theories reveals that, although Cat’s Eye offers a critique of Christianity that in many ways mirrors Bhabha’s own, in the end the novel promotes a particular understanding—and affirmation—of the tradition that is fundamentally Girardian.
Cat’s Eye offers an important example of a text that embodies this complex regard for Christianity, and that also demonstrates Atwood’s trademark use of mimesis. The novel’s religious ambivalence in fact becomes apparent specifically through an examination of its mimetic tropes. This examination is undertaken using two different theoretical approaches—which themselves incorporate considerations of Christianity—provided by the work of Homi Bhabha and René Girard. Bhabha’s model focuses on the relationship between colonialism and mimicry, while Girard’s is concerned with mimetic conflict and sacrifice. Examining Cat’s Eye through the respective lenses of these theories reveals that, although Cat’s Eye offers a critique of Christianity that in many ways mirrors Bhabha’s own, in the end the novel promotes a particular understanding—and affirmation—of the tradition that is fundamentally Girardian.
Research Interests: Mimesis, Postcolonial Studies, Canadian Literature, Colonialism, Rene Girard, and 10 moreReligion and Literature, Literature and Religion, Mimetic Theory, René Girard, Margaret Atwood, Homi Bhabha (Cultural Theory), Christianity and Literature, Rene Girard 'Mimetic Theory', Theory of Mimesis, and Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye
There are many ways to think about religion and popular culture. One method is to ask where and when we see what might be commonly understood as "religious tradition(s)" explicitly on display. Another is to think about superhero... more
There are many ways to think about religion and popular culture. One method is to ask where and when we see what might be commonly understood as "religious tradition(s)" explicitly on display. Another is to think about superhero narratives themselves as "religious" , using this term as a conceptual tool for categorizing and thereby better understanding particular dimensions of human experience. This article takes a variety of approaches to understanding religion in relation to the recent television series LUKE CAGE (Netflix, US 2016). These approaches take their hermeneuti-cal cues from a range of disciplines, including studies of the Bible; Hip Hop; gender; Black Theology; African American religion; and philosophy. The results of this analysis highlight the polysemic nature of popular culture in general, and of superhero stories in particular. Like religious traditions themselves, the show is complex and contradictory: it is both progressive and reactionary; emphasizes community and valorizes an individual; critiques and endorses Christianity; subverts and promotes violence. Depending on the questions asked, LUKE CAGE (2016) provides a range of very different answers.
Research Interests: Religion, Gender Studies, Popular Culture, Black Liberation Theology, Process Theology, and 15 moreAlfred North Whitehead, African American Religions, Religion, Media, and Culture, Gender and religion (Women s Studies), Religion and Popular Culture, Hip-Hop Studies, Religion and Media, Superheroes, Marvel Comics, Christian symbolism, Superhero Studies, Superheros, Superhero Studies, Marvel, American Superheroes, and Black Superheroes
This article offers a case study for using problem-based learning (PBL) in a religion and film course. PBL is an open-ended, experiential approach to teaching, which requires students to engage with a real world problem in groups. While... more
This article offers a case study for using problem-based learning (PBL) in a religion and film course. PBL is an open-ended, experiential approach to teaching, which requires students to engage with a real world problem in groups. While many university classes are based on a lecture format and variations of that format, PBL asks students to take greater ownership of their learning. The problem drives what students will learn, how they will learn it, and what they produce to assess that learning. Students in a fourth-year PBL class at the University of Toronto Mississauga were given the following problem: analyze developments in the field of religion and film over the past 20 years through the lens of the Journal of Religion and Film. All four groups of students in the course made significant discoveries in their response to this assignment, and two in particular stood out. These two groups examined patterns evident in how the topics of self-sacrifice and of music were (and were not) discussed in the journal.
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Ten years before he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum produced two editorials calling for the death of all Native American people. These editorials have affected how both Baum’s novel and its 1939 MGM adaptation are... more
Ten years before he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum produced two editorials calling for the death of all Native American people. These editorials have affected how both Baum’s novel and its 1939 MGM adaptation are interpreted. For some, the tale is a utopian vision that vindicates its author, while for others it clearly embodies Baum’s genocidal impulses. This essay explores this hermeneutical issue, arguing that The Wizard of Oz—like “religion” itself—can support opposing interpretations because the world it depicts is complex and contradictory.
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In this paper I discuss the constructive possibilities that nongrading opens up to us as teachers to achieve a number of pedagogical benefits. The specific context that I focus on – online discussion boards – is one that, miraculously,... more
In this paper I discuss the constructive possibilities that nongrading opens up to us as teachers to achieve a number of pedagogical benefits. The specific context that I focus on – online discussion boards – is one that, miraculously, has in some ways made teaching *easier* for me. Renouncing grades will not by any means solve all of our pedagogical challenges, but in certain contexts, I definitely think this approach can help move us in good directions.
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Although none of the articles in this issue on the topic of religion and humor are explicitly about teaching, in many ways all of them in fact share this central focus. In the examples discussed by the four authors, humor is used to... more
Although none of the articles in this issue on the topic of religion and humor are explicitly about teaching, in many ways all of them in fact share this central focus. In the examples discussed by the four authors, humor is used to deconstruct the category of religion; to comment on the distance between orthodoxy and praxis; to censure religion; and to enrich traditions in ways that can be quite self-critical. My response to these articles addresses each of the above lessons in specific relation to experiences I have had in, and strategies I have developed for, teaching a first-year introductory religion course at the University of Toronto.
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A common feature of Canadian Native writing is mimetic violence, both between particular characters and in relation to colonialism. This violence is further linked to Christianity, as Native writers rarely side with the majority of... more
A common feature of Canadian Native writing is mimetic violence, both between particular characters and in relation to colonialism. This violence is further linked to Christianity, as Native writers rarely side with the majority of academics who see brutality and oppression as a complete aberration of religion. The following article considers such links as they occur in three critical Canadian Native texts, and how these texts consequently add a distinctive element to current scholarship concerned with religion and violence.
Research Interests: Native American Religions, Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Religions, Colonialism, and 10 moreIndigenous Literature, Native American Literature (Literature), Paul Tillich, Religion and Literature, Literature and Religion, Mimetic Theory, Post-Colonial Literature, René Girard, Religion and Violence, and Homi Bhabha (Cultural Theory)
When asked for their views on the relation between religion and violence in John Woo's The Killer, students in our religion and film class typically deny that such relations exist. Using René Girard's work on mimesis and sacrifice, we... more
When asked for their views on the relation between religion and violence in John Woo's The Killer, students in our religion and film class typically deny that such relations exist. Using René Girard's work on mimesis and sacrifice, we have argued that it is possible to see that religion and violence in Woo's film are virtually inextricable from one another. Because Girard's theories can clearly be criticized on their own account, and because their application to The Killer is not without problems, we have also used discussions of the film to raise general questions about the use of theory and the meaning of interpretation.
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Although The Epistle of Barnabas is a short and now relatively obscure early Christian text, it has received considerable critical attention. Almost all of this work has focused on the historical aspects of the document: date, authorship,... more
Although The Epistle of Barnabas is a short and now relatively obscure early Christian text, it has received considerable critical attention. Almost all of this work has focused on the historical aspects of the document: date, authorship, social setting, etc. This kind of work is also done with great vigor and success on other early Christian writings, most notably the New Testament. Examination of the canonical sources, however, is supplemented by additional forms of investigation which consider the literary merits of the texts. One of the more important factors responsible for this situation is surely the low esteem in which the epistle is held.
While I might sympathize with some aspects of this picture of Barnabas, I would contend that it should not preclude examining the epistle for insights that are not specifically historical. Such insights in any given text often become apparent in moments of tension, moments which raise questions that lead us beyond the scope of the text itself. One of the more prominent examples of such a moment in Barnabas involves the use of stone imagery to describe Jesus. It is the tension in this imagery that I examine here.
While I might sympathize with some aspects of this picture of Barnabas, I would contend that it should not preclude examining the epistle for insights that are not specifically historical. Such insights in any given text often become apparent in moments of tension, moments which raise questions that lead us beyond the scope of the text itself. One of the more prominent examples of such a moment in Barnabas involves the use of stone imagery to describe Jesus. It is the tension in this imagery that I examine here.
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In this essay I consider questions of diaspora, identity, and religion in Maria Campbell's *Halfbreed* and Beatrice Mosionier's *In Search of April Raintree*. More specifically, my aim is to show the ways in which I have come to see these... more
In this essay I consider questions of diaspora, identity, and religion in Maria Campbell's *Halfbreed* and Beatrice Mosionier's *In Search of April Raintree*. More specifically, my aim is to show the ways in which I have come to see these two texts by Métis women as implicating colonial religion in the diasporic situation of Indigenous people in Canada, and conversely pointing to Indigenous religions – and writings – as critical to the process of recovering a sense of home.
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Diasporas, Indigenous Religions, Metis Studies, Diaspora, and 9 moreIndigenous Literature, Diaspora Studies, Metis Literature, Indigenous Religion, First Nations, Inuit and Metis, Diaspora and Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Diaspora, Indigenous People of Canada, and Metis Women In Canada
In the fall of 2016, I had the tremendous privilege to see three powerful Indigenous movies at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF): Maliglutit, Mahana and Goldstone. Each of these films in their own way arguably functions as... more
In the fall of 2016, I had the tremendous privilege to see three powerful Indigenous movies at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF): Maliglutit, Mahana and Goldstone. Each of these films in their own way arguably functions as medicine in Métis scholar Jo-Ann Episkenew’s sense of the term. In addition, they not only use the colonial medium of film to tell their stories, but all three movies represent a different take on the genre of the American western. They also feature characters using colonial tools and practices, together with Indigenous traditions and epistemologies, as part of their own process of overcoming the specific challenges they face. In this essay, I examine the ways in which these three films explore the Indigenous mixtures of traditional and colonial practices – reinvented rituals – that may help Indigenous peoples heal from the varying traumas of (ongoing) colonial violence.
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Film Analysis, Ritual, Colonialism, and 11 moreDemocracy, Indigenous Peoples, Ritual Studies, Cultural hybridity, Aboriginal Studies, Inuit Art, Maori, Inuit Studies, Aboriginal film, Maori Film, and Indigenous/Aboriginal Film; First Nations Studies; Indigenous Peoples
Many Americans, and a few Canadians, have realized that our criticism of America is often not without a good deal of irony. Thomas King is such a person. King has shown a great interest in American-Canadian relations; as an American... more
Many Americans, and a few Canadians, have realized that our criticism of America is often not without a good deal of irony. Thomas King is such a person. King has shown a great interest in American-Canadian relations; as an American married to a Canadian, and who has written and taught in Canada for almost twenty years – to the extent that he is regarded, by Canadians, as a major Canadian author – his interest and insight is not surprising. As the son of a Cherokee father and a Greek/German mother, it is perhaps also not surprising that King should be similarly concerned with Native/non-Native relations. I will thus consider this triad in King’s writings – American, Canadian, Native – in the light of a particular question of self-righteousness. This question, crudely put, is as follows: Can Natives condemn non-Natives without calling up the same irony as when Canadians condemn Americans?
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Considerations of religion and violence are often particularly useful for discussing the ways in which people make sense of their world. Both terms are loaded, as it were, and many students have strong — at times intractable — opinions on... more
Considerations of religion and violence are often particularly useful for discussing the ways in which people make sense of their world. Both terms are loaded, as it were, and many students have strong — at times intractable — opinions on the relations between them. But the very strength of these opinions can be used as a lever to uncover key preconceptions and shed some critical light on what supports them. Certain films may facilitate this process, sometimes in surprising ways. In this essay I discuss a variety of ways in which I have used different movies as pedagogical tools to raise some relatively complex questions about religion and violence.
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A review of Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe (2023), directed by Robert McCallum.
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A review of Hey, Viktor! (2023) directed by Cody Lightning.
Research Interests: Religion, Religion and Film, Indigenous Film, Canadian film, Film And Video Art In Canada, and 9 moreReligious Studies, Native Americans in Film, Sherman Alexie, Canadian Film and Television, Native American Film, Film and Religion, Native Film Studies, Toronto International Film Festival, and Chris Eyre
A review of Limbo (2023), directed by Ivan Sen.
Research Interests: Religion, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Religion and Film, Colonialism, Film Noir, and 10 moreAustralian film, Neo-Noir, Religious Studies, Aboriginal Australia, Outback of Australia, Film and Religion, Aboriginal film, Indigenous/Aboriginal Film; First Nations Studies; Indigenous Peoples, Ivan Sen, and Toronto International Film Festival
A review of This Place (2022), directed by V.T. Nayani.
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A review of Stellar (2022), directed by Darlene Naponse.
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A review of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), directed by Rian Johnson.
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A review of Where Is Anne Frank (2021), directed by Ari Folman.
Research Interests: Religion and Film, Second World War, World War II, Films of World War 2, Second World War (History), and 9 moreHolocaust, The Holocaust, Anne Frank, Holocaust and Film, World War II Film, The Second World War, Film and Religion, Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl, and Toronto International Film Festival
A discussion of the 2018 film Black Panther in relation to notions of apocalypse and colonialism. This is one of a series of reviews of Black Panther published in the same issue of the Journal of Religion & Film.... more
A discussion of the 2018 film Black Panther in relation to notions of apocalypse and colonialism. This is one of a series of reviews of Black Panther published in the same issue of the Journal of Religion & Film.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol22/iss1/42/
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol22/iss1/42/
Research Interests: Black Studies Or African American Studies, Film Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Black/African Diaspora, Film Analysis, and 12 moreReligion and Film, Colonialism, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Post-Colonialism, Religion and Popular Culture, Film and Media Studies, Superheroes, Marvel Comics, Superhero Studies, Black Superheroes, Black Panther, and Marvel Cinematic Universe
A review of Waru (2017), directed by Briar Grace-Smith, Ainsley Gardiner, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Awanui Simich-Pene, Chelsea Cohen, Katie Wolfe, and Paula Jones.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol21/iss2/21/
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol21/iss2/21/
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Film Studies, New Zealand Studies, Film Analysis, and 15 moreReligion and Film, Indigenous Religions, Colonialism, Australian and New Zealand Cinema, Indigenous Peoples, Film and Media Studies, Women and Film, Patriarchy, Women directors, New Zealand, Maori, Women filmmakers, Maori Studies, Maori Film, and Toronto International Film Festival
A review of The Shape of Water (2017), directed by Guillermo del Toro.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol21/iss2/22/
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol21/iss2/22/
Research Interests: Religion, Film Studies, Film Analysis, Religion and Film, Monsters and Monster Theory, and 8 moreFilm and Media Studies, Religious Studies, Guillermo del Toro, Monsters and the Monstrous, Creature From the Black Lagoon, Mexcian cinema, Guillermo del Toro, Film and Religion, and Toronto International Film Festival
An introduction to ideas about religion in relation to the 41st Toronto International Film Festival
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A review of Goldstone (2015), directed by Ivan Sen.
http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol20/iss3/33/
http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol20/iss3/33/
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Film Studies, Indigenous Film, Colonialism, Post-Colonialism, and 11 moreFilm Noir, Indigenous Peoples, Australian film, Neo-Noir, Cinema Studies, Australian Aborigines, Aboriginal film, Detective Films, Indigenous/Aboriginal Film; First Nations Studies; Indigenous Peoples, Ivan Sen, and Toronto International Film Festival
A comparative review of Gimme Danger (2016), directed by Jim Jarmusch, and Leehom Wang's Open Fire Concert Film (2016), directed by Homeboy Music, Inc.
http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol20/iss3/17/
http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol20/iss3/17/
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A review of Mahana/The Patriarch (2016), directed by Lee Tamahori.
http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol20/iss3/16/
http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol20/iss3/16/
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Film Studies, New Zealand Studies, Religion and Film, and 14 moreIndigenous Religions, Colonialism, Australian and New Zealand Cinema, Cinema, Indigenous Peoples, Film, Cinema Studies, Patriarchy, Lee Tamahori, New Zealand, Maori, Maori Studies, Maori Film, and Toronto International Film Festival
A review of Arrival (2015), directed by Denis Villeneuve.
http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol20/iss3/15/
http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol20/iss3/15/
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A brief pedagogical review of Jo-Ann Episkenew's Taking Back Our Spirits.
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A brief pedagogical review of Malory Nye's *Religion: The Basics*.
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Pretty much from the first moment I stepped into a classroom as a TA in grad school, I have loved teaching. But teaching is also difficult, for all kinds of reasons. I often find myself struggling to keep my spirits up in the face of... more
Pretty much from the first moment I stepped into a classroom as a TA in grad school, I have loved teaching.
But teaching is also difficult, for all kinds of reasons. I often find myself struggling to keep my spirits up in the face of all this. I need to regularly be reminded to do things that help bring back my sense of joy in teaching.
One approach that works well for me is to simply try to include some fun and silliness in what I do. And to make space for students to do this also.
But teaching is also difficult, for all kinds of reasons. I often find myself struggling to keep my spirits up in the face of all this. I need to regularly be reminded to do things that help bring back my sense of joy in teaching.
One approach that works well for me is to simply try to include some fun and silliness in what I do. And to make space for students to do this also.
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A description of (and reflection on) my experiences teaching with Indigenous films in different courses at the University of Toronto.
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Long long ago, before we had ever heard the terms "coronavirus," "social distancing," or "flattening the curve," I decided that a key assignment in the Introduction to the Study of Religion (RLG101H) would involve students visiting a... more
Long long ago, before we had ever heard the terms "coronavirus," "social distancing," or "flattening the curve," I decided that a key assignment in the Introduction to the Study of Religion (RLG101H) would involve students visiting a religious site about which they knew as as little as possible. While there, they would participate in activities with members of that community, making as many observations as possible about these activities, the people, and the space in which everything took place.
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Undergraduate students often have misconceptions about our office hours. Many worry that they must have particularly thoughtful or deep questions to bring to office hours, and the prospect of visiting a professor in their personal office... more
Undergraduate students often have misconceptions about our office hours. Many worry that they must have particularly thoughtful or deep questions to bring to office hours, and the prospect of visiting a professor in their personal office can be intimidating. From the instructor’s point of view, office hours can provide deeper connections with students (particularly from large lecture classes), offer opportunities for targeted individual feedback, and build students’ confidence with course material.
In order to address these asymmetrical attitudes toward office hours, we – three instructors from Historical Studies, Mathematics, and Visual Studies – have been experimenting with holding our office hours in public spaces such as cafés and student centres. In short, we have rebranded traditional office hours as “public office hours” and, in our collective experience, this change has three key outcomes: it promotes equity, diversity and inclusion; fosters community and collaborative problem solving; and reduces common hurdles to help-seeking behaviour among our students.
In this note, we discuss common student misconceptions surrounding traditional office hours; suggest how public office hours can be more equitable; relate our experiences with the collaborative and communal aspects of public office hours; and conclude with a brief account of our own histories with public office hours, showing that they can be of use to instructors and students across the disciplines.
In order to address these asymmetrical attitudes toward office hours, we – three instructors from Historical Studies, Mathematics, and Visual Studies – have been experimenting with holding our office hours in public spaces such as cafés and student centres. In short, we have rebranded traditional office hours as “public office hours” and, in our collective experience, this change has three key outcomes: it promotes equity, diversity and inclusion; fosters community and collaborative problem solving; and reduces common hurdles to help-seeking behaviour among our students.
In this note, we discuss common student misconceptions surrounding traditional office hours; suggest how public office hours can be more equitable; relate our experiences with the collaborative and communal aspects of public office hours; and conclude with a brief account of our own histories with public office hours, showing that they can be of use to instructors and students across the disciplines.
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My syllabus for RLG401H, taught in the winter 2016 term.
Research Interests: Religion, Teaching and Learning, Religion and Film, Learning and Teaching, Pedagogy, and 6 moreProblem Based Learning, Problem-Based Learning, Religious Studies, Syllabus, Religion and literature, film, media, and popular culture; global Christianity; postcolonial and cultural theory, and Film and Religion
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This is a comparative film review of Gimme Danger (2016), directed by Jim Jarmusch, and Leehom Wang\u27s Open Fire Concert Film (2016), directed by Homeboy Music, Inc
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When asked for their views on the relation between religion and violence in John Woo's The Killer, students in our religion and film class typically deny that such relations exist. Using René Girard's work on mimesis and... more
When asked for their views on the relation between religion and violence in John Woo's The Killer, students in our religion and film class typically deny that such relations exist. Using René Girard's work on mimesis and sacrifice, we have argued that it is possible to see that religion and violence in Woo's film are virtually inextricable from one another. Because Girard's theories can clearly be criticized on their own account, and because their application to The Killer is not without problems, we have also used discussions of the film to raise general questions about the use of theory and the meaning of interpretation. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol5/iss1/3/
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Research Interests: History, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Film Studies, New Zealand Studies, and 15 moreReligion and Film, Indigenous Religions, Colonialism, Australian and New Zealand Cinema, Cinema, Indigenous Peoples, Film, Cinema Studies, Patriarchy, Lee Tamahori, New Zealand, Maori, Maori Studies, Clan, and Cherokee
This is a film review of Waru (2017), directed by Briar Grace-Smith, Ainsley Gardiner, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Awanui Simich-Pene, Chelsea Cohen, Katie Wolfe, and Paula Jones
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When asked for their views on the relation between religion and violence in John Woo\u27s The Killer, students in our religion and film class typically deny that such relations exist. Using René Girard\u27s work on mimesis and sacrifice,... more
When asked for their views on the relation between religion and violence in John Woo\u27s The Killer, students in our religion and film class typically deny that such relations exist. Using René Girard\u27s work on mimesis and sacrifice, we have argued that it is possible to see that religion and violence in Woo\u27s film are virtually inextricable from one another. Because Girard\u27s theories can clearly be criticized on their own account, and because their application to The Killer is not without problems, we have also used discussions of the film to raise general questions about the use of theory and the meaning of interpretation
There are many ways to think about religion and popular culture. One method is to ask where and when we see what might be commonly understood as "religious tradition(s)" explicitly on display. Another is to think about... more
There are many ways to think about religion and popular culture. One method is to ask where and when we see what might be commonly understood as "religious tradition(s)" explicitly on display. Another is to think about superhero narratives themselves as "religious" , using this term as a conceptual tool for categorizing and thereby better understanding particular dimensions of human experience. This article takes a variety of approaches to understanding religion in relation to the recent television series LUKE CAGE (Netflix, US 2016). These approaches take their hermeneuti-cal cues from a range of disciplines, including studies of the Bible; Hip Hop; gender; Black Theology; African American religion; and philosophy. The results of this analysis highlight the polysemic nature of popular culture in general, and of superhero stories in particular. Like religious traditions themselves, the show is complex and contradictory: it is both progressive and reactionary; emphasizes community and valorizes an individual; critiques and endorses Christianity; subverts and promotes violence. Depending on the questions asked, LUKE CAGE (2016) provides a range of very different answers. http://www.jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/view/79
Research Interests: Religion, Gender Studies, Popular Culture, Black Liberation Theology, Process Theology, and 13 moreAlfred North Whitehead, African American Religions, Gender and religion (Women s Studies), Religion and Popular Culture, Religion and Media, Superheroes, Marvel Comics, Christian symbolism, Superhero Studies, Marvel, Hip Hop Studies, American Superheroes, and Black Superheroes
Although none of the articles in this issue on the topic of religion and humor are explicitly about teaching, in many ways all of them in fact share this central focus. In the examples discussed by the four authors, humor is used to... more
Although none of the articles in this issue on the topic of religion and humor are explicitly about teaching, in many ways all of them in fact share this central focus. In the examples discussed by the four authors, humor is used to deconstruct the category of religion; to comment on the distance between orthodoxy and praxis; to censure religion; and to enrich traditions in ways that can be quite self-critical. My response to these articles addresses each of the above lessons in specific relation to experiences I have had in, and strategies I have developed for, teaching a first-year introductory religion course at the University of Toronto.
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Ten years before he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum produced two editorials calling for the death of all Native American people. These editorials have affected how both Baum’s novel and its 1939 MGM adaptation are... more
Ten years before he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum produced two editorials calling for the death of all Native American people. These editorials have affected how both Baum’s novel and its 1939 MGM adaptation are interpreted. For some, the tale is a utopian vision that vindicates its author, while for others it clearly embodies Baum’s genocidal impulses. This essay explores this hermeneutical issue, arguing that The Wizard of Oz—like “religion” itself—can support opposing interpretations because the world it depicts is complex and contradictory.
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This article offers a case study for using problem-based learning (PBL) in a religion and film course. PBL is an open-ended, experiential approach to teaching, which requires students to engage with a real world problem in groups. While... more
This article offers a case study for using problem-based learning (PBL) in a religion and film course. PBL is an open-ended, experiential approach to teaching, which requires students to engage with a real world problem in groups. While many university classes are based on a lecture format and variations of that format, PBL asks students to take greater ownership of their learning. The problem drives what students will learn, how they will learn it, and what they produce to assess that learning. Students in a fourth-year PBL class at the University of Toronto Mississauga were given the following problem: analyze developments in the field of religion and film over the past 20 years through the lens of the Journal of Religion and Film. All four groups of students in the course made significant discoveries in their response to this assignment, and two in particular stood out. These two groups examined patterns evident in how the topics of self-sacrifice and of music were (and were not)...
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Research Interests: Bible and J G Ballard
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This is a film review of Arrival (2015), directed by Denis Villeneuve . Author Notes Ken Derry is Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). Since 2011 he... more
This is a film review of Arrival (2015), directed by Denis Villeneuve . Author Notes Ken Derry is Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). Since 2011 he has been a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Religion and Film, and since 2012 he has been the Co-chair of the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group for the American Academy of Religion. Aside from religion and film his teaching and research interests include considerations of religion in relation to literature, violence, popular culture, pedagogy, and Indigenous traditions. He is the recipient of the 2013 UTM Teaching Excellence Award. This toronto international film festival review is available in Journal of Religion & Film: http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/ vol20/iss3/15
... then, how three of the most influential Canadian Native writers in EnglishMaria Campbell, Beatrice Culleton ... C. Theories of Mimesis As noted above, the main exception to such studies, and to ... if this is precisely what happens... more
... then, how three of the most influential Canadian Native writers in EnglishMaria Campbell, Beatrice Culleton ... C. Theories of Mimesis As noted above, the main exception to such studies, and to ... if this is precisely what happens in the works of a number of Canadian Native writers ...
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... the hearts of stone and I will put in hearts of flesh. Because he himself was going to manifest in the flesh and to dwell among us. (Barn. 6:14) Barnabas makes this reference in the midst of discussing the meaning of the promises God... more
... the hearts of stone and I will put in hearts of flesh. Because he himself was going to manifest in the flesh and to dwell among us. (Barn. 6:14) Barnabas makes this reference in the midst of discussing the meaning of the promises God made to Abraham (Barn. 6:1319). ...
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When asked for their views on the relation between religion and violence in John Woo's The Killer, students in our religion and film class typically deny that such relations exist. Using René Girard's work on mimesis and... more
When asked for their views on the relation between religion and violence in John Woo's The Killer, students in our religion and film class typically deny that such relations exist. Using René Girard's work on mimesis and sacrifice, we have argued that it is possible to see that religion and violence in Woo's film are virtually inextricable from one another. Because Girard's theories can clearly be criticized on their own account, and because their application to The Killer is not without problems, we have also used discussions of the film to raise general questions about the use of theory and the meaning of interpretation. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol5/iss1/3/
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This article offers a case study for using problem-based learning (PBL) in a religion and film course. PBL is an open-ended, experiential approach to teaching, which requires students to engage with a real world problem in groups. While... more
This article offers a case study for using problem-based learning (PBL) in a religion and film course. PBL is an open-ended, experiential approach to teaching, which requires students to engage with a real world problem in groups. While many university classes are based on a lecture format and variations of that format, PBL asks students to take greater ownership of their learning. The problem drives what students will learn, how they will learn it, and what they produce to assess that learning. Students in a fourth-year PBL class at the University of Toronto Mississauga were given the following problem: analyze developments in the field of religion and film over the past 20 years through the lens of the Journal of Religion and Film. All four groups of students in the course made significant discoveries in their response to this assignment, and two in particular stood out. These two groups examined patterns evident in how the topics of self-sacrifice and of music were (and were not)...
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It would be difficult to find two performers more completely, fundamentally opposite to one another than Iggy Pop, frontman for proto-punk band the Stooges, and Leehom Wang, international Chinese-American pop superstar. The stark... more
It would be difficult to find two performers more completely, fundamentally opposite to one another than Iggy Pop, frontman for proto-punk band the Stooges, and Leehom Wang, international Chinese-American pop superstar. The stark differences between these men are made very apparent in two documentaries that premiered at TIFF: Gimme Danger., Jim Jarmusch's love letter to Iggy and the Stooges; and Leehom Wang's Open Fire Concert Film, which focuses on Wang's unprecedented sold-out performance at Beijing's Bird Nest stadium in 2012. Among these differences:* Iggy and the Stooges were commercial failures and disbanded in 1974 after less than seven years together; Wang has been spectacularly successful over a career lasting two decades and which is going stronger than ever;* Wang's lyrics typically idealize and objectify the target of his affections ("You are the grace of an angel / You are my favorite concubine"); Pop's approach to relationships is more...
This is one of a series of films reviews of Black Panther (2018), directed by Ryan Coogler.
September 8-18, 2016http://www.tiff.net/tiff/The closest subway station to the heart of the Toronto International Film Festival is St. Andrew, at the intersection of King Street and University Avenue. The station is named for the nearby... more
September 8-18, 2016http://www.tiff.net/tiff/The closest subway station to the heart of the Toronto International Film Festival is St. Andrew, at the intersection of King Street and University Avenue. The station is named for the nearby historic Presbyterian church, which for 11 days in September each year is very much eclipsed by TIFF as a site of worship. As with many other communal rituals, regular daily operations are suspended and transformed during the festival. One of the most prominent - and, for non festival-goers, disruptive - changes is that King Street itself, a key east-west thoroughfare, is closed to traffic for several blocks during TIFF's opening weekend, and filled with unfamiliar sights and activities.People from around the world take part in the annual pilgrimage to TIFF. They agonize over which specific films to watch and then agonize again as they try to get tickets to those films, or to take their chances in a rush line. They form bonds with fellow pilgrims...
The past few times that I have taught my course on religion and film I have included a number of Indigenous movies. The response from students has been entirely positive, in part because most of them have rarely encountered Indigenous... more
The past few times that I have taught my course on religion and film I have included a number of Indigenous movies. The response from students has been entirely positive, in part because most of them have rarely encountered Indigenous cultural products of any kind, especially contemporary ones. Students also respond well to the way in which many of these films use notions of the monstrous to explore, and explode, colonial myths. Goldstone, for example, by Kamilaroi filmmaker Ivan Sen, draws on noir tropes to peel back the smiling masks of the people responsible for the mining town’s success, revealing their underlying monstrosity. Similarly, Mi’gmaq Jeff Barnaby’s debut feature Rhymes for Young Ghouls makes cinematic allusions to 1970s horror films in its depiction of the residential school system. In this paper, I will draw on these examples to discuss how examination of the monstrous in Indigenous films can help us to introduce students to the ideological power of myth, specifically in relation to colonialism. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol22/iss3/7/
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This is a film review of The Shape of Water (2017), directed by Guillermo del Toro. This toronto international film festival review is available in Journal of Religion & Film: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/ vol21/iss2/22 The... more
This is a film review of The Shape of Water (2017), directed by Guillermo del Toro. This toronto international film festival review is available in Journal of Religion & Film: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/ vol21/iss2/22 The Shape of Water (2017), dir. Guillermo del Toro In various ways, Guillermo del Toro’s wonderful new film The Shape of Water is not very subtle. This is perhaps fitting for what is essentially a kind of adult fairy tale; heroes and villains, triumphs and tragedies, are drawn in big, broad strokes. In the opening voiceover the main character is referred to as “the princess without voice,” while the man who opposes her is “the monster that tried to destroy it all.” One of the film’s themes involves the dangers of knowledge and hubris, and so of course there’s a cat named Pandora who (spoiler alert!) comes to a bad end by sticking her nose where she shouldn’t. This is a movie that tends to express its views very directly, much like the creature at the center...
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Released as Mahana in New Zealand, The Patriarch arrives with an impressive Maori cinematic pedigree: it is directed by Lee Tamahori, who made 1994's landmark Once Were Warriors, and is based on a novel by Witi Ihimaera, author of... more
Released as Mahana in New Zealand, The Patriarch arrives with an impressive Maori cinematic pedigree: it is directed by Lee Tamahori, who made 1994's landmark Once Were Warriors, and is based on a novel by Witi Ihimaera, author of Whale Rider. The film is set in the early 1960s on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, and tells the story of the Mahana family and their feud with the neighboring Poatas. We learn of the feud in one of the first scenes, as the two families dangerously race each other to a funeral. When the two lines of cars approach a one-way bridge at top speed, the Poatas are forced to skid off the road or risk someone getting badly hurt or killed.As with Once Were Warriors, colonialism is rarely critiqued directly in this film, but is still clearly implicated in many of the hardships faced by the Maori. The race to the funeral, for example, is part of an ongoing competition for the sheep shearing contract from the settler Collins clan, whose own patr...
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Guest editors' foreword for a special double issue festschrift in honour of Professor Michel Desjardins.