2025 International Conference of Religion and Film

 In Boston, Massachusetts!

Thursday, May 29
Afternoon		Boston tours for those interested
4:30p	BU Castle	Registration; Wine and cheese reception
5:30p	BU Castle	Dinner with opening remarks by Dean Bryan Stone
7:30p	CAS B12	Film Screening: Mass (2021), with discussion following moderated by John Lyden
Friday morning until 3pm--Boston explore
Friday, May 30
8:00a	STH	Registration; Coffee, fruit, pastries
8:30-10:15a	CAS B12	Plenary Session #1 – Simulating Religious Violence (2024)
		Screening of Simulating Religious Violence followed by conversation with the filmmakers and researchers
10:15-10:30a	STH	Break – Coffee, Fruit, Pastries
10:30a-12:00p	First Presentation Block
	CAS 211	Concurrent Paper Session 1a: Reflections on Systemic Violence Josh Neuberger (moderator)
		Kendall Doty (Boston University School of Theology, U.S.), “Whose Violence Counts? A Critique of the 2024 Film Simulating Religious Violence”
		Dohyung Cha (Boston University School of Theology, U.S.), “A Meta-Future Crafter: MLK Jr. as an Applied Psychologist in Selma (2014)”
		Javier Fernandez (California State University, Long Beach, U.S.), “‘Ohana’ Means Some Get Left Behind: An Examination of Displacement, Post-Colonialism, and Religious Syncretism in Disney’s 2002 Lilo and Stitch”
	CAS 211	Concurrent Paper Session 1b: AI and Altered Realities Regan Hardeman (moderator)
		Heather Bigley (BYUradio), “An articulation of God-anxiety in recent AI-films”
		Jaira Koh (Boston University School of Theology, U.S.), “Radicalising Theological Anthropology with Her”
		Anne-Marie Fowler (University of Toronto, Canada), “Origin and Creation Illuminate Violence to Time-lines: A Reading of James Ward Byrkit’s Coherence (2013)”
12:00-1:30p		Lunch Break (on your own, or we may have boxed lunches for those who prefer)
1:30-3:00p	Second Presentation Block
	CAS 211	Concurrent Paper Session 2a: Philosophical perspectives Jaira Koh (moderator)
		Joseph Kickasola (Baylor University, U.S.), “Bazin Redux: Realism Re-Considered”
		Pablo Alzola Cerero (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain), “Malick and Dostoevsky: the Pursuit of Beauty, Wonder, and Love”
		Srdjan Sremac (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), “Cinematic Truth-Telling and the Limits of Representation: Film, Trauma and the Sacred”
	CAS 224	Concurrent Paper Session 2b (Christian influence in cinema) Mike Heyes (moderator)
		Brenda Cuellar Marines (National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico), “Virtue and Vice: Catholic Values and Class Stratification”
		Javier Ortiz Echague (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos), “Burning to Fly: the Journey of the Dark Night in José Val del Omar’s Fuego en Castilla (1960)”
		Richard Lindsay (Graduate Theological Union), “Extra or Star? The ‘Jesus-Adjacent’ Film in Postwar Hollywood”
3:00-3:30p	STH	Break – Snacks
3:30-5:00p	Third Presentation Block
	CAS 211	Concurrent Paper Session 3a: Islamic Cinema James Thrall (moderator)
		Kristian Petersen (Old Dominion University, U.S.), “Queer Muslims in North American Cinema”
		Adnan Hussain (University of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), Joyland and the invisible world of trans people in an Islamic State
		David Sander (Stonehill College, U.S.), “Sword and the Soul: A Comparative Analysis of Japanese and Islamic Cinema”
	CAS 224	Concurrent Paper Session 3b: Horror cinema Bryan Stone (moderator)
		Mike Heyes (Lycoming College, U.S.), “Longlegs Has Long Reach: The Influence of the Satanic Panic on Contemporary Media”
		Preston Blakely (University of Mississippi, U.S.), “Early American (Eco)theologies of Horror in Robert Eggers’s The Witch: A New-England Folktale (2015)”
		Taylor Thomas, “How Nosferatu Challenges Our Understanding of Agency”
5:00-7:30p		Dinner break (on your own)
7:30p	CAS B12	Film Screening: Troubled Water (with discussion following moderated by Gereon Terhorst and Douglas Finn)
Saturday, May 31
8:00a	STH	Coffee, fruit, pastries
8:30-9:45a	CAS B12	Plenary Session #2 – Reflections on Troubled Water (2008)
		Gereon Terhorst (University of Muenster, Germany), “Holy Communion and Reconciliation: Liturgical Insights from Erik Poppe’s Troubled Water”
		Douglas Finn (Assumption University, U.S.), “Memory, evil, grace, and forgiveness in Erik Poppe’s 2008 film Troubled Water” *Get title*
	GET READY FOR PRESENTATION
10:00-11:30a	Fourth Presentation Block
	CAS 224	Concurrent Paper Session 4a: Religious Responses to Trauma and Violence Rachel Wagner (moderator)
		Eric Martin (Loyola Marymount University, U.S.), “Antifascist Critique & Theology in Costa-Gavras”
		Alex Setliff (Lycoming College, U.S.), “The Word of God in Martin Scorsese’s Silence“
		James Thrall (Knox College, U.S.), “Ritual, Conflict, and Loss in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Still Walking (Aruitemo aruitemo)”
	CAS 224	Concurrent Paper Session 4b: Saints and Heros John Lyden (moderator)
		Dennis Etzel, Jr. (Washburn University, U.S.), “‘The Hero We Need’: The Batman as a Modern Mythology and Christian Symbolism Moving from Conflict to Resolution with the Struggle between Hypermasculinity and Healing from Trauma”
		Fred Mason (University of New Brunswick, Canada), “The (Apo)Theosis of Rocky Balboa”
		Mariola Marczak (University of Warmia and Mazury, Poland), Life for Life: Maximilian Kolbe and Martyrdom
11:30-1:00p		Lunch (on your own)
1:00-2:30p	Fifth Presentation Block
	CAS 211	Concurrent Paper Session 5a: Visions of Reconciliation Joe Kickasola (moderator)
		Hessam Abedini (University of Oregon, U.S.), “The Sacred Act of Burial: Death Rituals as Reconciliation from Firdausi’s Shahnameh to Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry (1997)”
		Irena Sever Globan (Catholic University of Croatia), “The Role of Female Characters in Constructing the World of Peace and Reconciliation”
		Rachel Wagner (Ithaca College, U.S.), “‘Worlding Worlds’: Worldbuilding Is Not Neutral”
	CAS 224	Concurrent Paper Session 5b: Buddhism and Hinduism Kristian Petersen (moderator)
		Kathy Lin (Georgetown University), “The Parable of the Gut-shot Deer: A Neo-Confucian and Buddho-Daoist Vision of Ecological Redemption in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist”
		Shankar Ramaswami (O.P. Jindal Global University, India), “Religion, Politics, and Nonviolence: Meanings of Dharma in Cinematic Retellings of the Ramayana“
		Nikky Singh (Colby College) “When the Other is the Self: Religious Harmony and Religious Violence in Yash Chopra’s Dharmputra”
2:30-3:00p	STH	Snack Break
3:00-4:30p	Sixth Presentation Block
	CAS 211	Concurrent Paper Session 6a: Reconciliation and Sacrifice Rebekah Neuberger (moderator)
		Caralyn Ware (Iliff School of Theology/University of Colorado, U.S.), “Selfless Sacrifice: Moral Injury, Spiritual Violence, and Reconciliation in Avatar: The Last Airbender”
		John Lyden (University of Nebraska, Omaha, U.S.), “Killing Christ Again: Film Violence and the Function of Sacrifice”
	CAS 224	Concurrent Paper Session 6b: Religion and the Secular TBD (moderator)
		Mohammed Mehdi Kimiagari (Brown University, U.S.), “Affective Nexus of the Sacred/Secular: The Cinematic Screen and the Reconfiguration of the Immanent Frame”
		Kianna Mahony (Harvard Divinity School, U.S.), “The Practice of Crafting Meaning and Morality in the Secular Community by Reflecting on Movies”
		Henry Shiu (Emmanuel College of Victoria University – University of Toronto, Canada), “Breaking the Hell’s Gate: Exploring Post-Secularism, Feminism, Religious and Cultural Tensions in The Last Dance”
4:30p	STH	Concluding words and farewell

 

Alamo Drafthouse Film

https://drafthouse.com/boston

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https://maps.app.goo.gl/DPjsGukw6QqHQzkq8

The Brattle Theatre

Even if you don’t recognize any title on this arthouse theater’s schedule, you’ll certainly leave entertained—no matter what early-aughts indie or spine-chilling silent film is on the big screen. (Nosferatu circa 1922, anyone?)

40 Brattle St., Cambridge, brattlefilm.org.

 

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https://maps.app.goo.gl/aNF5HjmVHiSjv4e97

Coolidge Corner Theatre

Fresh off a $15 million makeover, this Brookline institution balances sleek upgrades with its cherished community vibe. New hits, cult faves, and 70 mm showings still grace its screens.

290 Harvard St., Brookline, coolidge.org.

 

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https://www.somervilletheatre.com/

 

 

Sunday morning

good bye, Boston!

superhero films university course

 I really hadn't thought about checking it again to see what other universities are offering a superhero films kind of class.

I'm amazed! I'm in good company.

From Washburn University and topeka, kansas,

Advice for marriage

So a student submitted a help card in class and wanted it to be a private discussion. However, this advice is really good for me to reflect on. The truth is, I can never stop taking my own advice. So here it is.

Congratulations on the possibility of marriage on the horizon!

That's fantastic, that you and your girlfriend will be taking marital classes. I'm honored that you would reach out to me for advice because I absolutely love being married and having children. I'm not implying that you should have children, but I can definitely give advice for success.

When Carrie and I started dating, she asked me what she should know about me. I immediately said that even though I do my best to listen, I will most likely forget a lot of what is said. 

So being graceful with each other, understanding that these things you don't mean to do might happen is really important.

That's what they mean by open communication. Communication communication communication. It never ends.

For me, it was coming from a family that never communicated, by which I mean expressing the needs people have with other people being open to fulfilling them.

There are also healthy ways to help with conflict, as conflict is unavoidable. We as a culture aren't taught how to remain calm, discuss things out of "I feel" language. 

Here is what Google AI said when I asked (see below)

Also, to make sure that you have strong connections with other couples and friends. When I dated someone unhealthy for me, I lost many of my friends. It's important to have those connections so that even the emotional work doesn't have to be burdened to one person.

I like what Carrie says, that she and her female friends will sometimes complain about their husbands on the light side, but also like to brag about us. I mean really, there are times where I will forget to cook a vegetable as part of a dinner because Carrie is often doing most of the cooking.

Maybe that's also another good thing to think about, to really establish who will be solar responsible for what as well as what is co-equally responsible. For example, it is equally my responsibility to have a clean house if I come in from work and see that it is trashed. Having five kids, the house is always trashed. Hahaha

Even though I pay all of the bills because I love doing that, keeping track of the money coming in and how it will be distributed, Carrie has full access to what I'm doing. She has full access to look at the accounts and I also share with her my spreadsheet of what came in, what the expenses were, and what spending we have for the rest of the month.

I guess like anything, balance work with home life, balance self-care time with partner time with friend time. I know that all I ever wanted to do was be with Carrie when we were dating, but I'm also glad that we did hang out with our friends individually. Sometimes we hosted a group at our apartment back then.

Anyway, thank you for asking again. I'm guessing I have more tips, but I'll close here as I've written an entire essay!

Prof D

To have open communication and manage conflict with a partner, focus on actively listening, using "I" statements to express your feelings, avoiding blame, choosing a calm moment to discuss issues, practicing empathy, and being open to compromise, while ensuring you both feel heard and respected throughout the conversation.

2024 Anhinga Prize for Poetry

With a big thank you to Kristine Snodgrass! This means so much to me during a time where the poems don't come as they have due to my health. 

 

Dear Dennis Etzel, Jr.,

Thank you for your submission, The War in the War: an ars poetica memoir. 

Our staff is very grateful that you trusted Anhinga Press with your submission and we really enjoyed reading your poetry. We employ readers and judges who write and publish, as you do, and who know what it feels like to go through this process. It is a privilege to be able to spend time with such outstanding work.

To follow are the selections for the 2024 Anhinga Prize for Poetry. 

Anhinga Press is pleased to announce:

Winning Selection

Origin of Wounds by Malik Rasaq chosen by Kaveh Bassiri.

 

Finalists chosen by Kaveh Bassiri: 

Rivermouth Shouting by Jean Gallagher 

The Conditions by Jacob Griffin Hall 

Says the Wolf By Becka McKay 

 

Semi-Finalists:

Bluecollar Eclogue by Jay Brecker 

Rot by Randi Clemons 

Earthly Paradise of Carteret by Chris McCann

The War within the War by Denis Etzel Jr

Ghost in the Archive by Jennifer Lloyd

Sincerely,

Kristine Snodgrass

Co-director 

Anhinga Press

Conferences plan

 Waiting to hear back from ncte

and from International Conference on Religion & Film

in March? 

for May>>already asked for

Register for conference money in August

Either for ncte?

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Upcoming course schedule change and plans

 Fall 2024

Submit for Fall 2025 Sabbatical

EN 210 Online (cross-listed with EN 399 and RG 300)

EN 101 MWF 9:00-9:50

EN 101 MWF 10-10:50

EN 300 Online nursing emphasis

 

Spring 2025

MWF 8:00-8:50 EN 300

MWF 9:00-9:50 EN 206

MWF 11:00-11:50 EN 300

Mon. 5:30-8:00 EN 190/390

 

 

Fall 2025

sabbatical

 

 

 

Spring 2026

Beginning Poetry (206): Etzel

Superhero Films 

Fall 2026

EN210

Spring 2027

Beginning Poetry (206): Etzel

Beginning Nonfiction (207): Etzel

 

 

Fall 2027

EN210

Spring 2028

Beginning Poetry (206): Etzel

Fall 2028

 EN210

At the Movies

 Themes

Genre

Mythology and religion and philosophy and psychology

Vietnam

Two lesbian mothers

Neuroqueerness

Superheroes

Everything everywhere all at once

Mental rom-coms

Places that movie theaters are

The positive Trickster

Self-care Cinema therapy

I'm from Topeka Kansas and so are you

Art Plus capitalism equals emptiness

What does it mean to write a memoir, film as memoir

Generative Poetic Practices like the HBO guide and analyzing it back and forth and everywhere

Phenomenon philosophy, indie VS corporate, loss of the Dickinson theater, while Atchison rallied

In a dead end job

At the movies in December, the best movies come out, reflection, snow storms and the beauty of Silence