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Robert Woods

By on March 27, 2017 in Faculty Publications

Healey, Kevin, and Robert H. Woods. “Processing Is Not Judgment, Storage Is Not Memory: A Critique of Silicon Valley’s Moral Catechism.” Journal Of Media Ethics 32, no. 1 (January 2017): 2-15. doi:10.1080/23736992.2016.1258990

Abstract: This article critiques contemporary applications of the computational metaphor, popular among Silicon Valley technologists, that views individuals and culture through the lens of computer and information systems. Taken literally, this metaphor has become entrenched as a quasi-religious ideology that obscures the moral and political-economic gatekeeping power of technology elites. Through an examination of algorithmic processing applications and life-logging devices, the authors highlight the inequitable consequences of the tendency, in popular media and marketing rhetoric, to collapse the distinctions between processing and judgment, storage and memory. Such distinctions are necessary for an ethical development of more equitable digital environments.

Robert Woods & Caleb Chan

By on May 11, 2016 in Faculty Publications

Woods, Robert H., Kelly Skarritt-Williams, Caleb Chan, Ken Waters, and Divine Agodzo. “Motivations for Reading the Left Behind Book Series: A Uses and Gratifications Analysis.” Journal Of Media & Religion 15, no. 2 (April 2016): 63-77.

Abstract: This uses and gratifications study investigates motivations for reading theLeft Behindbook series and their correlation to media use patterns; religious commitments; and the Conservative Protestant, Mainline, or Catholic Christian background of readers. The survey of 1,188 readers found that sanctified entertainment and “end times” teaching were the top reasons for reading the series. There was a significant positive relationship between religious media use and spiritual growth/development, content reaction, and accuracy. A significant positive relationship was found between religious commitment and content reaction, and religious commitment and biblical accuracy reading motivations. The study revealed different reading motivations among the various denominations, especially Catholics.

Jen Letherer

By on October 31, 2015 in Faculty Publications

Letherer, Jen. Remote Virtue: A Christian Guide to Intentional Media Viewing. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2015.

Remote VirtueTelevision and movies shape popular culture, with audiences often unaware of how media messages influence the way they think, act, and view the world. In this enlightening guide, author Jen Letherer interprets film and television shows from a Christian standpoint, revealing how beliefs and values portrayed on the big and small screens often impact the moral conduct of daily viewers. This book provides the tools for Christians to discern the implicit and explicit messages found within this medium, and shows how motion pictures can improve or erode religious principles and a spiritual way of life.

In a conversational tone, the work combines classic film theory, an assessment of story structure, and faith-based film criticism to delve into meaning and interpretations of popular movies and shows. Highlighted television programs include Top Chef, Modern Family, Downton Abbey, and The Walking Dead. The book also features films like Citizen Kane, Thelma and Louise, Star Wars, Inception, and The Hunger Games. This fascinating critique prompts media consumers to analyze the messages that their favorite broadcast programs send, consider if those messages are in line with their own values, and align their viewing choices with their personal beliefs.

Robert Woods

By on December 3, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Woods, Robert  and Kevin Healy, eds. Prophetic Critique and Popular Media: Theoretical Foundations and Practical Applications, New York: Peter Lang , 2013.

Prophetic CritiqueThis book positions the «prophetic» as an organizing concept that can bridge religious and secular criticism of popular media. Drawing from philosophical ethics and moral psychology, the book argues that prophetic critique engages a complex set of universal human capabilities. Whether religious or secular in origin, prophetic critique requires developmentally complex modes of critical reflection, imagination, empathy, and communication. Although this book is diverse in perspective, each author seeks to expose how the content, institutions, and technologies of popular media alternately support – or undermine – the basic values of equality, human dignity, and social justice. By foregrounding such universal principles, the authors distinguish their arguments from critical/cultural scholarship that fails to acknowledge its own normative foundations and implicit theology of culture. The authors demonstrate the efficacy of this framework by applying it to specific case studies in popular media including theater, film, music, journalism, and digital culture. The book argues that the prophetic critique of mass media is essential to maintaining a productive tension between religious communities and the institutions of secular democracy. More broadly, in outlining an inclusive understanding of prophetic critique, this book builds bridges between religious and secular scholarship and generates a unique vision for a revitalized, mass-mediated public sphere.

Paul Patton

By on December 3, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Patton, Paul. “The Prophetic Imagination and Passion of David Mamet.” In Prophetic Critique and Popular Media: Theoretical Foundations and Practical Applications, edited by Robert Woods and Kevin Healy. New York: Peter Lang , 2013.

Prophetic CritiqueLong after playwright and filmmaker David Mamet had left the home of his mother and stepfather, his younger sister sat down at the family table for dinner just before leaving to perform as lead in her high school play. Pre-occupied with the jitters and joys that accompany opening nights, Lynn just picked at her food. Her mother asserted that since she had cooked the food, it had to be eaten and insisted that no one would be excused until the meal was consumed. Upon seeing her orders were not followed, her mother called the school, asking for the drama teacher, and then informed the director that her daughter would not be able to attend the opening night performance. No, Lynn was not sick; she had not finished her vegetables.

Naaman Wood

By on September 4, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Wood, Naaman. “Uncle Toms, Massas, and Symbolic Violence: Miles Davis’s Rhetoric of Moral Reconstitution.” Jazz Perspectives 7, no. 1 (2013): 57–75. doi:10.1080/17494060.2013.824645

Abstract: Extending Albert Murray’s presupposition that “performing artists are rhetoricians,” this study applies a rhetorical approach to Miles: the Autobiography. Davis’s rhetoric of moral reconstitutionutilizes the classical means of persuasion—ethos, pathos, and logos—within the epideictic, or ceremonial, genre. As such, Davis focuses his logos of invection on the Uncle Tom insult, where he displays his own, and incites in others, a pathos of insolence. Davis used these discourses to first, explain norms and introduce instability in the jazz community; second, create moral distance from particular figures and elevate himself; and finally, reconstitute the true jazz community around his own ethos of detachment. Based on Christopher Small’s notion of musicking and Phillip Bohlman’s ontological argument of “music as process,” this rhetorical approach extends Murray’s “all performers are rhetoricians” presupposition suggesting, first, that jazz performers can use their musical performances as social criticism and social idealization. And second, the jazz community’s use of logos reveals that musical performances are sites of ongoing struggle over the community’s identity and values. Furthermore, Davis’ rhetoric of moral reconstitution confirms that Miles: the Autobiography is a morally obsessed document but one that condones violent authoritarian rather than dialogic rhetorical strategies. These extensions suggest that jazz is a phenomenon where a rhetorical invention plays a pivotal role and where a rhetorical approach can offer productive insights for further research.

Robert Woods

By on January 9, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Woods, Robert H. ed. Evangelical Christians and Popular Culture: Pop Goes the Gospel. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2013.

Shepherds of the EmpireEvangelical Christians and Popular Culture: Pop Goes the Gospel addresses the full spectrum of evangelical media and popular culture offerings, even delving into lesser-known forms of evangelical popular culture such as comic books, video games, and theme parks. The chapters in this 3-volume work are written by over 50 authors who specialize in fields as diverse as history, theology, music, psychology, journalism, film and television studies, advertising, and public relations. Volume 1 examines film, radio and television, and the Internet; Volume 2 covers literature, music, popular art, and merchandise; and Volume 3 discusses public figures, popular press, places, and events. The work is intended for a scholarly audience but presents material in a student-friendly, accessible manner. Evangelical insiders will receive a fresh look at the wide variety of evangelical popular culture offerings, many of which will be unknown, while non-evangelical readers will benefit from a comprehensive introduction to the subject matter.

Diane Badzinski & Robert Woods

By on September 16, 2012 in Faculty Publications

Morgan, Tanja N., Cheryl A. Hampton, Shanise Davenport, Ellen Young, Diane M. Badzinski, Kathy Brittain Richardson, and Robert H. Woods. “Sacred Symbols with a Secular Beat? A Content Analysis of Religious and Sexual Imagery in Modern Rock, Hip Hop, Christian, and Country Music Videos.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 24, no. 3 (Fall, 2012): 432-448.

Abstract: A content analysis of music videos for the 2008 top-rated songs in four musical genres was conducted in order to gauge change in the presence of religious and sexual symbols since the mid-1990s and to determine if sexual and religious images were prevalent in the increasingly popular hip hop genre. Religious images appeared in about one-third of videos across genres, and sexual images appeared in more than half the videos and in all of the hip hop videos. Hip hop and country videos had the highest co-occurrences of religious and sexual imagery, although there was co-occurrence in each genre. The significance and possible interpretations of the symbols and their co-occurrence are discussed.

Robert Woods & Diane Badzinski

By on July 2, 2012 in Faculty Publications

Woods, Robert H., Diane M. Badzinski, Janie M. Harden Fritz, and Sarah E. Yeates. “The ‘Ideal Professor’ and Gender Effects in Christian Higher Education.” Christian Higher Education 11, no. 3 (July 2012): 158–176.

Abstract: A survey was administered to 451 undergraduate students at a private liberal arts Christian university to identify students’ perceptions of the ideal professor. The survey revealed that the ideal professor places great emphasis on the integration of faith and learning, is flexible (and even easy), maintains high academic standards, encourages students, and has an adaptive teaching style. Findings also highlighted gender differences in student perception of the ideal professor. Women perceived an adaptable teaching style, encouragement, and integration of faith and learning as slightly more important than men did in defining the characteristics of an ideal professor. Implications are framed in terms of student expectations for content and relationship dimensions of learning associated with Christian colleges and universities.

Mary Darling

By on July 13, 2010 in Faculty Publications

Campolo, Tony, and Mary Albert Darling. Connecting Like Jesus: practices for healing, teaching, and preaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010.

Connecting Like JesusTony Campolo and Mary Albert Darling have teamed up to explore the dynamic connection that occurs when spirituality/spiritual practices are combined with effective communication practices. Churches and other religious organizations depend on the ability of their leaders and members to communicate (speak, teach, and preach) within their congregations and beyond. This important, practical guide will reveal Campolo’s preaching secrets and Darling’s wise counsel as a professor of communication.