Write a 1000-word essay (minimum) in which you do the following.
. Summarize the central claims of the article and how those claims are supported.
. Situate the article’s claims within the literature on religion and popular culture that you have examined in this course (by Bruce Forbes and John Storey). You need to explicitly interact with at least two of the texts that introduce the study of religion and popular culture. Introduce, include, and discuss the meaning and relevance of short quotes from those texts. Explain how the Routledge article’s claims overlap with, are in dialogue with, contrast with, and/or make a significant contribution to those texts on religion and popular culture.
Evaluate the strength and relevance of the claims made in the Routledge article that you’ve chosen to discuss. What’s especially useful?
What’s overlooked? What other examples (or perhaps more recent examples) could be included?
Would those examples require modifications to the argument of the article?
. Conclude by discussing whether and why you think the article’s claims are important today.
Why should we be thinking in a critical way about religion and popular culture?
What can we learn about contemporary life, or about ourselves, by doing so?
