“Media and religion. The most unsettled word in the field of study is neither media nor religion; it is “and.””
The opening quote from Northwestern University-Qatar’s Professor Abusharif in the introductory session of the class captured the importance of studying both disciplines simultaneously. The course examines the relationship between media and religion, with the emphasis on the different bridges that connect the two—globalization, religious authorities, public discourse, news, entertainment, mainstream and alternative, and political campaigning to name a few. The class aims to use media methods in evaluating case studies of major media stories such as the Charlie Hedbo shootings, the Chapel Hill murders, South Carolina church shootings, and many more. The course’s explicit objective is to come up with a final project where students will select a medium or case study that is representative of the medium when it comes to religious messaging in mainstream culture. The project will be a 15-minute presentation with visual and audio accompaniments to the students’ analyses. We have not started working on the project at this time of the semester, hence I will reflect on another learning assessment that I have already completed.
The first half of the class is for the proper lecture from the professor and the second half is a presentation by a student on a topic reading. I presented on the topic of the portrayal of Islam and Muslims in U.S. films throughout the decades. Drawing from Amir Hussain’s chapter from the Routledge Handbook of Religion and Film, I argued that Western cinema has always homologized Muslims and associating them solely to the Middle East, regardless of the diversity of Muslims around the world. U.S. film in general, portray Muslims as uncivilized, lecherous, oppressive, and violent people. Nothing has changed over the years. Even if filmmakers tried to shed some light on the benevolence of Muslims, it would always be in the context of terrorism; pitting one good and overly patriotic Muslim with the usual Muslim terrorist. Although Hussain’s chapter was written in 2009, his arguments still endure to this day. His points have significant ramifications on the current political environment in the U.S. With a current president who is blatant about his sentiments against the Muslim population, the possibilities that filmmakers will continue to portray Muslims as terrorists, lecherous and incompetent people, are high.
Although a few remaining topics are yet to be covered this semester, I think my main takeaway from this class would be problematizing religion and journalism as a universal construct. It was in this class where I was able to come up with an overarching thesis for the Certificate in Media and Politics. It was challenging to choose from the multiple overlapping subjects between the previous courses I took, such as race, gender, identity, and many more. This course made me more interested on the topic of religion, given its relevance in light of the current events taking place in the world; hence, my topic is born out of my interest in this class.