This senior thesis explores the use of story-driven, television-based curricula to teach children Catholic concepts and doctrines. Daily in-school catechesis deepens knowledge but fails to touch hearts or encourage enaction of faith. The proposed teaching method better achieves all three catechetical objectives. The Japanese fantasy cartoon Duel Monsters offers several scenes in which concepts of the Catholic faith (e.g. charity) are depicted; a creative instructor can develop a curriculum that teaches such concepts based on scenes in the show. After watching an episode, the teacher links the pertinent scene to the faith concept by discussing the events in the scene, the principle operating in the events, and the significance of that same principle in the Catholic faith. The lesson progresses logically from the familiar scene students just watched to the unfamiliar concept the instructor aims to teach. Additionally, students play the Duel Monsters trading card game once a week in the beginning portion of class; for the remainder of class, the instructor prompts students, through a guided discussion, to reflect upon virtues or other Catholic elements they expressed while playing. This pedagogical method ultimately teaches students to creatively analogize pop cultural events to Catholic faith elements so that they may better see their faith present in the world. It orients the method of teaching around the students’ interests without sacrificing quality of curricula. Most importantly, it deepens the religious knowledge of the student, makes learning about the Catholic faith fun, and inspires reflection upon Catholicism’s presence in various non-religious experiences.

Elyse Keenan would like to thank their faculty sponsor Dr. Atria Larson for their support of this project.