News reports

There have been a couple of Autralian news reports coming out of the recent (and final) meeting of the International Study Commission on Media, Religion and Culture in Melbourne.

Those interested in looking will find an article by Barney Zwartz in The Age
http://theage.com.au/articles/2005/07/29/1122144004012.html

Rachael Kohn has also prepared and broadcast a program on The Spirit of Things on ABC Radio National. A podcast can be downloaded at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/relig/spirit/. The voices of luminaries such as Lynn Schfield Clark, Fran Plude and Jolyon Mitchell can be heard commenting on aspects of the inetraction of media and religion.

Radio Reportage

A BBC Reportage by Dr. Jolyon Mitchell about the new wave of video production in Ghana.
Select streaming audio here or download file by right clicking here.

TV Interview

Dr. Lynn Schofield-Clark’s comments about religion and popular culture on CNN’s 360° with Anderson Cooper.

Books

Belief in Media: Cultural perspectives on Media and Christianity

This book presents, in an accessible form, the new directions that approach the interaction of media and religion from a cultural perspective, and illustrates these new directions by a number of international and intercultural case studies and explorations.

Papers

This essay, "Francis Xavier and Asia: the road to cultural inventiveness," by Benoit Vermander, Director of the Ricci Institute, gives an interesting insight into the importance of inter-religious initiatives.

In Spanish, this essay about Christ in Film by Mariano Silva, Chilean film critic, gives an refreshing, insightful balance to film and depictions of Christ by placing Mel Gibson’s , the Lumiere brothers 1897 version, and many others, in historical context. Among the interesting aspects, he cites that “Only two historical figures have appeared on screen more often than Christ: Sherlock Holmes and Dracula” and  “polemics about how Chirst is depicted in film are nothing new.”

In Spanish, an excellent and refreshing review of Gibson's film about the torture of Christ

This is the paper delivered by Mr. Myroslav Marynovych during the study commission consultation at the Ukraine Catholic University.:
The Issue of Human Rights in the Ukranian Context


One of our hosts during the study commission meeting in Lviv, Myroslav Marynovych is seen here in Kiev.

Fellowships

On March 15 and 16 Germán Rey and Adán Medrano visited the Universidad de Unisinos in Sao Leopoldo, Brazil. They met with two doctoral Fellows of the International Fellowships on Media, Religion and Culture, Viviane Borelli (Brazil) and Luis Ignacio Sierra (Colombia).

Brazilian Fellow, Viviane Borelli, with the director of the department of communications, Luis Braga, and Study Commission advisor, Germán Rey, touring the campus of Unisinos: Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos.

Prof. Luis Braga, Director of the Department of Communications, P. Pedro Gomez, Academic Director, Viviane Borelli, Doctoral Fellow and Germán Rey, study commission member and advisor.

Germán Rey (r) visits Colombian Doctoral Fellow, Luis Ignacio Sierra in one of the classrooms of Unisinos University in Sao Leopoldo, Brazil.

Prof. Fausto Neto, Germán Rey, Study Commission member, Luis Ignacio Sierra, Fellow, and Adán M. Medrano, Study Commission member.