Guest Lecturing on Geographies of Religion
Interviewing My Colleagues’ Students, Focusing on Tangents
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v45i2.30879Keywords:
Paulo Freire, Sam Rocha, ontology, primal, guest lecture, Game of Thrones, occupy movements, Umbrella Movement, grounded theologiesAbstract
This 'Teaching Tips' article focuses on my recent experience of guest-lecturing in colleagues' classes. Influenced by Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, my initial guest-teaching revolved around posing an argument about geographies of religion as 'grounded theologies' as a problem for students to challenge. However, my recent guest lectures have involved interviewing my colleagues' students to discover why they find grounded theologies interesting. I show that this new mode of guest-lecturing - also influenced by Freire - has opened up new conversations at a primal ontological level through a wider breadth of topics discussed, including occupy movements, Game of Thrones, Black Nordic Metal, and modern imperialist ideologies. Following Sam Rocha's folk phenomenology, I suggest that the primal depths that this interview-lecture style of guest lecturing is perhaps worth a try, even though I plan to use the argumentative lecture in the future as well.
References
Asad, Talal. 2003. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Beaumont, Justin. 2008. “Introduction: Dossier on Faith-Based Organisations and Human Geography.” Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie 99(4): 377–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9663.2008.00478.x.
Beaumont, Justin, and Baker, Chris, eds. 2012. Postsecular Cities: Space, Theory, and Practice. London: Continuum.
Battis, Jes, and Johnston, Susan, eds. 2015. Mastering the Game of Thrones: Essays on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Chuh, Kandice. 2003. Imagine Otherwise: On Asian Americanist Critique. Durham: Duke University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/9780822384427.
Cloke, Paul, and Beaumont, Justin. 2012. “Geographies of Postsecular Rapprochement in the City.” Progress in Human Geography 37(1): 37–51.
Diamond, Jared M. 1999. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies. New York: W. W. Norton.
———. 2011. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. London: Penguin.
Dwyer, Claire. 1999. “Veiled Meanings: Young British Muslim women and the Negotiation of Differences.” Gender, Place, and Culture 6(1): 5–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09663699925123.
Freire, Paulo. 2000. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 30th Anniversary Edition. Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos. London: Bloomsbury.
Habermas, Jürgen. 2006. “Religion in the Public Sphere.” European Journal of Philosophy 14(1): 1–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0378.2006.00241.x.
Hill, Lauryn. 1998. “Everything Is Everything.” The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. CD. New York: Ruffhouse Records.
Hopkins, Peter E. 2007. “Young People, Masculinities, Religion, and Race: New Social Geographies.” Progress in Human Geography 31(2): 163–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132507075362.
Jewitt, Sarah. 2011. “Geographies of Shit: Spatial and Temporal Variations in Attitudes towards Human Waste.” Progress in Human Geography 35(5): 608–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132510394704.
Kong, Lily. 1990. “Geography and Religion: Trends and Prospects.” Progress in Human Geography 14(3): 355–71.
———. 2001. “Mapping ‘New’ Geographies of Religion: Politics and Poetics in Modernity.” Progress in Human Geography 25(2): 211–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/030913201678580485.
———. 2010. “Global Shifts, Theoretical Shifts: Changing Geographies of Religion.” Progress in Human Geography 34(6): 755–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132510362602.
Lowe, Lisa. 2015. The Intimacies of Four Continents. Durham: Duke University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/9780822375647.
Martin, George R. R. 2011. Game of Thrones. New York: Bantam.
Milbank, John. 2006. Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470694121,
Schneider, Nathan. 2013. Thank You, Anarchy: Notes from the Occupy Apocalypse. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Tite, Philip. 2016a. “Thank you, Justin Tse, for another excellent guest lecture (via Skype) on geographies of religion. This is the third time Justin has done this for my Theories in the Study of Religion course and each time is excellent (though very unique). And each time I learn a little something more about cultural geography. I’m glad I can incorporate this emerging theoretical approach to my course.” Facebook status. May 11. https://www.facebook.com/philip.l.tite/posts/10156980821400457?pnref=story.
———. 2016b. “Two key ‘take aways’ for me this time round were ‘relational geographies’ (as I termed it) and the ‘activation of landscapes”’ (as the mapping of meanings and counter-meanings within place).” Facebook comment, May 11. https://www.facebook.com/philip.l.tite/posts/10156980821400457?comment_id=10156980829130457&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D.
Tse, Justin K. H. 2014a. “Grounded Theologies: ‘Religion’ and the ‘Secular’ in Human Geography.” Progress in Human Geography 38(2): 201–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132512475105.
———. 2014b. “Religion Politics in Pacific Space: Grounding Cantonese Protestant Theologies in Secular Civil Societies.” PhD diss.University of British Columbia.
———. 2015. “If Capital is a God: On the Theological Reconciliation of Two Davids in Urban Geography.” Syndicate: A New Forum for Theology 2(2): 112–18.
———. 2016, 12 May. “Guest lecturing in Phil Tite’s UW Class.” Justin K.H. Tse blog, May 12. https://jkhtse.wordpress.com/2016/05/12/guest-lecturing-in-phil-tites-uw-class.
Rocha, Samuel D. 2011. Preface to Things and Stuff, xii–xvi. Charleston, SC: Createspace.
———. 2015. Folk Phenomenology: Education, Study, and the Human Person. Eugene, OR: Pickwick.
Snyder, Timothy. 2012. Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. New York: Basic.
———. 2015. Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning. New York: Tim Duggan Books.
Valentine, Gill. 2008. “Living with Difference: Reflections on Geographies of Encounter.” Progress in Human Geography 32(3): 323–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309133308089372.
Žižek, Slavoj. 2008. “Preface to the New Edition: The Idea’s Constipation.” In The Sublime Object of Ideology, vii–xxii. London: Verso.
———. 2012. Less Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism. London: Verso.
Beaumont, Justin. 2008. “Introduction: Dossier on Faith-Based Organisations and Human Geography.” Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie 99(4): 377–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9663.2008.00478.x.
Beaumont, Justin, and Baker, Chris, eds. 2012. Postsecular Cities: Space, Theory, and Practice. London: Continuum.
Battis, Jes, and Johnston, Susan, eds. 2015. Mastering the Game of Thrones: Essays on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Chuh, Kandice. 2003. Imagine Otherwise: On Asian Americanist Critique. Durham: Duke University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/9780822384427.
Cloke, Paul, and Beaumont, Justin. 2012. “Geographies of Postsecular Rapprochement in the City.” Progress in Human Geography 37(1): 37–51.
Diamond, Jared M. 1999. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies. New York: W. W. Norton.
———. 2011. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. London: Penguin.
Dwyer, Claire. 1999. “Veiled Meanings: Young British Muslim women and the Negotiation of Differences.” Gender, Place, and Culture 6(1): 5–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09663699925123.
Freire, Paulo. 2000. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 30th Anniversary Edition. Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos. London: Bloomsbury.
Habermas, Jürgen. 2006. “Religion in the Public Sphere.” European Journal of Philosophy 14(1): 1–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0378.2006.00241.x.
Hill, Lauryn. 1998. “Everything Is Everything.” The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. CD. New York: Ruffhouse Records.
Hopkins, Peter E. 2007. “Young People, Masculinities, Religion, and Race: New Social Geographies.” Progress in Human Geography 31(2): 163–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132507075362.
Jewitt, Sarah. 2011. “Geographies of Shit: Spatial and Temporal Variations in Attitudes towards Human Waste.” Progress in Human Geography 35(5): 608–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132510394704.
Kong, Lily. 1990. “Geography and Religion: Trends and Prospects.” Progress in Human Geography 14(3): 355–71.
———. 2001. “Mapping ‘New’ Geographies of Religion: Politics and Poetics in Modernity.” Progress in Human Geography 25(2): 211–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/030913201678580485.
———. 2010. “Global Shifts, Theoretical Shifts: Changing Geographies of Religion.” Progress in Human Geography 34(6): 755–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132510362602.
Lowe, Lisa. 2015. The Intimacies of Four Continents. Durham: Duke University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/9780822375647.
Martin, George R. R. 2011. Game of Thrones. New York: Bantam.
Milbank, John. 2006. Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470694121,
Schneider, Nathan. 2013. Thank You, Anarchy: Notes from the Occupy Apocalypse. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Tite, Philip. 2016a. “Thank you, Justin Tse, for another excellent guest lecture (via Skype) on geographies of religion. This is the third time Justin has done this for my Theories in the Study of Religion course and each time is excellent (though very unique). And each time I learn a little something more about cultural geography. I’m glad I can incorporate this emerging theoretical approach to my course.” Facebook status. May 11. https://www.facebook.com/philip.l.tite/posts/10156980821400457?pnref=story.
———. 2016b. “Two key ‘take aways’ for me this time round were ‘relational geographies’ (as I termed it) and the ‘activation of landscapes”’ (as the mapping of meanings and counter-meanings within place).” Facebook comment, May 11. https://www.facebook.com/philip.l.tite/posts/10156980821400457?comment_id=10156980829130457&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D.
Tse, Justin K. H. 2014a. “Grounded Theologies: ‘Religion’ and the ‘Secular’ in Human Geography.” Progress in Human Geography 38(2): 201–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132512475105.
———. 2014b. “Religion Politics in Pacific Space: Grounding Cantonese Protestant Theologies in Secular Civil Societies.” PhD diss.University of British Columbia.
———. 2015. “If Capital is a God: On the Theological Reconciliation of Two Davids in Urban Geography.” Syndicate: A New Forum for Theology 2(2): 112–18.
———. 2016, 12 May. “Guest lecturing in Phil Tite’s UW Class.” Justin K.H. Tse blog, May 12. https://jkhtse.wordpress.com/2016/05/12/guest-lecturing-in-phil-tites-uw-class.
Rocha, Samuel D. 2011. Preface to Things and Stuff, xii–xvi. Charleston, SC: Createspace.
———. 2015. Folk Phenomenology: Education, Study, and the Human Person. Eugene, OR: Pickwick.
Snyder, Timothy. 2012. Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. New York: Basic.
———. 2015. Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning. New York: Tim Duggan Books.
Valentine, Gill. 2008. “Living with Difference: Reflections on Geographies of Encounter.” Progress in Human Geography 32(3): 323–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309133308089372.
Žižek, Slavoj. 2008. “Preface to the New Edition: The Idea’s Constipation.” In The Sublime Object of Ideology, vii–xxii. London: Verso.
———. 2012. Less Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism. London: Verso.
Published
2016-07-06
Issue
Section
Teaching Tips
How to Cite
Tse, J. (2016). Guest Lecturing on Geographies of Religion: Interviewing My Colleagues’ Students, Focusing on Tangents. Bulletin for the Study of Religion, 45(2), 55-61. https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v45i2.30879
