Students often find the discussion of movies and their themes a natural part of their college lives. Because of this direction in our culture, students bring to the classroom enough background and experience to make the discussion of movies fruitful in teaching religion. Although their understanding of both popular and more profound films may be even worse than superficial, films can provide an exceptionally accessible place for beginning important discussion and reflection. What can be learned from films will surprise you. The articles included in this special issue will show why films can be such a powerful tool in the classroom.
Films raise questions about the adequacy of explanations in our secular culture.
We also asked two authors to provide an account of an actual course that they had taught on religion and film. There are many possible individual course designs, even under the same general approach, and we wanted to offer a sample of such designs. In order to give a larger sample, we have included a similar essay on a course that we ourselves team-taught. Finally, we wanted our readers to see what could be done with an individual film. We extend our thanks also to Mara and Ann for their work.