Monthly Archives: February 2012

Seeing a Brutal World in a Single Death

by Adriana Janovich The first paragraphs set the scene for what is to follow: a well-written, well-researched investigative narrative detailing the death of a Roman Catholic nun in the heart of a tribal region in eastern India. Readers know the … Continue reading

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Lintertainment? Ethno-religious Linsight? Let's Say Both

by Jane Iwamura Slim were his chances in the NBA / Burdened with an Asian face / He conquered all through hard work / And the mercy of God's grace. So goes “The Ballad of Jeremy Lin.” You would recently … Continue reading

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Conjuring Conflict: Reportage on Mormon Posthumous Baptism of Jews

by Benjamin Gottlieb The shamefully shallow coverage of posthumous baptisms that were performed last week on the parents of the late Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal exemplified the mainstream news media's propensity to goose conflict and ignore the kind of contextualization that … Continue reading

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Rorschach Test: A Portrait of Israeli Jews

by Jason Kehe Surveys often bring out the worst in journalists. They don't require actual reporting—just imagination. We see a collection of numbers, determine which are the sexiest or the most shocking and slap on some “explanatory narrative.” Bim, bam, … Continue reading

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Winston at NYU

On April 26, Diane Winston will deliver a lecture (“Religion, Sexuality and AIDS: All the News That's Fit to Print?) at “Media, Religion and Social Transformation,” a conference sponsored by the Center for Religion and Media at New York University.

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Winston at UCLA

On February 13 Diane Winston moderated a panel at “Looking for Judaism in (Un)Conventional Places,” a symposium hosted by The Center for Jewish Studies at UCLA.

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Winston at SMU

On February 9, Diane Winston delivered two lectures—”Soup Soap and Salvation: William Booth's Legacy for the 21st Century” and “Saving Grace: Ritual, Re-enchantment and Redemption in a Mediatized World”—as the featured speaker at the annual Personal Life/Public Faith lecture series … Continue reading

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Sunbelt Rising: The California Origins of the Modern Evangelical Right

In a talk at USC from noon to 1pm on Thursday, March 1, Darren Dochuk—author of From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism—will highlight some of the key (and until now, relatively … Continue reading

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Diane Winston on "The Point"

Guest host John Fugelsang (Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour) leads a discussion of Jesus and the Republican Party, President Obama and LGBT rights and the death of Whitney Houston with panelists Diane Winston (USC Professor of Media and Religion), Rabbi Lisa … Continue reading

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Foot Soldiers in the Culture Wars?

by Anthony Hatcher I first heard about the Susan G. Komen foundation / Planned Parenthood flap via email. A colleague sent a message to all faculty and staff at my university about the foundation's announcement that it would deny funding … Continue reading

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