By: Claire Appiah on October 5, 2016
Peter Frankopan – Silk Roads: A New History of the World Introduction Peter Frankopan, is Director of the Centre for Byzantine Research at Oxford University and Senior Research Fellow at Worcester College, Oxford. In this comprehensive and compelling book Frankopan presents a perspective of world history through the lens of the East. With superb…
By: Rose Anding on October 5, 2016
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan Frankopan’s study reminds us that one-way systems are a recent invention. Traffic—physically and culturally—typically runs two ways, and certainly did along the Silk Roads. Introduction Peter Frankopan, the director of Oxford University’s Centre for Byzantine Research, has rethought world history while relocating all…
By: Katy Drage Lines on October 4, 2016
Our relation to books is a shadowy space haunted by the ghosts of memory, and the real value of books lies in their ability to conjure these specters—xxi I must confess at the outset of this post that Bayard convicted me of the danger of becoming too immersed into a book, thus “distancing [oneself] from…
By: Lynda Gittens on October 4, 2016
When I entered college I was introduced to the Cliff Notes. Never heard of it? Well, it was a study guide which assisted many students in addressing what a book was about without reading the entire book. The books I have read so far, I sort of wish I had cliff notes. Or should…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on October 2, 2016
“How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read” by Pierre Bayard The irony of a non-reading professor issuing reading assignments to his students, and authoring a book presenting non-reading techniques on how to talk about books you haven’t read, is not lost on me. As I read “How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read”,…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on October 1, 2016
I find it very clever that the table of contents for the book How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard is structured in a way that you can skim it and understand what each chapter and section is intending to convey. It allows the reader to choose what they want to read…
By: Aaron Cole on September 16, 2016
Introduction: Visual Faith: Art, Theology and Worship in Dialogue by William A. Dryness is a culturally engage look at the foundation, history and present interaction and conflict of perspectives on the subject of “visual faith” in the church. By the book’s title, Dryness defines “visual faith” as all forms of artistic expression in church past…
By: Garfield Harvey on September 16, 2016
C.S. Lewis writes that “My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others.” We often declare that faith is about seeing something before “seeing it” so the visual arts allows us to see the world in its entirety, even if it’s an “Imagined World.” In reading this book, we’ll…
By: Chip Stapleton on September 16, 2016
Like many students that have been assigned one of Sarah Pink’s books, or any like it, my first thought upon opening Doing Visual Ethnography was, ‘What is Visual or any other form of ethnography?’ Pink’s gives this definition of ethnography (34) : a methodology…. an approach to experiencing, interpreting and representing experience, culture, society and material and…
By: Kevin Norwood on September 15, 2016
At Oklahoma State University in the Student Union Amphitheater every month there was a night of worship that drew students from across the campus and around the state. At these monthly meeting there was a melting pot of musicians that would collaborate to create an atmosphere of freedom and creativity to express feelings toward God. …
By: Pablo Morales on September 15, 2016
Have you ever walked into a cathedral filled with statues depicting the life of Jesus? Have you ever seen walls covered with gold as they display paintings of biblical themes? I have often seen it throughout Latin America. In most cities rooted in Spanish colonialism, there are Catholic cathedrals that display beautiful art. Yet, the…
By: Phil Goldsberry on September 15, 2016
Introduction William Dyrness grapples with what the church has allowed to enter the “eye gate” both historically and in today’s contemporary world. The arts have ranged in their gamut from being “idolic” (my own word referencing idols) to iconic. Dryness took us back in time when he stated that, “The visual culture of the early…
By: Marc Andresen on September 15, 2016
“All of Creation is a Theater for God’s Glory” [1] And with that my soul was captured. I believe this is the most vision-producing theme in William Dyrness’ book, Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue. If we are to follow the author’s lead and encourage dialogue involving art, theology, and worship, then can…
By: Jim Sabella on September 15, 2016
Historically, “words/text” were the lingua franca of the ethnographer’s world. However, there has been a shift in the understanding of how knowledge is gathered and represented. As well, there has been a surge in technological advancement that has made the equipment and production of media more assessable and its dissemination quicker and easier. This is…
By: Aaron Peterson on September 15, 2016
One of my favorite moments from our time in Hong Kong last year was when Martyn Percy showed us The Scorpion from Stanely Spencer’s “Christ in the Wilderness” series. Viewing this image was such a powerful experience for me. I appreciated everything Dr. Percy said as I took notes vigorously. However, what penetrated my soul…
By: Stu Cocanougher on September 15, 2016
Doing Visual Ethnography by Sara Pink is a window into the world of visual ethnographers. This field of study seems to be a combination of the fields of anthropology, sociology, journalism, and the visual arts. Reading this book caused me to search the internet to look at some works of visual ethnographers cited in this…
By: Claire Appiah on September 15, 2016
Introduction William Dyrness is a prolific writer who has published works in several fields including theology and culture, apologetics, theology and art, and global missions. He has taught in the United States, Africa, and Asia. Dyrness is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Dyrness indicates that the purpose of this book is to “extend…
By: Jason Kennedy on September 15, 2016
Twice a week, I get the great joy of picking my girls up from school. It is something I look forward to every time. There is one part of the trip that I really despise though. There is an intersection at the corner of the school that is pretty impossible to navigate. When you…
By: Katy Drage Lines on September 15, 2016
Understanding ethnographic methodologies The goal of ethnographic research is so that “we may arrive at a closer understanding of the worlds that other people live in” (36). Visually, “photographs, videos and other images… do not necessarily take on the status of being knowledge about the research question or findings in themselves, but rather can be…
By: Mary Walker on September 15, 2016
After reading “Doing Sensory Ethnography” by Sarah Pink, I realized that without knowing that it was called “sensory ethnography”, I have probably been practicing a “process of creating and representing knowledge or ways of knowing that are based on ethnographers’ own experiences and the way these intersect with the persons, places and things encountered during…
