Category: News Media

1. How does implicit religion relate to the study of subcultures and post-subcultures, per Klassen’s text (RPC)? In 250-400 words, explain this connection and then apply it to an example of a subculture or post-subculture that is not provided in Klassen’s chapter on the topic (i.e., not Goth subculture, Burners/Burning Man devotees, etc. — any other examples are fine, including subcultures or post-subcultures that have emerged more recently than Klassen’s text was published).
2. Review the following video (the full URL is below, if the linked text doesn’t work for you), “Is Doctor Who a Religion?”. In the article, “Fiction-based Religion: Conceptualizing a New Category Against History-Based Religion and Fandom,” Markus Altena Davidsen states, “Despite their fictional basis, fiction-based religions are genuine religions because the activity and beliefs of which they consist refer to supernatural entities which are claimed to exist in the actual world… Fiction-based religion emerges when fictional narratives are used as authoritative texts for actual religious practice” (378). Drawing on Davidsen’s analysis and the ideas posed in this video, respond to the following prompt (in 350-500 words):
Fiction-based religions are directly related to specific media objects (books, shows, films, etc., in various fiction genres), whereby the world-creating within those media objects serves to orient individuals in the non-fictional (i.e. the “real”) world. When considering academic definitions of “religion” (such as those by Durkheim or Geertz, for example, discussed in this video and in various readings/classes this term), are you convinced by the thesis that fiction-based religions are “real” religions? If so, why (i.e., what criteria do these fulfill that grant them the status as “real” religions)? If not, why not (i.e., what criteria do they lack that would grant them the status as “real” religions)? Finally, what is at stake in determinations of what is or is not a “real” religion?

Explain why the message of this pin is problematic (week 4 / painter).
Tip: your response must mention neoliberalism & the concept of ‘symbolic economy’ coined by Sharon Zukin.

Building on our weeks 3 & 4 discussion of Debord’s idea of spectacles, explain the citation below to somebody who knows nothing about media theories. Your response must address this question: what are spectacles and why are we not part of them (why are we just passive spectators)?
Also, explain how is this idea related to Marx’ commodity fetishism?
Advice: you might want to build your response on an example of spectacle, as Debord understands it.
“People, as spectators, are not part of these contemporary spectacles (…). People watch them because they are alluring, but the spectacles are put on for them; people are not integral part of them” (Ritzer, p. 92)

NOTE: This question has two subquestions, a and b.
Imagine a dialogue between Marcel Sautet (mentioned in the fragment below) and David Lyon, a critic of widespread surveillance, whose ideas we discussed in week 5.
Your response is a dialogue between two persons with opposing perspectives, and must build on the course content of week 5.
(a) The dialogue must include 5 questions and 5 responses. The introductions, thanks and greetings do not count towards the 5 questions and 5 responses, but they should be included. (“Hello/ Good afternoon…”; “Thank you for your time.”).
(b). What are your thoughts, as students, on the surveillance system created by the Nestor company? If you were a university administrator, would you purchase a system like this for your online courses & exams? Either yes or no, briefly explain your answer.
“Imagine you’re taking an online business class — the kind where you watch video lectures and then answer questions at the end. But this isn’t a normal class, and you’re not just watching the lectures: They’re watching you back. Every time the facial recognition system decides that you look bored, distracted, or tuned out, it makes a note. And after each lecture, it only asks you about content from those moments.
This isn’t a hypothetical system; it’s a real one deployed by a company called Nestor.And if you don’t like the sound of it, you’re not alone. Neither do the actual students.
When I asked the man behind the system, French inventor Marcel Saucet, how the students in these classes feel about being watched, he admitted that they didn’t like it. They felt violated and surveilled, he said, but he shrugged off any implication that it was his fault. “Everybody is doing this,” he told me. “It’s really early and shocking, but we cannot go against natural laws of evolution.”
(Fragment taken from “The biggest lie tech people tell themselves — and the rest of us” by Rose Eveleth. Vox, October 8, 2019).

Last year, “a series of hijacked billboards have been popping up around Aberdeen (Scotland) in a bid to slam oil companies for “exploiting workers”. [in an attempt to sanction oil companies for exploiting their workers]
The fake billboards, aimed at oil giants like BP and Shell, came ahead of an important international conference attended by these oil giants.
“A group involved in the “Brandalism” network have put up their own adverts across bus stop and billboard spaces to “stand in solidarity with rig workers and demand better pay and conditions for them.”
Using the billboard in the photo, explain in a paragraph or two De Certeau’s concept of tactics.
The story is linked below, but you don’t need to read it in order to answer the questions.
NOTE1 : simply reproducing the content of the course slides will not be considered sufficient.
NOTE 2: if you wish, you may choose another photo from the article linked below, but please mention in your response what photo you are using.
Campaigners hijack Aberdeen billboards to slam oil companies for ‘exploiting workers’ ahead of energy conference. Aberdeen Live. By Shanay Taylor, 23 May 2022
https://www.aberdeenlive.news/news/aberdeen-news/campaigners-hijack-aberdeen-billboards-slam-7115158Links to an external site.
NOTE 3:
Rig workers = the workers from the oil industry (they drill sites for petroleum).
Billboard hacking or billboard hijacking is the illegal practice of altering a billboard without the consent of the owner. It may involve physically pasting new media over the existing image,[1]Links to an external site. or hacking into the system used to control electronic billboardLinks to an external site. displays. The aim is to replace the programmed video with a different video or image. The replaced media may be displayed for various reasons, including culture jammingLinks to an external site., shock value, promotion, activism,[2]Links to an external site. political propaganda,[3]Links to an external site. or simply to amuse viewers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_hackingLinks to an external site.

1. How does implicit religion relate to the study of subcultures and post-subcultures, per Klassen’s text (RPC)? In 250-400 words, explain this connection and then apply it to an example of a subculture or post-subculture that is not provided in Klassen’s chapter on the topic (i.e., not Goth subculture, Burners/Burning Man devotees, etc. — any other examples are fine, including subcultures or post-subcultures that have emerged more recently than Klassen’s text was published).
2. Review the following video (the full URL is below, if the linked text doesn’t work for you), “Is Doctor Who a Religion?”. In the article, “Fiction-based Religion: Conceptualizing a New Category Against History-Based Religion and Fandom,” Markus Altena Davidsen states, “Despite their fictional basis, fiction-based religions are genuine religions because the activity and beliefs of which they consist refer to supernatural entities which are claimed to exist in the actual world… Fiction-based religion emerges when fictional narratives are used as authoritative texts for actual religious practice” (378). Drawing on Davidsen’s analysis and the ideas posed in this video, respond to the following prompt (in 350-500 words):
Fiction-based religions are directly related to specific media objects (books, shows, films, etc., in various fiction genres), whereby the world-creating within those media objects serves to orient individuals in the non-fictional (i.e. the “real”) world. When considering academic definitions of “religion” (such as those by Durkheim or Geertz, for example, discussed in this video and in various readings/classes this term), are you convinced by the thesis that fiction-based religions are “real” religions? If so, why (i.e., what criteria do these fulfill that grant them the status as “real” religions)? If not, why not (i.e., what criteria do they lack that would grant them the status as “real” religions)? Finally, what is at stake in determinations of what is or is not a “real” religion?