International Relations 221 - Faith, Conscience and Politics: An Exploration Through Film

This course focuses on the relationship between religion and politics, at levels both collective (organized religion) and individual (acts of conscience), using assigned films from different cultures as the launching points for exploration. After viewing the assigned film for the week, students will first respond in an online class forum and then come to class for deeper discussion. Through discussion, we'll touch on elements such as the relationship between political struggle and the church under oppressive regimes, how faith guides people's conscience under different political circumstances, why religion and faith have remained such powerful entities in modern politics, whether these films accurately portray the tension between church and state, and the role of individual conscience in civil disobedience. We will focus on the continuing power of religion in people's lives as they confront powerful and secular states, and we will look at the connections of religion to identity, ethnicity, and perceptions of morality.