Exposition

How do we do theology? How do we do theology in a way that is a blessing to the world?

These are the foundational questions which undergird my work in Worship and/as Transformative Art. I want to know how art (broadly understood) can create a better world, one in which all can be affirmed and find a place in the world.

I take as axiomatic that liturgy is theology already in progress. I use the term theology broadly, indicating human relationships with each other, the world, and (possibly) a deity. I use the term liturgy both broadly and narrowly, sometimes indicating the cultural scripts by which we act and sometimes indicating christian worship. I may even use the term more narrowly to indicate "catholic" orders of service (as different from evangelical).

I also interact with ritual, understanding ritual as a liminal space, a vessel in which things can be changed, a place between states without belonging to either the prior or posterior state (and yet somehow belonging to both).

The reading list sets the course as interacting with theatrical political change, theological aesthetics, queer theory, and ethnographic studies. I'll probably be interacting with more Boal and more Some than just the titles listed. There may be other works added as well.

September 
Janet Walton Art and Worship: A Vital Connection
Augusto Boal Theatre of the Oppressed
Kimberly Vrudny and Wilson Yates, Arts, Theology, and the Church, selections
Audre Lorde, "Poetry is not a luxury"
Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

October 
Linda E. Thomas, Under the Canopy 
Malidoma Patrice Some, Ritual: Power, Healing, and Community 
Alexis de Veaux, Yabo 

November 
Gloria Anzaldua, Light in the Dark 
Alejandro R. Garcia-Rivera, Community of the Beautiful 
Roberto S Goizueta, Christ Our Companion 

Throughout the course, there will be a very personal component. Seeing that this work is incarnate, existing in a space where the art itself the theology, not an impediment to dissect in order to get to philosophical bullet points, art will be a serious part of the work. De Veaux offers a novel and Anzaldua beautiful theory to be savored more than analyzed. Also I will be doing The Artist's Way to develop myself as an artist, and I hope that this work will feed back into the analysis to produce a more fully embodied practice of research.

At the end of the course, I hope to develop a practice of art that enacts decolonial and anti-oppressive social transformation, art that is so painfully beautiful that it moves individuals and communities toward justice. While I have a hard time seeing myself as a great artist, I do see myself as an enabler. May I enable others to become the artists who change the world.