Liturgies of creativity: A dialogue between secular music performance and Christian liturgical performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Creative Process ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Christian Worship ◽  
Theological Orientation ◽  
The University

This is a modified version of an essay originally submitted as an assignment (entitled: ‘Bodies together: Creativity, sensuality, discovery’) during my MA in public theology at the University of Chichester. Theological reflection on contemporary music performance created a dialogue between the ‘secular’ and ‘religious’ to explore the concept of ‘liturgy’ in contemporary theological discourse. Drawing from largely Protestant and Catholic sources, I argue that while Christian worship is unique in its theological orientation, it shares with non-Christian ‘liturgies’ participation in a creative process through the ways in which the human imagination is enacted and performed. This invites further dialogue between different liturgies of creativity for human flourishing.

Public Theology in Brazil: The Political and Institutional Aspects

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Décio Passos
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Community ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Curriculum Guidelines ◽  
Institutional Aspects ◽  
The University ◽  
Education Courses

Abstract This article analyses the situation of higher education courses in theology in Brazil, from a political and institutional point of view. It notes the need to adopt the epistemological status of theology itself as a parameter of institutionalization, in order to overcome the exclusively political criteria that have governed the process of accreditation of those courses, as well as the construction of curriculum guidelines. It affirms the ‘public’ aspect as inherent to theological reflection. Theology being a logos of faith structured originally within the university may, in the same space, be recognized as legitimate and established knowledge, according to the academic rules of the scientific community.

Rethinking Public Theology in Ethiopia: Politics, Religion, and Ethnicity in a Declining National Harmony

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-171
Author(s):  
Wondimu Legesse Sonessa
Keyword(s):  
Public Theology ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Ethnic Tensions ◽  
Religion And Ethnicity ◽  
Almost All ◽  
African Traditional Religions

Abstract Ethiopia is a country of multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. Almost all of its citizens claim affiliation with either Christianity, Islam, or African traditional religions. Adherents of these religions have been coexisting in respect and peace. However, there is a growing tension between the citizens since the downfall of the dictatorial military government of Ethiopia, which was displaced by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991. Politics, religion, and ethnicity are the major causes of the declining national harmony under the current government. My claim is that addressing the declining national harmony caused by the religious, political, and ethnic tensions in Ethiopia requires of the EECMY to rethink its public theology in a way that promotes a national harmony that values peace, equality, justice, democracy, and human flourishing.

Deepened Monotheism. Philosophical Reasoning on the Trinity in Western Early Medieval and Classic Arabic Theology

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-264
Author(s):  
Katrin König
Keyword(s):  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Religious Context ◽  
Latin West ◽  
Syrian Orthodox ◽  
Anselm Of Canterbury ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Rational Arguments

SummaryChristian theologians can explain the Trinitarian faith today in dialogue with Islamic thinkers as “deepened monotheism”. Therefore it is important to widen the systematic-theological discourse in an ecumenical and transcultural perspective and to retrieve resources from Western and non-Western traditions of Trinitarian thought (I).In this paper I will first work out historically that the Trinitarian creed of Nicea and Constantinople was originally an ecumenical but non-Western creed (II). Afterwards, I investigate the philosophical-theological reflection on the Trinity by Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) in the context of early interreligious encounters in the Latin West. Based on biblical, augustinian and Greek sources, he developed an approach to understand the mystery of the Trinity by rational arguments as “deepened monotheism” (III). Then I will proceed to explore the philosophical-theological dialogues on the Trinity from the Arabic philosopher and Syrian-orthodox theologian Yaḥyā ibn ‘Adī (893–974). Much earlier he developed rational arguments for the Triunity of God with reference to Aristotle. Thereby he answers to anti-trinitarian arguments from Islamic thinkers like al-Kindī and al-Warrāq. He intends that the Trinitarian faith of Christian minorities can thereby be understood and tolerated by Islamic thinkers as rationally founded “deepened monotheism” (IV).In the end I will evaluate what these classics from the Western and non-western traditions of Trinitarian thought contribute to explicate the doctrine of the Trinity today in a pluralistic religious context as “deepened monotheism” (V).

scholarly journals Embodying the Site: the Here and Now in Site-Specific Dance Performance

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Creative Process ◽  
Dance Performance ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Spirit Of Place ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

In this article, Victoria Hunter explores the concept of the ‘here and now’ in the creation of site-specific dance performance, in response to Doreen Massey's questioning of the fixity of the concept of the ‘here and now’ during the recent RESCEN seminar on ‘Making Space’, in which she challenged the concept of a singular fixed ‘present’, suggesting instead that we exist in a constant production of ‘here and nows’ akin to ‘being in the moment’. Here the concept is applied to an analysis of the author's recent performance work created as part of a PhD investigation into the relationship between the site and the creative process in site-specific dance performance. In this context the notion of the ‘here and now’ is discussed in relation to the concept of dance embodiment informed by the site and the genius loci, or ‘spirit of place’. Victoria Hunter is a Lecturer in Dance at the University of Leeds, who is currently researching a PhD in site-specific dance performance.

Creative collaboration: student creative works in the institutional repository

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-31
Author(s):  
Rose Sliger Krause ◽  
Andrea Langhurst Eickholt ◽  
Justin L. Otto
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Institutional Repository ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Student Work ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Music Department ◽  
Eastern Washington ◽  
The University

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the music performance collection preserved in Eastern Washington University’s institutional repository (IR). This collection of recordings of student music performances is the result of an ongoing collaboration between the university?s library and music department, which serves to provide discoverability, preservation and access to a collection of student creative works, which had heretofore been a hidden collection. Design/methodology/approach This collection of student creative work was identified as a suitable project for the Eastern Washington University’s IR while it was still in the planning stages because it was identified as an existing need that the new IR could address. Much of the groundwork for the collaboration between the library and music department was completed prior to IR implementation. Thus, the library was ready to begin work on this collection once the IR was operational. Findings The student music performance collection has been a successful project for the IR, which benefits the music department by making student performances discoverable and accessible, and benefits the library by providing the opportunity to demonstrate that the then-new IR could support the university’s student-centered focus on teaching and learning. Originality/value While there is a growing body of literature on IRs emphasizing student work, there is little literature on music or other creative works’ collections in IRs, much less on creative works by students. This paper adds to the limited body of literature on student creative works in the IR by describing the development, implementation and lessons learned from the successful music performances collection.

scholarly journals Curriculum design in theology and development: Human agency and the prophetic role of the church

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverley Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
The Social ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church

The field of theology and development is a relatively new sub-discipline within theological studies in Africa. The first formal post-graduate programme was introduced at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa during the mid-1990s. In the early years it was known as the Leadership and Development programme and since 2000, as the Theology and Development programme. Over the past twenty years, this programme has graduated over 160 BTh Honours, 100 MTh, and 15 PhD students. This article outlines the history of the programme, addresses its ideological orientation, its pedagogical commitments and preferences in curriculum design. It further argues that theological reflection on “development” must seek to understand the prophetic role of the church in responding to the complexities of the social issues facing the African continent.  Key to this discussion is the contested nature of “development” and the need for theological perspectives to engage this contestation through a social analysis of the global structures of injustice. This requires an engagement with the social sciences. It is this engagement of the social sciences with theological reflection, the essay argues, that has enabled the students who have graduated from the Theology and Development Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal to assist the church and faith-based organisations to become effective agents of social transformation.

Maschine-itivity: How I found my creativity using a digital sampling device to compose music

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-313
Author(s):  
Jonathan Kladder
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Creative Process ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Sampling Device ◽  
Digital Sampling ◽  
Informal Music Learning ◽  
Contextual Understanding ◽  
Auto Ethnography

The ubiquity of digital music technology has prompted researchers and scholars to examine how music educators might support music learning that encourages creativity through the use of these mediums. Infusing technology into current curricular offerings offers one avenue in fostering a diversity of music learning experiences for students when teachers are interested in developing creativity in their students. Research examining current practising teachers and their experiences with digital sampling and beat making technology is limited. The purpose of this research was to offer my experiences learning, writing and sharing music using a sampling and beat-making device called the Maschine. This auto-ethnography uses Sawyer’s eight stages of the creative process as the theoretical framework to guide analysis of my creativity. The aims of this research were to: (1) reflect on the creative process involved in making music on a digital sampling and beat-making device; (2) provide a contextual understanding of my challenges and successes along the way; and (3) suggest implications for both current and future music teachers interested in learning to use this type of technology in their music teaching to provide contemporary music making experiences for their students. Results suggest that vernacular and informal music learning strategies were common over the 14-week semester, as YouTube tutorials supported my learning. My creativity occurred in small incremental steps and yielded three completed compositions at the culmination of the project. A conceptual model of the creative process is proposed, outlining the non-linearity of my creative process. Implications for music education are offered in conclusion.

Balance Problems: Neoliberalism and New Music in the American University and Ensemble

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 749-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Robin
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Music ◽  
First Century ◽  
American University ◽  
Duke University ◽  
Contemporary Status ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Between 2013 and 2015, the ensemble yMusic collaborated with graduate student composers in a residency at Duke University. This article positions the residency as a result of the transformation of the university and the new-music ensemble from a technocratic Cold War paradigm to their contemporary status under the market- and branding-oriented logics of neoliberalism. The works written for yMusic by the Duke composers were deeply informed by the ensemble's musical brand, including its idiosyncratic instrumentation, preexisting repertory, collaborative ethos, and relationship to popular music. In accounting for the impact of these institutional developments on the production of musical works, this article argues that the economic and ideological practices of neoliberalism have discernible aesthetic consequences for American new music. Given the key role of the ensemble and the university in the contemporary music landscape, the issues raised by my ethnographic and historical analysis have significant implications for new music in the twenty-first century, and for the way composers work in the United States and beyond.

Percussion Theatre: a body in between

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jennifer Torrence
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
The Body ◽  
John Cage ◽  
Artistic Practice ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Art Forms ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
And Performance

What does the musician become when sound and instrumental thinking are no longer privileged as the foundation of a musician's practice? In what ways does an emphasis on the musician's body cause music to approach art forms such as theatre and performance? After a generation of pioneering work from Mauricio Kagel, Dieter Schnebel, John Cage and many others, where is the theatrical and the performative in music today? How do its recent developments shape, alter, constitute a musician's artistic practice? Through her research, Jennifer Torrence argues that this type of music demands the musician assume a different understanding and relation to their instrument and therefore a different relation to their body. This relation calls for new ways of making and doing (new artistic practices) that foreground the body as a fundamental performance material. Through an emphasis on the body, the musician emerges as a performer. This exposition is a reflection on the research project Percussion Theatre: a body in between. This project is comprised of a collection of new evening-length works that approach the theatrical and performative in contemporary music performance. These works are created with and by composers Wojtek Blecharz, Carolyn Chen, Neo Hülcker, Johan Jutterström, Trond Reinholdtsen, François Sarhan, and Peter Swendsen. The exposition contains reflections on recent developments in contemporary music that mark a mutation of the executing musician into a co-creating performer, as well as images, artefacts, videos, and texts that unfold the process of creating and performing the work that constitutes this project. The ambition of this exposition is that through the exposure of a personal artistic practice an image of a larger field may come into focus.

Does Theology Belong in the University? Schleiermacherian Reflections from an Australian Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 484-495
Author(s):  
Ben Myers
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Christian Leadership ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Practical Science ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common ◽  
The University ◽  
Academic Theology ◽  
The Church

Abstract This article argues that theology belongs in the university not because of its relationship to the other disciplines but because of its relationship to the church. It discusses Schleiermacher’s understanding of theology as a practical science oriented towards Christian leadership in society. It argues that Schleiermacher’s account provides an illuminating perspective on the history of academic theology in Australia. Theology belongs in the university not for any internal methodological reasons but because of specific contextual conditions in societies like Australia where Christianity has exerted a large historical influence. The article concludes by arguing that the ecclesial orientation of university theology is compatible with the aims of public theology, given that service to the Christian community is a means by which the common flourishing of society can be promoted.

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