This is a brief audio recording of a panel presentation I made at the National Communication Association convention in Chicago on November 13, 2009. My comments address the state of “religious” (or “religion”) scholarship on communication and, conversely, the state of communication scholarship about religion.

I also offer a “wish list” for future research about the intersection of religion and communication, including: (1) a post-post-modern paradigm (or paradigms) of communication, (2) the nature of human communication as an act of faith, (3) modes of human discourse that would better equip different religious groups to communicate civilly without either giving up their irreconcilable differences or communicating exclusively on the basis of such differences, and (4) the parabolic aspects of human storytelling as other-worldly.

Listen to Quentin Schultze on “Religious Communication Scholarship”:

This is a slightly edited (to remove local references and to reduce the length) version of  a speech I gave at the “Emerging Technologies & Media Mythologies” conference held at the Prince Conference Center at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan on October 5, 2009. I address three aspects of the relationship between faith and technology: (1) faith “for” technology, (2) faith “in” technology, and (3) faith “about” technology.

My quotes of Søren Kierkegaard’s work are from the wonderful collection of quotes titled Provocations. I highly recommend it, especially if you do not have the time to read his longer works.

My comments about St. Augustine’s work on faith and communication are primarily from his De Doctrina Christiana (On Christian Teaching/Doctrine).  It is one of the most interesting books about the relationship between sacred texts and human communication.  If you want a superbly annotated version of this work, see Richard Leo Enos and Roger Thompson, et. al. editors, The Rhetoric of St. Augustine of Hippo: De Doctrina Christiana & the Search for a Distinctly Christian Rhetoric (Baylor University Press, 2008).  The book includes Sister Thérèse Sullivan’s stunning work on Augustine’s original text.

I recorded this audio interview with Barbara Trepagnier, author of the book Silent Racism, on October 9, 2008, in Grand Rapids, MI. Duration: 13 min 01 sec

Barbara Trepanier

Dr. Trepagnier suggests that “silent racism”—racism by people who are simplistically labeled as “not racist”—fosters institutional racism.  She believes that heightened race awareness is more important in changing racial inequality than judging whether individuals are racist or not.  According to Trepagnier, the categories of racist/not racist are outdated and should be replaced with a continuum that more accurately portrays racial reality.  Read about her book at Amazon.