abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/CSM/story?id=255051&page=1
The senior signed up for "Religions of Star Trek" last semester and thoug ht, "Here's my out. I'm going to destroy this class," says Eddy, joking that he would ace it.
Eddy did earn an A-, and something else he didn't expect an altered wor ld view. "My eyes opened to just how much spirituality plays into everything fro m belief structures to organizational structures," says Eddy. To grab students' attention , many find they must integrate TV and movies into the curriculum. "It connects the familiar with the unfamiliar," says Tim Hunter, a philos ophy lecturer at Mississippi State University, who plans to use Homer Si mpson to explain Aristotle's philosophy. Others have used "Buffy the Vam pire Slayer" to examine ethical dilemmas and "The Matrix" to illuminate points about ancient and modern beliefs. But are Spock, Homer, and Neo the most effective teaching tools? While ma ny agree that pop culture figures can engage students and elucidate abst ract concepts, critics say they should be used sparingly. "It can have the effect of 'dumbing down' the course," says Todd Penner, who teaches "Biblical Heritage" at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. "I don't have any qualms about making references to movies in class. When I do show movies, however, I try hard to make it a thinking experience by having them watch material very few of them are likely to view on their own." In most cases, students aren't awarded college credit for simply watching moving images. Many students get the wrong impression when they hear ab out "Religions of Star Trek," says Susan Schwartz, who teaches the cours e at Muhlenberg College. After a few classes, they quickly learn that th ey don't just sit there and watch TV.
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