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It is often thought that the Abrahamic religious traditions, especially Judaism and Islam, are at best suspicious of visual art, and at worst iconophobic destroyers of figurative visual images.  Conversely, it is often assumed that contemporary secular art is either indifferent to or - as in the case of Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ (1987) - actually hostile to institutional religion. This module aims to show that neither of these suppositions is entirely accurate.  Judaism and Islam do not proscribe art but have produced a rich tradition of non or counter-idolatrous art and Christian art’s attempt to achieve the impossible: to represent the appearance of Christ, confessed to be at once truly God and truly a man, has produced some of the finest and most influential pieces in the history of western art. The module will also offer students the opportunity to see how film represents religious narratives and ideas and to explore both how films raise and explore complex philosophical and ethical arguments, and how philosophy makes a contribution to the theorisation of film.

This module will include the following topics, all of which are designed to convey to students that visual art does a great deal more than merely illustrate religious narratives or philosophical ideas, but can actually instantiate and develop them. Opening with consideration of historical and contemporary theologies of image and Jewish art’s negotiation with the biblical Second Commandment and contemporary ethico-religious criticism of idolatrous images, it will go on to explore the misconception of Islamic art as consisting in exclusively non-figurative calligraphic inscriptions and how Christian art might visually represent the redemptive ontological particularity of Jesus.  Case studies might include how modern art has been radically situated in sacred spaces such as the church of Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce in the Plateau d’Assy, consecrated in 1941. Where possible, a practitioner will be invited to offer a guest lecture to students.  The second half of the module will use theoretical discussion and the screening of films in and outside class time to investigate how religion is represented in films; how cinema can itself embody some of the ritual and experiential dimensions of religion and how it can use the moving image as a philosophical medium in its own right.

A student passing this module should be able to:

1. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge and understanding of the role of visual art in religion and philosophy.

1. Analyse and clearly present the major controversies surrounding images in the Abrahamic religions while demonstrating awareness of their actual and permissible use.
2. Imaginatively, as well as critically, engage in the interpretation of selected images and films.
3. Identify and use academically reliable sources that provide historical, biographical and theoretical discussion of practitioners and their work in the field.

1. Develop intellectually rigorous, well-articulated, and well evidenced discussions about the philosophical and religious ideas that inform art and cinema as a whole, not just religious art and films that feature religions.

1. Use a range of ICT skills in order to gather, evaluate and synthesise different types of information.

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.