As a collaboration between the Center for Media, Religion and Culture and KGNU, this quarterly radio show was a work of public scholarship dedicated to bringing the conversations being had at the center out to the public. With interviews conducted by KGNU's Maeve Conran of center members including Stewart Hoover and Nabil Echchaibi, the Sacred Lines radio show ran from 2012 to 2017 with many shows and conversations held about current events in media and religion. Click here to listen to episodes or read some of the episode brief's below:
Sacred Lines: Religion, Ritual and the Super Bowl
This episode focuses on the religious and ritualistic aspects of the Super Bowl. In this installment, we spoke with Jason Anthony from Time Inc., who has written about games and religion, and CMRC Director Stewart Hoover, who has researched civil religion, public rituals and American sporting events.
Stream the episode here, beginning at the 26:00 mark.
Sacred Lines: Religion in the 2016 Elections
This episode focuses on the role of media and religion in the 2016 US elections. In this installment, we spoke with Dr. Nader Hashemi, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at University of Denver, and Michael Hidalgo, author and Lead Pastor at Denver Community Church.
Sacred Lines: Oprah Winfrey…Cultural Icon?
This episode embarks on an exploration of the way icons are created through the media, and what it means to be an icon by examining the life of Oprah Winfrey through her most prominent media moments. In this installment we spoke to Dr. Kathryn Lofton, professor at Yale University and Dr. Janice Peck, professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Lofton notes that “there is something rather religious about Oprah Winfrey.”
This episode examines her life, her influence, our consumerism, and our relationships to her as she re-injects us with our own anxiety.
Sacred Lines: Public Scholarship Part 2
This edition of Sacred Lines continues the conversation on public scholarship and the challenges involved in academic work reaching wider audiences. Their guests include Dr. Rachael Wagner from Ithaca College on gaming, religion, and film, and Dr. Curtis Coats at Millsaps College, who studies identity and culture in media and religion.
Sacred Lines: Journalism, Public Scholarship and Academia
This installment of Sacred Lines is the first in a two part series that explores the ways that journalism, public scholarship and academia impact one another. Public Scholarship, while widely defined and widely understood is when academics make their research available to mainstream publics. We want to know what it means for university professors to participate in public scholarship and what public scholarship looks like.
Sacred Lines: Muslims in the Mountain West
The fourth episode of our radio show Sacred Lines aired on KGNU on November 27, 2012. It was produced by Samira Rajabi, Kristin Peterson and Hugo Cordova.
The episode explores the Muslims in the Mountain West project which chronicles the experiences of Muslims as they live and imagine their own Americanness. Guests include Dr. Nabil Echchaibi, Associate Director of the Center for Media Religion and Culture at CU Boulder, Dr. Ausma Khan, a PhD in human rights law, publisher of Muslim Girl Magazine and an up and coming mystery novelist, and Monir Ludin, a local activist and Chair of the Abrahamic Initiative Steering Committee, a local interfaith organization.
Ausma Khan is the editor in chief of Muslim Girl magazine, a bi-monthly publication that is the first magazine to target young Muslim women. She describes Muslim Girlas an opportunity to reshape the conversation about Muslim women in North America. Monir Ludin has been an active member of the Muslim community of Colorado since 1989. He is married and has four daughters. In his professional life he works for a global firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado. As part of his involvement in the community, in the past he has been involved with Colorado Muslims Society (the largest Islamic Center in Colorado) in various capacities including chair of the Education Committee, member of the Executive Committee and as member of the Board (Shura) of the center. He has also acted as a member of the board of the Colorado Muslim Council whose mission is to foster cooperation, collaboration and communication among the various Muslim organizations in Colorado. Monir Ludin has been and continues to be a member of the Steering Committee of Muslims Intent on Learning & Activism (MILA), which aims at getting Muslims involved in community service, interfaith dialogue and self-education. He has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Abrahamic Initiative since January 2009 and has been acting as the Chair of that committee since June 2010.
Sacred Lines is produced by CU’s Center for Media, Religion and Culture.
Special thanks to the research fellows of CMRC for their input and to Maeve Conran for her support.
Stream the episode. (Sacred Lines begins 1:40 into the program.)
Sacred Lines: Buddhism, Meditation and Technology
The third episode of Sacred Lines aired on KGNU on December 6. It was produced by Anthony Collebrusco, Samira Rajabi, and Joanna Piacenza.
The episode looks at digital applications of meditation in modern Buddhism, and includes two segments: First, Samira interviews Vincent Horn, founder of Buddhist Geeks, and Rohan Gunatillake, designer of the meditation iPhone and Android app. Buddhify. In the second segment, Samira talks to Joanna Piacenza, a graduate student who does research on Buddhism and technology.
Special thanks to the research fellows of CMRC for their input and to Maeve Conran for her support.
Stream the episode. (Sacred Lines begins 39:35 into the program.)
Sacred Lines: Gaming and Religion
The second episode of Sacred Lines aired on KGNU on July 12. It was produced by Samira Rajabi, Anthony Collebrusco and Benjamin Thevenin with the help of KGNU’s Maeve Conran.
The episode looks at the intersection of religion and gaming, and includes three segements: First, Samira and Anthony conduct some man-on-the-street interviews with CU students participating in a Starcraft tournament. Next, Samira leads a conversation between Jason Anthony and Tim Hutchings on religion and gaming. And lastly, it features a story of a man whose game-playing helps him with a personal crisis.
Special thanks to Jason Anthony and Tim Hutchings for their willingness to participate, and to Maeve Conran for her support.