Start Date
18-12-2020 9:35 AM
Description
This paper outlines a research proposal for a documentary film about the ways in which systems from island cultures understand fate and ancestral sin. The proposal begins by commenting on the universality of these questions, before discussing the ways in which the island environment can influence the development of these understandings. The primary focus of this research project will be the religious traditions of the Caribbean, Pacific, and Mediterranean, especially the Rastafari Movement, Haitian Vodou, the traditions of the Mekeo people, Ancient Greek religion, and the unique development of the LDS Church in the South Pacific. The primary method suggested in the proposal for examining the understanding of fate within these traditions is an interview structure, with the scholarly works of writers like Alan Jones, Sara A. Rich, Renaud Gagné, Paul Morris, and others serving as background research which will inform the interview process. The justification for this method is that the best way of understanding any tradition is to understand it from the perspective of a practitioner. The ultimate hope is that the proposed project will serve both as a piece of theological and anthropological research of scholarly interest and as a piece of documentary filmmaking of popular interest.
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Fate and Ancestral Sin in Island Cultures: A Research Proposal
This paper outlines a research proposal for a documentary film about the ways in which systems from island cultures understand fate and ancestral sin. The proposal begins by commenting on the universality of these questions, before discussing the ways in which the island environment can influence the development of these understandings. The primary focus of this research project will be the religious traditions of the Caribbean, Pacific, and Mediterranean, especially the Rastafari Movement, Haitian Vodou, the traditions of the Mekeo people, Ancient Greek religion, and the unique development of the LDS Church in the South Pacific. The primary method suggested in the proposal for examining the understanding of fate within these traditions is an interview structure, with the scholarly works of writers like Alan Jones, Sara A. Rich, Renaud Gagné, Paul Morris, and others serving as background research which will inform the interview process. The justification for this method is that the best way of understanding any tradition is to understand it from the perspective of a practitioner. The ultimate hope is that the proposed project will serve both as a piece of theological and anthropological research of scholarly interest and as a piece of documentary filmmaking of popular interest.
Comments
Mentor: L. Arik Greenberg