Prepared by Rose Pacatte, fsp Director, Pauline Center for Media Studies 50 Saint Pauls Avenue Boston, MA 02130-3491

The following books form a basic resource library for educators, parents and pastoral ministers wishing to gain a background in media education and to teach media awareness in the classroom or in group settings, at home, school or the faith community.

Babin, Pierre (1991) New Era in Religious Communication, Fortress: Minneapolis, ISBN 0800624378

This insightful volume explores the deeper religious meaning of the revolution in global communication. Responding to these momentous shifts, Pierre Babin articulates a new Christian approach to communication. He relates media to new ecclesial forms, new youth cultures, the contemporary quest for religious experience, new theological emphases and especially new and relevant forms of religious education. This book is “a stimulating, relevant and substantive treatment of catechetics, evangelization and communication theory” (from the back cover”.

Baugh, Lloyd (1997) Imaging the Divine: Jesus Christ and Christ Figures in Film, Sheed and Ward: Kansas City ISBN 1556128630

Covering the history of Jesus films as a genre from the early years to its transition to the representation of Christ-figure in the movies, this is a “thorough, steady, expert and fascinating book. Imaging the Divine should be on the agenda of theology professors and students, on the table of Christian filmmakers, reviewers and educators, indeed, all those who have a public function in the Church” (from the cover). This volume is part of Sheed & Ward’s excellent Communication, Culture and Theology Series.

Duncan, Barry, et al., (1996) Mass Media and Popular Culture, Version 2, Student Text and Resource Manual for Teachers, Harcourt, Brace & Company, Canada

The mass media play a critical role in determining political agendas, constructing social realities, establishing news, and dictating how we use our leisure time. The signs and symbols of our popular culture pervade every aspect of our lives, including the way in which young people process classroom learning. Mass Media and Popular Culture, Version 2, is a response to the need of educators to help young people cope with our evolving information and entertainment society.

Eilers, F.J. (1997) Church and Social Communications: Basic Documents, 2nd Edition Logos:Manila ISBN 9715100724

This is a unique collection of all Church documents of the 20th century dealing with the social communication. Includes: –major encyclicals and documents with historical introductions –outlines to each document –Pontifical Messages for World Communications Day 1967-1997 –Selections from other major ecclesial documents on communication and media –Complete index –List of Selected International Literature This book is a must for all persons interested in discovering the development of Church teaching on the theology, spirituality, ethics and morality of social communication today.

Hailer, Gretchen (1997) Believing in a Media Culture, St. Mary’s Press/Winona ISBN 0884893901

Part of The Horizons Series for high school students, this minicourse is about the media: television, movies, music, magazine and computer technologies and recognizes their pervasiveness and increasing influence among all age groups in our culture. Young people in particular need to learn to interact with these media in healthful ways. And Christian parents and educators are rightly concerned that such “media literacy” be grounded in human and Gospel values. This three session course (2 hours each) helps young people to critically assess the mixed messages of the Gospel through the lens of Christian faith. The participants will develop skills that will last a lifetime.

Hereford, M.J., Thomas, Corrine (1997) New Babel, New Pentecost: Communicating the Gospel in a Mass Mediated Culture, Pauline Books & Media: Boston ISBN 0819851345

Directed toward parents and pastoral ministers, this book features –background information on culture and communication –workshop suggestions –reproducible handouts and a wealth of additional resources to bridge the gap between the theoretical knowledge of media culture and an effective and practical response to it.

Masterman, Len (1985) Teaching the Media, Routledge: New York ISBN 0415108608

This pivotal work is the “bible” of the media literacy education movement. It is a comprehensive study of media education and is an indispensable to all teachers and students seeking to understand and master the theory and practice of media education. An essential text and highly recommended.

May, John, Editor (1997) New Image in Religious Film Sheed and Ward: Kansas City ISBN 1556127618

This collection brings together contributors from richly diverse backgrounds – literature, art, history, mass communication, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, theology — to explore a wide range of current issues concerning the interrelationship of religion and film, including approaches to the question of what constitutes cinema’s religious dimension.. Addresses the continued discomfort with, even distrust of, films by theologians and suggests ways in which film, far from subverting the theological venture, can be a worthy ally not only in the process of evangelization, but also in faith’s search for understanding. (Also part of Sheed & Ward’s Communication, Culture and Theology Series).

Price, Stuart (1993) Media Studies Longman: London ISBN 0273600834

Beginning with models of human interaction, this first college-level textbook examines a range of mass media forms and practices. Advertising, television, film, photojournalism, the music industry, newspapers and comics are all used to explore the usefulness of theory, from semiology, content analysis and psychological approaches, to more recent ideas about discourse and address.

Media Studies:

–encourages research and analytical skills –combines theory with practical exercises –provides essay titles on a range of forms and concept –gives examples of transcripts and student coursework –is illustrated with original diagrams and photographs, and reproduces a number of examples of leaflets, advertisements, headlines and cartoons.

Although written for a British audience, this text has been used successfully in North America since its publication.

Sunderaj, Victor, et al., (1998) Pastoral Planning for Social Communication, Paulines:Montreal

This recent book on Pastoral Planning for Social Communication offers articles from different parts of the world to help individuals, Church groups, dioceses and religious institutions to formulate their own pastoral plan for social communication.

In the foreword to the book, Archbishop John P. Foley, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication, writes, “one might say that the first pastoral plan in communication was Creation, the second was Revelation, the third was Incarnation, but the fourth pastoral plan involves evangelization: how to communicate the significance of Creation, the richness of Revelation and the tremendous reality of the Incarnation.”

Rossi, Philip J. & Soukup, Paul A. (1994) Mass Media and the Moral Imagination Sheed & Ward: Kansas City ISBN 1556126220

This much we know: the world which informs our moral thinking is one in which the mass media dominate other voices.

The essays in this collection offer a critical examination of this mass mediated world. Written from the perspectives of a variety of disciplines-communication, education, psychology, philosophy, theology – they explore the impact that modern communications technology and mass media have upon the stage of our human moral world.

While acknowledging that modern communication and mass communication have their own inner dynamic, the essays stress an important principle for educators, parents and all citizens of this “global” village: mass media, which are human products subject to human responsibility, can be directed to serve rather than to overwhelm the conditions for discerning the genuine human good and promoting moral progress.

Trampiets, F. (1998) Faith in the Media?, Ave Maria Press:Notre Dame ISBN 0877936129 (text and teacher’s guide)

This is a pertinent elective mini-course in the area of media awareness and literacy. In eight complete sessions, teens will examine these and other issues: –how media attempts to portray culture –how the business of advertising finances the media and how advertising finances the media and how advertisements –compare to the Christian message –the built-in biases that accompany news reporting and how religious topics are reported in the medin the influence of –media violence and strategies for peaceful conflict resolution –how contemporary music can be enjoyable but at times conflicting with the Christian message –how to negotiate the meaning of the many sexual images viewers are exposed to in the media in the light of our Christian faith –the potential of spreading the good news via the Internet –how to develop a personal plan for being a better media consumer

(These reviews are either quoted from or closely based on back cover or catalogue descriptions)