College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
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Musical performance as cultural theory
No full textIn the early 90’s, Dr. Thomas Daddesio and I began the serious study of reggae music—using methodology drawn from semiotics and contemporary cultural theory. After a while, we decided to try to play the music. This gave birth to The One Drop—a reggae, ska, soca, rock band that played around campus for 8 years and released one album (The One Drop, 1998). A few years later, I ran into Tom at a conference, and decided to get together to record music in the summer. We named ourselves “The Karma Refugees” after one of the first songs I wrote for the band. We’ve had these summer music sessions for the past several years. For this forum, The Karma Refugees (Tom Daddesio, bass; Kathleen Regan (CSB, \u2799), vocals, guitar, Caitlin Brutger (CSB, 2010), keyboards, vocals and me (guitar, vocals) will play a set of original music. My background has been in modern poetry, critical theory and cultural studies as reflected in my website. https://mikejopitz.com/This web page will be devoted to providing a kind of song that has intellectualcontent and theoretical overtones
Instruments of the Soul: Oikonomia and Bodily Asceticism
Get PDFOne strength of the monastic model as presented in the early desert literature is the pastoral responsiveness to individual needs, while one weakness of this model is the apparent divide between body and spirit. The current image many of today’s readers might have of the monastic desert is of wizened, brittle hermits continuously at war with their bodies in an attempt to subjugate the flesh. Rather, I would propose that the early monks can offer us a refreshing view of psychosomatic integrity, one that can speak to current discussions of pastoral accompaniment
The Migrant\u27s Double Vision: Understanding Pope Francis\u27 Culture of Encounter
No full textIn his first Pentecost homily, Pope Francis challenged Christians to cultivate a “culture of encounter” by moving beyond comfort zones to engage difference in a mutually transformative manner.
By taking the “double vision” of migrants seriously as a catalyst for theological reflection, this call acquires a distinct way of viewing reality that resists the temptations of the center in light of the Christ event. Joseph will explore this claim by examining how the interstitial insights of theologians from the Vietnamese-American, Mexican-American, and African-American contexts contribute to an understanding of the transformative potential of encounter
Marginalized Populations and Climate Change
Get PDFThis study investigates the impact of climate change on marginalized populations , and seeks to understand the strategies of climate activists from so-called Least Developed Countries, particularly small island nations, for influencing climate policy on the global stage. I conducted participant observation and interviews at the UNFCCC’s COP 21 in Paris, in order to understand how marginalized populations anticipate the future, solutions they have to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change, and how they saw themselves being represented at the conference
Dis/robing for the Divine: Virtue as a Means and an ‘End’ to Union with God
No full textBeginning with Paul\u27s epistles, the Christian tradition has used the language of clothing oneself in virtue as a metaphor for spirituality. Whether donning armor against evil or a gown for a holy wedding, the wearing of virtue symbolizes spiritual growth and maturation. To be fully clothed is to be clothed in Christ. While some theologians see this as the pinnacle of the spiritual life, others like the Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207-1282 CE) view it as a penultimate and perhaps even problematic. For Mechthild true union with the divine necessitates disrobing - the taking off of virtue - so as nothing remains between the soul and God. Here virtue is helpful until it is not. This talk will trace the development of the metaphor of dis/robing in the Christian tradition and bring it into conversation with the Hindu Vaishnava tradition centered on the Bhagavata Purana. Through a comparative theological reflection, we will examine how Krishna\u27s encounters with the gopis of Vrindavan - particularly his stealing of their clothes - may help illuminate a Christian reflection on wearing and not wearing virtue. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, what might a radical reconsideration of virtue mean for moving away from ego-centeredness and towards Other/others-centeredness. This a movement away from proper and decent towards right and just
