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The Queer Monster: Putting Séance and Bit in Conversation
Full text linkThis video essay places Bit (Brad Michael Elmore, 2019, US) and Seance (Simon Barrett, 2021, US) in conversation. I show how both of these queer horror films move beyond the questions of representation and investigate how the very genre of horror can be utilised to reflect ideas of queerness. I incorporate Robin Wood’s psychoanalytical perspective on the monster reflecting what society represses. However, unlike the films Wood analysed in the 70s/80s, these modern films do not just relegate queerness to subtext. Queerness is now present, alive, in the text. And here, I interrogate how the role of the monster in both films reflects ideas of queer lived experience.
 
Rev Prof D. W. D. Shaw: A reflection
Full text linkThis reflection on the intellectual and theological legacy of Prof Bill Shaw, the founding editor of Theology in Scotland, was given by way of an introduction to the inaugural D. W. D. Shaw memorial lecture on 9 February 2022
Making sense of the ‘Word of God’ and ‘fundamental doctrines’: The questions and Formula in Church of Scotland ordination and setting-apart
Full text linkThis article considers references to the ‘Word of God’ and ‘fundamental doctrines’ in the Formula and questions used in ordaining ministers, elders and deacons, and in setting apart readers. History and research suggest that ‘contained in’ has different meanings in two of the questions, and ‘fundamental doctrines’ means some but not all of the Westminster Confession of Faith doctrines, together with some doctrines on which that Confession is silent. A 1935 statement helps clarify what doctrines are ‘fundamental’, as do a 1992 statement, and the first 1926 Article Declaratory. The little-known 1935 statement is included as an Appendix.Note: This paper was not part of the original conference and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Theological Forum
Whatever Happened to Home Movies? Self-representation from Family Archives to Online Algorithms
Full text linkHome movies are cultural acts and artifacts that have much to teach us about the way we use media technologies to situate ourselves in contemporary and past cultures, and how we use them to store and reshape our images of self, family and community. Archives of personal, family, or community media have always been rich and complex, albeit relatively bound sites of analysis, however when we now upload personal media to video sharing platforms we subject them not only to new economies of scale, but of meaning and audience as well. The prolific use of platforms such as YouTube and TikTok now requires us to take stock of how systems of producing, organizing, and circulating self-made media are impacted by corporate profit motives and backend functionalities. The capacities and uses of digital recording technologies and online file sharing platforms have complicated the status of the category of home movies and necessitate a revision to the analytical frameworks that several scholars of Cinema and Media Studies have offered in the past. Through a discussion of several user-produced media texts on video sharing platforms, I aim to elucidate the ways in which the platform is now apparatus that structures new social and affective relations and how we conceive of and represent our personal worlds, drawing attention to how capital flows through these systems, commodifying images, affect, gestures, expression, movement, sounds, and desire, and how and where existing social biases are reproduced or challenged. 
The Law of Treasure in England and Scotland
Full text linkThis article explores the development of treasure law in England and Scotland, tracing its evolution since the time of Edward the Confessor to contemporary legislation and recent revisions. Literature on the subject is not extensive and treasure law has, at times, been ridiculed; as such, this article seeks to properly chronicle the development of this unique and intriguing area of both historic and contemporary law in England and Scotland
Faith, creative practice and facing injustice in counter-cultural music
Full text linkEilidh Harris’ contribution to our Arts and Culture section continues the theme of exploring deeper spiritual realities by rooting them in the struggle for justice through art. As a metal musician and a poet, Harris shares some insights into her own, as well as other artists’, creative practice as resistance and empowerment, particularly in relation to violence against women and girls. As someone who no longer subscribes to the Christian faith in God but remains in dialogue with theology and contemporary religious culture, Harris offers a thought-provoking reflection on the life-giving power of creative practice in the context of trauma
Creativity and Digital Research Methodologies: A Conversation between Institutional and Anthropological Research
Full text linkDigital research methods are relevant to both institutional and anthropological research, and there is a need to address discipline orientated creativity principles in this field. In institutional research, quantitative data has a stronghold – this results in a “Leaky Box’ theory, stating that quantitative only data collection does not address all cohorts present in the tested student population, and that a quantitative and qualitative combined creative method would be more inclusive. Likewise, anthropology research on video games shares similar adherence to accepted models; using video games to understand human interactions is presently accepted only in multiplayer online games with intrahuman interactions. However, research on single-player games with human and more-than human interactions are a valid, albeit novel, creative method in digital research. Creative research methodologies are not intended to be a silver bullet solution to paradigmatic flaws but rather it should guide us towards different disciplinary perspectives
"A Time Like No Other: Covid-19 in Women’s Voices" compiled and edited by Nontando Hadebe, Daniela Gennrich, Susan Rakoczy, and Nobesuthu Tom
No full textReview ofCompiled and edited by Nontando Hadebe, Daniela Gennrich, Susan Rakoczy, and Nobesuthu Tom, A Time Like No Other: Covid-19 in Women’s Voices (The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. Johannesburg, 2021), pp. 227. ISBN 978-062092420
The place of buildings in the mission of the Church of Scotland: The need for a theology of the built environment
Full text linkChurch sanctuaries are a vital asset in the work of the Church of Scotland, helping to initiate and sustain faith. A sanctuary helps define a congregation’s self-understanding and the features of a church building have a pedagogic function. Church buildings are significant too, in the spiritual life of the wider community. They are the material instantiation of the Kirk’s commitment to be present in each locality, providing a focal point for the expression of spiritual needs and the offering of care. They also testify to God’s presence in a location and to values that transcend those of everyday life
Butch Orientations: Locating Queerness in Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead
Full text linkAmerican post-apocalyptic horror series The Walking Dead (2010-2022) has been accused of both killing off out queer characters and explicitly explores a world that recreates fascist masculinity (Gencarella, 2016) and heteropatriarchal gender roles (Sugg, 2015). However, the fan favorite Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) presents an opportunity for queer spatiality which disrupts the dichotomy of queer/heterosexual. Dixon follows a queer narrative trajectory, largely outside of heterosexual relationships and estranged from his family of origin. The show’s treatment of the character reflects queer masculinities which develop outside of heteropatriarchy, based in a queer process of becoming, frequently seen among AFAB butch lesbians, non-binary, and transmasculine folx. Through his proximity to out queer characters on screen and role as the protector of the group, Daryl is spatially oriented (Bradbury-Rance, 2019;Ahmed, 2006) both within the group and his own body in varying degrees of distancing.
Dixon’s role outside of a dominant gendered framework as well as his tendency to distrust models of collectivist structures which replicate American capitalist society give primacy to a queer anti-establishment positionality. The privacy to which Dixon’s sex life has been shielded from view highlights the ways queer readings have influenced the show and present Dixon with queerer affect. For example, the fandom around Dixon representing an asexual or gay character caused the writers to avoid showing Daryl kiss character Leah on screen in season 10 (Stone, 2021), instead foregrounding looks and close up shots by a fireplace which are typically reserved for reading lesbian desire on screen (Bradbury-Rance, 2019).