Includes bibliographical references (p. [164]-178) and index.

Why study popular culture? or, how to build a case for your thesis in a religious studies or theology department / Lynn Schofield Clark -- Studying religion and popular culture: prospects, presuppositions, procedures / David Morgan -- Questioning media and religion / Jolyon Mitchell -- Reflections on the past and future of the study of religion and popular culture / Jeffrey H. Mahan -- "What we make of the world": the turn to 'culture' in theology and the study of religion / Elaine Graham -- The eucharist and the turn to culture / Pete Ward -- Popular culture scholarship as a spiritual exercise: thinking ethically with(out) Christianity / Tom Beaudoin -- House Negro with a field Negro mentality: new positions in theology and culture / Robert Beckford -- What is this 'religion' in the study of religion and popular culture? / Gordon Lynch -- On a mission from God: African American music and the nature/meaning of conversion and religious life / Anthony B. Pinn -- Some concluding reflections / Gordon Lynch.