Religion Across Television Genres

Joseph M. Valenzano III (PhD, Georgia State University) is Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Dayton. Erika Engstrom (PhD, University of Florida) is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Acknowledgements – Introduction – The (Unseen) Order of the Study Group: NBC’s Community and Religious Humor – Adherence and Adherents in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black – Redefining Religious Boundaries in AMC’s The Walking Dead – Hunting Monsters, Finally Finding God in the CW’s Supernatural – Conclusion – Index.

“Joseph M. Valenzano III and Erika Engstrom offer us a deep dive into the way that religion is integral to the storytelling of four very different television worlds. Their rich narrative analysis of each media text offers us new insights into the role of religion in TV, a look at TV’s fresh approach to some of our culture’s deepest questions, and a reflection on the intersection between faith, values, politics, justice, and religious practices in our contemporary world. In the end, this book shows us that religion is far from dead in our culture but is indeed very much alive.”
—Meghan Henning, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Dayton