Discussion Questions (updated: February 2017)
Sacred Space: How do biblical attractions engage the concept of "sacred space"? How is sacredness constructed? How is it performed differently across attractions?
Entertainment: What strategies and imperatives of modern entertainment are used by biblical attractions? How do attractions use these strategies and imperatives to pursue ambitions of pedagogy, devotion, and fun?
Authenticity: How do biblical attractions make claims to authenticity? Toward what ends are these claims mobilized? What is at stake for producers and visitors in making claims to authenticity?
Materiality & Mediation: What material channels do attractions use (e.g., landscape, objects, movement, senses)? What kinds of experiences do material forms mediate?
Social Life of Scriptures: What do biblical attractions suggest about the circulation of scriptures throughout different institutional networks (e.g, denominational, global)? How is "the Bible" transformed across different uses?
Tourism & Pilgrimage: What kinds of travel do biblical attractions produce and cultivate? Are there touristic elements? What are they? Are there pilgrimage elements? What are they? How do they intersect?
Genre: How does this collection help scramble genres of identification, such as "museum," "theme park," or "garden." How is the same genre embodied by different attractions? Which attractions are difficult to categorize? Why are they difficult? Do attractions within and across genres perform similar cultural work?
Political Economy: How are biblical attractions financed? Who are they affiliated with? In terms of land: where are they located, in proximity to what, on what size acreage, and in what kind of zoning? What forms of labor do the attractions require? What range of consumption practices are evident at the attractions?
Sacred Space: How do biblical attractions engage the concept of "sacred space"? How is sacredness constructed? How is it performed differently across attractions?
Entertainment: What strategies and imperatives of modern entertainment are used by biblical attractions? How do attractions use these strategies and imperatives to pursue ambitions of pedagogy, devotion, and fun?
Authenticity: How do biblical attractions make claims to authenticity? Toward what ends are these claims mobilized? What is at stake for producers and visitors in making claims to authenticity?
Materiality & Mediation: What material channels do attractions use (e.g., landscape, objects, movement, senses)? What kinds of experiences do material forms mediate?
Social Life of Scriptures: What do biblical attractions suggest about the circulation of scriptures throughout different institutional networks (e.g, denominational, global)? How is "the Bible" transformed across different uses?
Tourism & Pilgrimage: What kinds of travel do biblical attractions produce and cultivate? Are there touristic elements? What are they? Are there pilgrimage elements? What are they? How do they intersect?
Genre: How does this collection help scramble genres of identification, such as "museum," "theme park," or "garden." How is the same genre embodied by different attractions? Which attractions are difficult to categorize? Why are they difficult? Do attractions within and across genres perform similar cultural work?
Political Economy: How are biblical attractions financed? Who are they affiliated with? In terms of land: where are they located, in proximity to what, on what size acreage, and in what kind of zoning? What forms of labor do the attractions require? What range of consumption practices are evident at the attractions?