Skip Navigation

Academics

Meet the Faculty

Photo of Craig Detweiler, Ph.D

Craig Detweiler, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Communication

Division: Communication Division
Office: Center for Communication and Business (CCB) CCB 245
Phone: (310)506-6314
E-mail: craig.detweiler@pepperdine.edu

  • Ph.D., Theology and Culture, Fuller Theological Seminary
  • M.F.A., Cinema/TV, University of Southern California
  • M. Div., Fuller Theological Seminary
  • B.A., English, Davidson College
Courses:
  • A Social Scientific Perspective on Film
  • Religion and Film
  • The Entertainment Business
Key Awards/Affiliations:
  • Audience Award, "Purple State of Mind," Talahassee Film Festival, 2009
  • Best Spiritual Film, "Purple State of Mind," Breckenridge Festival of Film, 2008
  • Finalist, Book of the Year, Into the Dark, Collide Magazine, 2008
  • Finalist, Gold Medallion in Theology, A Matrix of Meanings, 2004
  • Cine Golden Eagle, "Williams Syndrome", 1996
  • Silver Award, Feature Documentary, "Williams Syndrome," WorldFest Charleston, 1996
  • Crystal Heart Award, "Williams Syndrome," Heartland Film Festival, 1996
  • Phi Beta Kappa
    Senior Fellow, Council for Chrisian Colleges and Universities, 2004-2006
  • American Academy of Religion, "Religion, Film and Visual Group," steering committee, 2007-2009
Academic Interests:
  • Creativity and Imagination
  • Filmmakking and Social Change
  • Interreligious Dialogue
  • New Media
  • Theology and Pop Culture
Selected Works:
  • Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games with God, editor, Westminster John Knox, 2010
  • Into the Dark: Seeing the Sacred in the Top Films of the 21st Century, Baker Academic, 2008
  • A Purple State of Mind: Finding Middle Ground in a Divided Culture, Conversant Life, 2008
  • A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture, co-written with Barry Taylor, Baker Academic, 2003
  • "The Wire: Playing the Game" in Small Screen, Big Picture: Television and Lived Religion, Diane Winston, editor, Baylor University Press, 2009
  • "Christianity and Film" in Routledge Companion to Religion and Film, John Lyden, editor, 2009
Performances:
  • Producer, The City of Angels Film Festival, Directors Guild of America, West Hollywood, CA, 2009-2010
  • "From Adam to Sin Nombre," The Windrider Forum, Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah, January 23, 2009
  • ABC News' Nightline, "Faith Matters," December 4, 2008
  • "Reel Spirituality: Finding God in the Dark," Seaver College, Fall Graduate Colloquium, Pepperdine University, October 28, 2008
  • Film Festival Programmer, "Reel Lives: The Cancer Chronicles," World Cancer Congress, Geneva, Switzerland, August 2008
  • "Seeing the Sacred in Contemporary Cinema," International Arts Movement, New York City, February 28, 2008
  • "When Hollywood Meets Religion: Is There Common Ground?" A Jewish-Christian dialogue with David Kauffman, Hebrew Union College, Jeff Astrof, producer of "The New Adventures of Old Christine", Fuller Theological Seminary, January 17, 2008
  • "Theology and Film Reconsidered: Re-Framing the Discipline" at the American Academy of Religion, San Diego, CA, November 2007
  • Dr. James and Hazel Grant Presidential Lectureship Series, "Finding God in Pop Culture," Simpson Univeresity, Redding, CA, November 2007
  • "Filmmaking and Social Change," WindRider Forum, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, July 2007
  • "Amazing Grace: The William Wilberforce Story," interviewing Senator Sam Brownback, producers Ken Wales, David Hunt, and Patricia Heaton, Crest Theater, Los Angeles, February 2007
  • "Munich," with Dr. Michael Berenbaum of the University of Judaism at Reel Spirituality Conference, Directors Guild of America, October 2006
  • "Lived Religion and the Television Drama," Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California, September 2006
  • CNN, The Situation Room, "Da Vinci Controversy," May 17, 2006
  • "Significant Conversations," Plenary Address, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Dallas, TX, March 31, 2006
  • CNN, Paula Zahn Now, "Hollywood and Religion," March 26, 2006
  • "Retrenchment of Resurrection? Hollywood and the Religious Community after 'The Passion'," Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, April 2005
  • "The Short Feature Undergraduate Production Class," Broadcast Educators Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 2004
Selected Links: