Eight papers from the 2013 Elon University Media and Religion Conference have been published in both e-Book and print-on-demand paperback formats.
Eight scholarly papers presented at the 4th Elon University Media and Religion Conference have been compiled into a book edited by Associate Professor of Communications Anthony Hatcher. The book, available as both an e-Book and in print-on-demand paperback, is titled, Media, Religion, History, Culture: Selected Essays from the 4th Elon University Media and Religion Conference (Authorhouse).
The conference was held on campus held in April 2013. Hatcher, who teaches a course called Religion and Media at Elon, has been the chief organizer for all four Media and Religion conferences, beginning in 2009. The conferences have been principally sponsored by the Elon School of Communications and the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life. The keynote speaker at the first conference in 2009 was Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper columnist Leonard Pitts.
The 2013 keynoter was author Robert Darden, a journalism professor at Baylor University and noted historian of Black Gospel Music.
The 2013 gathering marked the first year the conference featured competitive scholarly paper and panel proposals, an idea originating with Don Grady, associate dean in the School of Communications. The eight essays selected for publication were authored by:
- Doug Mendenhall, Abilene Christian University Graduate School of Theology
- Andrew Quicke, Regent University
- Sarah Morice-Brubaker, Phillips Theological Seminary
- Kyong James Cho, Texas A&M University
- Joe Marren, Buffalo State University
- Brian Carroll, Berry College
- Michael Ray Smith, Palm Beach Atlantic University (formerly of Campbell University)
- Adam J. Copeland, Concordia College