Linville, James
Faculty
History and Religion Department
- Phone
- (403) 329-2537
- james.linville@uleth.ca
Biography
I graduated from the University of Alberta in 1993 with a B.A in Religious Studies, concentrating on Hebrew Bible studies. I then moved onto Scotland and the Dept. of Hebrew and Old Testament at the University of Edinburgh, and received my PhD 1997. I've been at the U of Lethbridge since 2002, and my teaching and research interests have gone way beyond the subject matter of my dissertation.
SUBJECT AREAS TAUGHT
Nature of Religion
Young Earth Creationist Movement
Judaism & Antisemitism
Religion and Science Fiction film
SUBJECT AREAS TAUGHT
Nature of Religion
Young Earth Creationist Movement
Judaism & Antisemitism
Religion and Science Fiction film
Research Interests
My main area of research for the past several years has been the fascinating Young Earth Creationist movement that holds that Bible is literally true and that the world was created only ca. 6000 years ago. I interpret the movement as a Christian neomodernist revitalization movement. I am particularly interested in the development of "Creation Science" that employs the rhetoric and tropes of secular science to legitimize and empower a vision of Christianity that sees it at the forefront of human intellectual endeavors.
I am also deeply interested in how Science Fiction and Fantasy film and books serve a quasi-religious functions in asking deep social and existential questions as a kind of modern day mythology.
I am also deeply interested in how Science Fiction and Fantasy film and books serve a quasi-religious functions in asking deep social and existential questions as a kind of modern day mythology.