Search

July 31, 2010 Hebrew Idol showcases a different view of the Bible, theology By Chris Albert According to Assistant Professor of Religion Antonios Finitsis, there’s one real advantage to teaching a religion course: Nobody really knows all it entails. “They think religion is confined,” he said. “People do not expect religion to be so pervasive.” Religion is too big to be isolated on the pages of books. “No,” Finitsis said, “it’s all over the place.” Case and point: Finitsis’ Religion 211 course

intentional about it,” he said. He wanted the logo to incorporate a few PLU specific elements. First, rather than the American Idol-esque purple they went with gold, and then green to highlight the Green Dot campaign that PLU is participating in and finally the Rose Window, which was recently refurbished and installed. Hebrew Idol is a video project for Religion 211 – Religion and Literature in the Hebrew Bible. Students produce their own interpretations of biblical stories, putting anything from a

April 6, 2014 New Series of Hebrew Idol Premieres—Your Vote Counts! By Shunying Wang ’15 The new PLU Hebrew Idol season is here, with another group of talented Lutes. And, just as with its inspiration, American Idol, it’s up to voters to determine the winner. Hebrew Idol is a microfilm competition series organized by Religion Professor Antonios Finitsis. Students in his introductory course on the Hebrew Bible—Religion and Literature of the Hebrew Bible—are required to apply their

require a video assignment at the start of his religion course at Pacific Lutheran University. The creative ambition of a group of students in 2008 planted the seed for what’s become a university tradition — PLU Hebrew Idol.The competition features short films written, filmed and edited by students in Finitsis’ course titled “Religion and Literature of the Hebrew Bible.” Each year, online voting by students determines the top three movies, which go on to face evaluation by a panel of judges. This year

March 7, 2008 Vote for the first Hebrew Idol In another PLU twist on Fox’s popular singing series “American Idol,” assistant religion professor Tony Finitsis is bringing “Hebrew Idol 2008” to campus. The event stems from the final project in his “Religion and Literature of the Old Testament” course. In groups, students are asked to reflect on the contemporary relevance of the Hebrew Bible and re-tell a biblical story set in modern times. In the past, students wrote papers, created PowerPoint

Bible, is required to select a passage from the Hebrew Bible and demonstrate its importance by re-creating the passage in a contemporary manner. “What I’m doing differently is, instead of writing a paper, I’m asking students to give me their arguments in a visual form where it could be understood in 2015,” Finitsis said. The Lutes write, direct, act, edit and shoot their films before premiering them in class. Finitsis then invites the students with the highest-quality videos to enter the Hebrew Idol

Students crammed into PLU’s Studio Theatre on April 17 for the 2014 edition of PLU’s Hebrew Idol Live finale. Even the stairs and aisles were filled as the audience clapped, cheered and laughed its way through the event, hosted by Tommy Flanagan ’14 and organized by Religion Professor Antonios Finitsis. PLU Hebrew Idol reflects the knowledge students have gained in Finitsis’ introductory Religion and Literature of the Hebrew Bible course. Each year, students are required to apply their interpretations

started five years ago, for Finitsis’ Religion 211 class, Religion and Literature of the Hebrew Bible, and students were charged with the task of reflecting on the contemporary relevance and significance of the biblical material they were studying. Finitsis collaborated with Nick Butler, instructional technologies team manager, to bring the project alive. Today, it has morphed into a project and competition where students spend a great deal of time developing a story and creating videos that reflect