- Saturday, March 28, 2015
- 11:15 AM–12:15 PM
- CFAC 255
Our Academic Track features the presentation of two or three academic papers during each session.
Paper 1: I'm a Christmas Unicorn: A Musicological and Theological Analysis of Sufjan Stevens's song, "Christmas Unicorn."
Janna Webbon
Sufjan Stevens’s song “Christmas Unicorn,” from his album Silver and Gold, is a twelve and half minute anti-epic pop song which starts off in a folk style and builds to an electronic, symphonic climax. This paper traces the connection between the unicorn as a medieval metaphor for Christ and the art from Silver and Gold, then proposes that in “Christmas Unicorn” Stevens extends a message of theosis, the doctrine that humans are intended to participate in God’s own life.
Paper 2: Heavy Metal as Religion: Catholic Motif within “Power Metal’
Gavin Hurley
This presentation focuses on the rhetorical uses of Catholic motif within a subgenre of heavy metal called “power metal.” Popular European power metal bands such as Freedom Call and Powerwolf repurpose Catholic themes, music, and sacred items as a means to transform heavy metal into a religious construct itself. This paper explores the argument that both heavy metal and religion act as “equipment for living,” serving similar practical functions: the management of the human desire for purpose and perfection.
