Psyches, Personae, and Characters:
Human Selves in Film
Monday, October 6, to Friday, October 10, 2025
91³Ô¹ÏÍø University, Spokane, WA
A series of events on the self in film especially as it relates to concerns of faith.
Students, faculty, staff, and community are invited to attend any of these events.
All events are FREE admission.
Event Schedule
Monday, October 6, 7 pm
Compelling Cinematic Characters: A Faculty Panel on Film Selves
- Danielle Layne (Philosophy, 91³Ô¹ÏÍø University)
- Wayne Pomerleau (Philosophy Emeritus, 91³Ô¹ÏÍø University)
- Tyler Tritten (Philosophy, 91³Ô¹ÏÍø University)
Tuesday, October 7, 7 pm
STUDENT PANEL: Human Selves in Film
PROPOSALS INVITED SHORTLY: Interested in ideas as they appear in popular movies and TV series? Want an opportunity to share your thoughts about movie and TV ideas in a public forum and earn some cash in the process?
As part of the Faith, Film, and Philosophy 2025 series, the 91³Ô¹ÏÍø Faith & Reason Institute is organizing a panel of student presentations on the theme Psyches, Personae, and Characters: Human Selves in Film. The presentations should explore the depiction of selves or characters in particular films in a way that draws out broadly philosophical themes. Panelists selected for inclusion will each receive a $75 award after completing the event.
Wednesday, October 8, 7 pm
Joel Mayward (George Fox University)
Thursday, October 9, 7 pm
Tom Hibbs (Baylor University)
Friday, October 10, 7 pm
Vernon W. Cisney (Gettysburg College)
Featured Speakers
Joel Mayward
Joel Mayward is Assistant Professor of Christian ministries, theology, and the arts at George Fox University. His areas of academic and teaching expertise include Christian ministry leadership, theological aesthetics, contextual theology, theology and philosophy in film, liberation theologies, continental philosophical theology, and the spiritual formation of youth and young adults. In addition to books on church ministry, Joel is the author of The Dardenne Brothers' Cinematic Parables: Integrating Theology, Philosophy, and Film (Routledge, 2022) and the forthcoming Cinematic Transcendence: Theology and the Films of Christopher Nolan (Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2025). For several years he has been a professional freelance film critic as a member of the Online Film Critics Society and a “Tomatometer-approved critic” for Rotten Tomatoes. He also runs a film criticism website, cinemayward.com.
Tom Hibbs (Philosophy, Baylor University)
Thomas Hibbs, Rayzor Professor of Philosophy and Dean Emeritus at Baylor University, is a prolific Catholic author, speaker, philosopher, and university administrator. His research and teaching focus on moral philosophy and aesthetics. He has published eight books, the most recent of which is Theology of Creation: Ecology, Art, and Laudato Si’ (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023), as well as many scholarly and popular articles, and has delivered lectures across the U.S. and abroad.
Vernon W. Cisney
Vernon W. Cisney is chair and Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and is a contributing faculty member in philosophy and cinema and media studies and Jewish studies at Gettysburg College. Cisney coedited The Way of Nature and the Way of Grace: Philosophical Footholds on Terrence Malick's Tree of Life (Northwestern, 2016), and has published papers and book chapters on filmmakers such as David Fincher and Paul Schrader.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding the Faith, Film, and Philosophy 2025 Series, please contact David Calhoun, Director of the 91³Ô¹ÏÍø Faith & Reason Institute, at faithandreason@gonzaga.edu.