ACSA Fellowship of Deacons

Study material

Main Content

These are study materials related to deacons, diakonia, and the world we live in.

All these resources are downloadable from this website (or a link is provided to another website).

[All the documents downloadable from this site can be copied and distributed under the terms of what is called a Creative Commons licence, that is, you are free to share (that is, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) as long as you follow these licence terms: you must give appropriate credit, that is, name, the author(s); you cannot copy the paper in order to sell it for a profit; you cannot modify the content of the paper.]

Lights for the nations: a quick course on the prophets

Author:
Aitchison, John
Date:
2024
Reference: Aitchison, J. 2024. Lights for the nations: a quick course on the prophets. Durban:

Description: A short course that looks at the writings of the Old Testament writing prophets and their message. Suitable for a Bible Study course.

Keywords: prophets, Bible, Old Testament, history

Advertising and popular culture

Author: Aitchison, John
Date: 2024
Reference: Aitchison, J. 2024. Advertising and popular culture. Durban:

Description: This is a set of six units of study on how advertising influences contemporary society, forms its culture and is itself reflective of the broader impact of meta-capitalism on our lives. The course analyses how people’s needs, wants and fears are being manipulated and deliberately misinformed. Being able to critically “read” the advertising media one is exposed to on a daily basis is important – for most of us advertising will be the dominant message form throughout our lives.

Among the most dominant visual signs in the contemporary local, national and international media we are familiar with, and notably the print, broadcast and social media, are advertisements. These advertisements and the value systems implicit in them frequently reflect popular culture (however it is defined). Equally clearly, popular culture is heavily influenced by advertising, for good or ill.

The approach taken here to understanding advertising is not limited to analyses of advertisements simply as textual or graphical artefacts that can be probed to discover their below the surface message, but will endeavour to set advertising (and associated phenomena such as “branding” and “social media”) within the broader context of the forces that shape our world and its popular (and unpopular) cultures and which are themselves in turn shaped by these cultures.

Unit 1: Modern meta-capitalism and globalization. The world as we find it: the context and content of modern advertising

Unit 2: Branding and identity: who am I?

Unit 3: The ethics of advertising: what does advertising cost?

Unit 4: Corporate identity, images, art and sponsorship

Unit 5: The new opacity: From Anderson Consulting to Accenture

Unit 6: The guerilla war against the marketing media


Keywords: advertising, social media, society, information, education

The Nicene Creed - an exposition

Author:
Aitchison, John
Date:
2024
Reference: Aitchison, J. 2024. The Nicene Creed - an exposition. Durban: Fellowship of Deacons

Description: An exposition of the Nicene Creed that goes through the text explaing meanings and the technical words.

Keywords: theology, creeds

Lockdown homilies 1 - 200

Author:
Aitchison, John
Date:
2020
Reference: Aitchison, J. 2020. Lockdown homilies 1 - 200. Durban: Parish of St John the Divine

Description: Originally prepared as a daily homilies and prayers for the parishioners during the crisis of the Covid-19 lockdown, they provide an engaging mix of devotional and informational reading.

Keywords: devotional, homily, prayer

Lockdown homilies 201 - 296

Author:
Aitchison, John
Date:
2020
Reference: Aitchison, J. 2022. Lockdown homilies 201 - 296. Durban: Parish of St John the Divine

Description: Originally prepared as a daily homilies and prayers for the parishioners during the crisis of the Covid-19 lockdown, they provide an engaging mix of devotional and informational reading.

Keywords: devotional, homily, prayer

Planning teaching and choosing methods

Author:
Aitchison, John
Date:
2011
Reference: Aitchison, J. 2011. Planning teaching and choosing methods. (Unpublshed document)

Description: A straightforward but detailed description of teaching methods and techniques with a particular focus on adult education.

Keywords: teaching, teaching methods

 


Return to top of page