Goals of the Course
This
course is intended as an introduction to religion in the
United States
, with an emphasis on the diverse cultural influences that
have informed religious life for Americans.
The course materials acquaint you with some of the
major themes in American religious history, taking into
account the perspectives of actors who have been
traditionally underrepresented in US. society.
We will study religion and the colonial project,
slave religion, the Great Awakening, Afro-Christianity,
Christian Fundamentalism, and selected U.S. Catholicisms and
Judaisms, as well as new immigrant religions (Haitian Vodou,
Rastafari). We
will highlight themes of migration, race, gender, American
civil religion, and popular religion.
We will pay specific attention to ongoing public
debates about “the role of religion” in American civic
life, politics and popular culture, especially in light of
September 11th and its aftermath.
Requirements
Regular attendance, completion of the reading
assignments, class discussion, and one oral presentation on
the reading material constitute essential components of the
course. There is
also a fair amount of writing required:
You will write three 5-page papers, do a Religious
Family Tree assignment, and post weekly 1-page response
papers on webboard.
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READINGS
Besides the
following books, all readings can be found in a course
packet at
Mail
Center
on
College street
downtown.
Books
(Available at Atticus)
Catherine L.
Albanese,
America
: Religions
and Religion
Nancy
Ammerman, Bible Believers
Karen
McCarthy Brown, Mama Lola:
A Vodou Priestess in
Brooklyn
David
Chidester, Salvation and Suicide
Robert Orsi, The
Madonna of
115th Street
Sherry
Reynolds, The Rapture of
Canaan
Everyone
should have access to a copy of The Holy Bible,
in any edition.
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