Course Syllabus
Course Description
A survey of religion in North America from European settlement to the present. We’ll examine the plight of immigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, discuss how urbanization and industrialization recast social norms, gender roles, and religious ideology, and chart the emergence of evangelicalism as a political movement late in the twentieth century.
Learning Style & Expectations
This course combines lectures with discussions based on the readings, so it will be essential that you come to class having done the assigned readings and prepared to contribute to class discussions.
Textbooks
Butler, Jon; Grant Wacker; and Randall Balmer. Religion in American Life: A Short History. 2d ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-19-983269-9.
Grading
In addition to attendance and informed participation in class discussions, you will be given a mid-term and final examination (70 points each). The final assignment (55 points) is a review (6-8 pages) of a book relevant to religion in North America (due August 8). In addition, you will present on one of the utopian communities in North America, accompanied with a 2-3 page summary.
I have posted samples of book reviews along with the assignment on Canvas.
Office Hours
Office hours are before class on Tuesdays and Thursdays (311 Thornton Hall), and by appointment.
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Thu Jun 22, 2017 | Calendar Event Course Introduction; Native American Religions | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Tue Jun 27, 2017 | Calendar Event European Prologue; Kumaré | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Wed Jun 28, 2017 | Calendar Event X-Hour | 3pm to 3:50pm |
| Thu Jun 29, 2017 | Calendar Event Religion in New France; Religion in New Spain | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Tue Jul 4, 2017 | Calendar Event Puritanism in England & America; Diversity of Colonial Religious Life | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Wed Jul 5, 2017 | Calendar Event X-Hour | 3pm to 3:50pm |
| Thu Jul 6, 2017 | Calendar Event Great Awakening; From Awakening to Revolution | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Tue Jul 11, 2017 | Calendar Event From Awakening to Revolution; Liberals & Freethinkers; Disestablishment | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Wed Jul 12, 2017 | Calendar Event X-Hour | 3pm to 3:50pm |
| Tue Jul 18, 2017 | Calendar Event Second Great Awakening; Religion & the Crucible of Slavery | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Wed Jul 19, 2017 | Calendar Event X-Hour | 3pm to 3:50pm |
| Thu Jul 20, 2017 | Calendar Event Millenarianism & Utopianism; Mormonism | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Tue Jul 25, 2017 | Calendar Event Spiritualism; Religion & Health; Judaism in America | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Thu Jul 27, 2017 | Calendar Event Religion & Civil War; Catholics in a Protestant World; Protestants & the City | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Tue Aug 1, 2017 | Calendar Event Taxonomy of Evangelicalism; Religion & the Cold War; Billy Graham | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Thu Aug 3, 2017 | Calendar Event Religion & Civil Rights; Malcolm X & the Nation of Islam | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Tue Aug 8, 2017 | Calendar Event Religion & the Counterculture; Islam in North America | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Assignment Book Review | due by 10:10am | |
| Wed Aug 9, 2017 | Calendar Event X-Hour | 3pm to 3:50pm |
| Thu Aug 10, 2017 | Calendar Event Russian Orthodoxy; Scientology | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Tue Aug 15, 2017 | Calendar Event Yoga in America; Religion in the New Age | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Tue Aug 22, 2017 | Calendar Event Asia in North America; Rise of the Religious RIght | 10:10am to 12pm |
| Assignment Presentation on Utopian Community | due by 11am | |
| Assignment Attendance & Participation | ||
| Assignment Roll Call Attendance |