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Candidate Religious Rhetoric Project

Project: Tracking Religious Rhetoric in Presidential Campaigns

Religion, Politics & Presidency (REL.62.FA19) - Subject to revision. 

Prof. Randall Balmer 

Presidential candidates use religious rhetoric to appeal to voters. To analyze the use of religious rhetoric in presidential politics, you will work in a team of two to track one presidential candidate and her or his use of religious speech on the campaign trail. Using online tools, the class will collectively create a lexicon of religious rhetoric, develop a weighting system, and provide weekly updates to the class.

Objectives:

  • Develop a lexicon of religious phrases used in presidential campaigns.
  • Create a scoring system for the strength of religious phrases.
  • Track one candidate to record his or her use of religious rhetoric in speeches and other campaign materials.
  • Analyze the field of candidates for religious rhetoric.

Method:

  1. Using the group tool in Canvas, choose a candidate and partner by enrolling in the group.
  2. Meet as a team to familiarize yourself with the candidate by visiting his or her campaign website and reading three articles about the campaign. Each team writes a 2-3 paragraph post summarizing your initial impressions of the candidate’s religious rhetoric in the Religious Profile of Your Presidential Candidate assignment.
  3. Set up news alerts: Using Google News Alert, Yahoo News Alert, and/or similar services. As a team, decide what terms to search including candidate’s name, key phrases, and visits to New Hampshire.
  4. Each week:
    1. Add terms to the lexicon in a Google spreadsheet Links to an external site.. List the occurrence of religious rhetoric in the spreadsheet on your candidate's tab (Due each Wednesday before midnight).
    2. Candidate-in-a-minute reports. In class, several teams will give a 1-minute summary of their candidate’s campaign activities as summarized in the blog post. 
    3. In-class, review new terms in the lexicon (and religious actions) and decide on score. Share new or revised sources for information.