History of American Religion, 1865 to Present
About
History of American Religion, 1865 to Present will consider the varieties of American religious experience while keeping in mind the importance of pluralism in the U.S. context.
Schedule
Week 1
Week 2
Labor Day: No Class
Week 3
Reading
Tweed, Thomas. American Encounter with Buddhism 1844-1912: Victorian Culture & the Limits of Dissent. University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
Week 4
Reading
Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks. Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement and the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1920. Harvard UP, 2006.
Writing
Week 5
Reading
Winston, Diane. Red Hot and Righteous: The Urban Religion of the Salvation Army. Harvard UP, 2000.
Writing
Week 6
Reading
Wacker, Grant. Heaven Below: Early Pentacostals and American Culture. Harvard UP, 2003.
Week 7
Columbus Day: Class meets on Tuesday
Reading
Marsden, George. Fundamentalism and American Culture. Oxford UP, 2006.
Writing
Week 8
Reading
Watts, Jill. God, Harlem U.S.A.: The Father Divine Story. University of California, 1995.
Writing
Week 9
Reading
Orsi, Robert. The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, 1880-1950 . Yale UP, 2002.
Week 10
Week 11
Reading
McDannell, Colleen. Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America . Yale UP, 1998.
Week 12
Reading
McGreevy, John. Parish Boundaries: The Catholic Encounter with Race in the Twentieth Century Urban North. University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Week 13
Reading
Moore, Deborah Dash. GI Jews: How World War II Changed a Generation. Belknap, 2006.
Writing
Week 14
Reading
Oppenheimer, Mark. Knocking on Heaven’s Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture . Yale UP, 2003.
Writing
Week 15
Reading
Allitt, Patrick. Religion in America since 1945: A History. Columbia UP, 2004.
Final Projects
Writing
Bibliography
Monographs
Allitt, Patrick. Religion in America since 1945: A History. Columbia UP, 2004.
Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks. Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement and the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1920. Harvard UP, 2006.
Marsden, George. Fundamentalism and American Culture. Oxford UP, 2006.
McDannell, Colleen. Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America . Yale UP, 1998.
McGreevy, John. Parish Boundaries: The Catholic Encounter with Race in the Twentieth Century Urban North. University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Moore, Deborah Dash. GI Jews: How World War II Changed a Generation. Belknap, 2006.
Oppenheimer, Mark. Knocking on Heaven’s Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture . Yale UP, 2003.
Orsi, Robert. The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, 1880-1950 . Yale UP, 2002.
Tweed, Thomas. American Encounter with Buddhism 1844-1912: Victorian Culture & the Limits of Dissent. University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
Wacker, Grant. Heaven Below: Early Pentacostals and American Culture. Harvard UP, 2003.
Watts, Jill. God, Harlem U.S.A.: The Father Divine Story. University of California, 1995.
Winston, Diane. Red Hot and Righteous: The Urban Religion of the Salvation Army. Harvard UP, 2000.
Projects
Discussion and Blogging
Each week three class members will be responsible for stimulating and leading discussion. Those individuals should post some discussion prompts to the blog by the Friday preceding their class. The other members of the class should comment on at least one of the blog postings. These activities will prime the pump for our class conversations. The blog should be a place for our work together to extend beyond the classroom.
Book Reviews
The book review essays should be no longer than 4 pages, double-spaced, and should take into account the scholarship, perspective and analytical content of one of the texts read since the last review was due. Each review should include a brief summary of the work, but should mainly consist of a critique of the book.
Project Proposal
Length: 8-10 Pages
In this assignment, you will create a proposal for a project of your choosing dealing with religion in the United States after 1865. The sections of the proposal will include an Abstract, Background, Goals and Objectives, Design and Methodology, Potential Significance, and a Review of Key Literature.
Abstract: 100 word overview of your project.
Background: This should provide a brief overview of the research, placing it in the context of previous research in the field, identifying deficiencies in understanding that logically compliment the objectives.
Goals and Objectives: This should explain the outcomes of the project.
Design and Methodology: This should explain the means for fulfilling the outcomes of the project, including the major organizational scheme.
Potential Significance of the Research: This should answer the \”So What?\” question. What new important knowledge will be obtained; what substantive questions will be answered; what in the larger context will be the contribution to the field?
Review of Key Literature (not counted in the total number of pages): This is an annotated bibliography that presents the major related works in the field. Annotations should include a summary of the work and it\’s findings, as well as evaluation of the relevance of that work for the project. Annotations should be no longer than 200 words.