RS 7: Introduction to American Religion
Professor Catherine L. Albanese
TR, 12:30 - 1:45 pm
Fall 1997 Girvetz 1004
Course Description
This course is a survey of some of the many religions that flourish in the United States and of the people who live them. The course begins where the country began, with Native Americans. Then the course examines the religions of American Jews and Catholics and of white and black Protestants. It introduces new American religions like Mormonism and Christian Science as well as metaphysical faiths like spiritualism. It looks at the coming of different forms of Eastern religions, and it explores one case of distinctively regional religion in Appalachia. It pays attention to present-day religion at both sides of the American spectrum -- evangelicalism and the New Age. The course emphasizes how each religious orientation reflects the contact with other forms of religiosity in a culture of pluralism. It explores the ways in which religion expresses the efforts of different groups for recognition and power and how religion likewise reflects their conflicts. In the midst of the diversity, the course highlights as well the ways in which the different American religions have more in common than their followers sometimes think. It discusses how the shared experience of being American constitutes an "invisible" religion in which many, if not most, participate, and it seeks to find evidence for a majority religious consensus in the United States.
Required Texts
Catherine L. Albanese, America: Religions and Religion, 2d ed. (Wadsworth).
Course Reader (Grafikart).
Required Exercises
1. Midterm (25% of grade)
Midterm, on October 28th, will cover lectures, readings, and class discussion.
2. Paper (50% of grade)
Select one religious movement, group, or denomination in contemporary American society. Your task is to research and write a paper concerning one theme or aspect of the movement as it reflects an encounter with a public and majority culture in the United States historically and/or at the present time. The topic, for example, might be anything from Mormon attitudes toward women to Roman Catholic views of sexual morality to Southern Baptist beliefs about what constitutes orthodox Christianity. It may be the men's movement in contemporary evangelical circles or New Age beliefs regarding the relation between science and spirituality. It might concern Tibetan Buddhist meditation practices as related to Western psychology or Native American religions as they encounter American law codes or Jewish concerns regarding intermarriage with non-Jews. These are only a few ideas of what you might select, and you should write on what interests you within the guidelines here suggested. (If you have any doubts at all about a topic, please consult the instructor or one of the teaching assistants.)
Once you have selected the particular topic that you will study, engage in in-depth research concerning it. This means: (1) finding relevant scholarly sources concerning it; (2) tracking reports concerning it in the general and religious press (e.g., The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Time, Newsweek, and the like and, also, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, The National Catholic Reporter, Commonweal, Tikun, and the like); (3) when appropriate, doing relevant video research (e.g., news shows and talk shows) and research on the Internet; and (4) if possible and appropriate, interviewing members of the groups regarding the theme or topic.
After completing research, write a paper that:
(1) clearly describes and explains the theme or topic, including present-day belief and/or practice regarding it within the movement, group, or denomination (35% of grade);
(2) discusses how belief and/or practice reflect contact with the mainstream of public American religion and culture through change from past belief and/or practice, or contemporary conformity with the larger culture, or self-conscious conflict with the larger culture, or any combination of these (20% of grade);
(3) produces a study that is approximately 1,800 words (about 7-8--but not more than 10--pages), printed double-spaced, with standard one-inch margins all around (10% of grade);
(4) is appropriately documented with either footnotes or endnotes following a standard bibliographic format, to be discussed with you by your teaching assistant (15% of grade);
(5) includes a bibliography of sources consulted, which contains at least five or six serious items (20% of grade).
N.B. Please note that papers without any notes or bibliography at all are considered incomplete and will be very seriously downgraded, if still acceptable.
Your paper must be submitted by Thursday, December 4th, at class time. Late papers will be penalized and may not be accepted.
3. Final Exam (25% of grade)
The final exam will be comprehensive. Lectures, readings, and class discussion will be covered. The exam is scheduled for Monday, December 8th, from 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm.
Sept. 25
Orientation and Overview. What Is Religion--in the United States?
Reading: Albanese, 1-19.
PART ONE: MANYNESS
I. The Original Cast
Sept. 30
The Native Americans
Reading: Albanese, 21-49; Robert S. Michaelsen (Reader).
Oct. 2
The Jews
Reading: Albanese, 50-73; Barbara Myerhoff (Reader).
Oct. 7
The Roman Catholics, I
Reading: Albanese, 74-101.
Oct. 9
The Roman Catholics, II
Reading: Andrew M. Greeley, Virgilio Elizondo (Reader).
Oct. 14
The Protestants, I
Reading: Albanese, 102-49.
Oct. 16
The Protestants, II
Reading: Albanese, 150-92.
Oct. 21
The Protestants, III
Reading: Wade Clark Roof and William McKinney (Reader).
Oct. 23
The African Americans
Reading: Albanese, 193-218; Malcolm X (Reader).
Oct. 28
Midterm Exam
II. Newcomers
Oct. 30
Sectarian and Communitarian Movements
Reading: Albanese, 219-49; William M. Kephart and William W. Zellner (Reader).
Nov. 4
Metaphysical Practitioners
Reading: Albanese, 250-79; R. Laurence Moore (Reader).
III. Patterns of Expansion and Contraction
Nov. 6
Eastern Peoples and Eastern Religions
Reading: Albanese, 281-323; Rick Fields, Diana L. Eck (Reader).
Nov. 11
Regional Religious Life: The Appalachian Case
Reading: Albanese, 324-49; Mary Lee Daugherty, Deborah Vansau McCauley (Reader).
Nov. 13
Contemporary Commitments: Fundamentals of the New Age
Reading: Albanese, 350-93; Grant Wacker, David G. Hackett, Paul Heelas (Reader).
PART TWO: ONENESS
Nov. 18
Public Protestantism
Reading: Albanese, 395-431; Jonathan Sarna, Michael Barkun (Reader).
Nov. 20
Civil Religion
Reading: Albanese, 432-62; Robert N. Bellah (Reader).
Nov. 25
Library Day
Dec. 2
Cultural Religion
Reading: Albanese, 463-500; Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence (Reader).
Dec. 4
The Contact Situation: Encounter, Interaction, Conflict
Reading: Albanese, 501-32.
Course Evaluation. PAPERS DUE.
Dec. 8
Final Exam. 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm (Monday).
Selected General Bibliography
Sydney E. Ahlstrom. A Religious History of the American People. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972.
George C. Bedell, Leo Sandon, Jr., and Charles T. Wellborn. Religion in America. 2d ed. New York: Macmillan, 1982.
Kenneth B. Bedell, ed. Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, 1997. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997.
Denise Lardner Carmody and John Tully Carmody. Exploring American Religion. Mountain View, Calif.: Mayfield, 1990.
Julia Mitchell Corbett. Religion in America. 2d ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1994.
Edwin S. Gaustad. A Religious History of America. 3d rev. ed. New York: Harper L Row, 1990.
Robert T. Handy. A History of the Churches in the United States and Canada. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976.
Winthrop S. Hudson and John Corrigan. Religion in America. 5th ed. New York: Macmillan, 1992.
Charles H. Lippy and Peter W. Williams, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience. 3 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988.
George M. Marsden. Religion and American Culture. Fort Worth: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1990.
Martin E. Marty. Pilgrims in Their Own Land: 500 Years of Religion in America. Boston: Little, Brown, 1984.
Frank L. Mead. Handbook of Denominations in the United States. 8th ed., rev. by Samuel S. Hill. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1984.
J. Gordon Melton. The Encyclopedia of American Religions. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1993.
Mark A. Noll. A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1992.
Daniel G. Reid, et al. Dictionary of Christianity in America. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1990.
Peter W. Williams. America's Religions: Traditions and Cultures. New York: Macmillan, 1990.
[Image courtesy of Library of Congress]