We will spend time charting a chronological history of religion in America using a variety of textual sources: secondary histories, primary sources, and autobiographies. We will discuss the readings in class, and the lectures will provide background to the readings and general topics we will cover. We will highlight key episodes in America religious history and focus on how and why religions and cultures tolerate, dominate, and challenge each other. By focusing on a variety of America’s religious traditions, we will see how these groups have experienced transformation and upheaval over the years, and how new religions are created. Religion is not static, it is continually changing with new times and circumstances, and religion in turn shapes history and peoples’ perspectives on life, and of each other. One of the themes running throughout the course is civil and religious liberties and limitations. This class also involves a fieldwork component.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Madeline DuntleyAuthor
The College of WoosterInstitution
Private College or University Institution Type
Syllabus Resource Type
Undergraduate Course Class Type
1993 Date Published
Religious Studies, American Studies, History, Sociology Discipline
General Comparative Traditions Religous Tradition
Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity Topics