Matthew S. HedstromAuthor
University of VirginiaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
What does “spiritual but not religious” mean, and why has it become such a pervasive self-description in contemporary America? This interdisciplinary course surveys spirituality in America, with a particular eye for the relationship between spirituality and formal religion, on the one hand, and secular modes of understanding the self, such as psychology, on the other. Along the way we’ll study everything from AA to yoga to Zen meditation, with stops in Christian rock, Beat poetry, Abstract Expressionist painting, spirit photography, the feminist movement, environmentalism, and recent film. The study of spirituality forces us to confront many of the central concerns of modern American life: psychology, self-help, and therapeutic culture; global religious and cultural encounters; gender and sexuality; and consumerism and mass culture. In the end, we’ll come to see spirituality in America as a complex intermingling of the great world religions, modern therapeutic psychology, the politics of movements for social change, and a crassly commercialized, billion-dollar culture industry. Is this the fate of religion in a modern, capitalist, globalized society?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: Consumerism, Counterculture
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Kristina Horn Sheeler (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) discusses “A word of caution on the inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris.” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 3, December 17, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: inauguration, Kamala Harris, race
Wendy CadgeAuthor
Brandeis UniversityInstitution
2012 Date Published
Description:
This graduate level course introduces you to the tools and concepts central to the sociological study of religion in the United States. It is divided into three sections. In the first section, we discuss what the social scientific study of religion is by readings works by classic and neo-classic thinkers in light of several overviews of the field. The second section focuses on key issues important for anyone trying to understand religion in the United States. The final few weeks will focus on a few (of the many) topics you are interested in as a class. I will provide reading lists for the third section of the course shortly after the semester begins. Materials throughout the course are drawn from across theoretical and methodological approaches.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics:
Keywords: religion, graduate, race, secularism, religious institutions, congregations, individualism, pluralism
Julius BaileyAuthor
University of RedlandsInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
This course offers an introduction to African American religions. The class moves chronologically, examining African religions in the Americas (Santeria, Candomble, and Vodou), cultural continuities between African and African-American religions, slave religion, and the development of independent African American churches. We will examine the rise of African American new religious movements such as Father Divine and the Nation of Islam, and the religious dimensions of the Civil Rights Movement. Moving through African-American religious history, we will consider topics such as slave resistance, gender and race, and emigration to Africa.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Islam, New Religious Movements, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Alison Collis GreeneAuthor
Mississippi State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
African American Religious History is a new upper-level course in the History Department. This course provides an introduction to African American religious history from the colonial period to the present. The course textbook provides a broad overview of African American religious history, which provides a common base of knowledge for our discussions. The additional course readings, lectures, documentary viewings, and class discussion provide an opportunity to examine particular moments or movements in more depth. By the end of the course, students should have both a general knowledge of African American religious history and a more comprehensive knowledge of a few particularly rich moments and themes in that history.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Islam, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Joseph L. Tucker Edmonds (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) answers the question “How does Afrofuturism relate to Black churches?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 5, February 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: afrofuturism, Black studies, race
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Raymond Haberski, Jr. (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) considers “Did Amanda Gorman give us something that the president could not give us?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 3, December 17, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: race, politics, election
Michael PasquierAuthor
Louisiana State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
This course provides an introduction to the historical experiences of Catholics in North America from the colonial period to the present. This course is not only an institutional history of the American Catholic Church, but also a study of popular manifestations of Catholicism which tries to uncover the diverse experiences of American Catholics in different places and times throughout the history of the United States. We will use a variety of primary and secondary sources to achieve these goals, including traditional monographs, novels, memoirs, films, papal documents, correspondences, essays, speeches, poetry, political writings, sermons, advertisements, liturgies, and works of art. Over the course of the semester we will learn about the major developments, persons, institutions, and ideas that shaped the experiences of Catholics at different moments in American history. We will also learn how to listen to and understand the voices of people from the past and the present, perspectives that are embedded in historical artifacts and available to us in the person of Catholic adherents today.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Emily ClarkAuthor
Gonzaga UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
Americans frequently debate on whether or not this is a Christian nation. Those same Americans have different understandings of what a “Christian nation” is. In America, it seems there is no one way to be Christian. From initial encounters and exchanges between European colonists and Native Americans to the serpent-handling churches in rural Appalachia, we will build a thematic and chronological framework for understanding the diversity of Christianities in American history and culture. Christianity has been a dominant force in American history, and it has been a very diverse force. During the course, we will investigate the powerful social, cultural, political, and intellectual role Christianity plays in our nation’s past.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Diana Butler BassAuthor
Rhodes CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1996 Date Published
Description:
Course Goals and Objectives: 1.) Present a broad survey of the history of Christianity in the United States. 2.) Acquaint students with the contributions of the Christian tradition to American culture and the effects of American culture on Christian faith and practice. 3.) Assess the role and importance of traditionally marginalized peoples and religious traditions in American Christianity. 4.) Increase analytical and critical skills with primary and secondary sources and the ability to express those skills verbally and in writing. 5.) Understand the relevance of historical debates regarding God, nature and society to current religious, social and political issues.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Julia M. SpellerAuthor
Chicago Theological SeminaryInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course will examine the origins, structures and parameters of American Civil Religion and discuss its presence in and influence on American society and American religion. This study will focus on the speeches, addresses, sermons and essays of Benjamin Franklin, Lucretia Mott, Abraham Lincoln, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Frederick Douglass as they each responded to the issues of authority, freedom, justice and social transformation, and in so doing, reveals important aspects of this phenomenon on the issues of their time.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Seminary
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Interdisciplinary
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Elaine Peña (The George Washington University) discusses how American civil religion flattens intragroup difference. This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 4, January 21, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: race, politics, election, civil religion
Omri ElishaAuthor
Queens College, City University of New YorkInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
Evangelical Christianity is among the most powerful religious movements in the world today. Driven by the mandate to “bring new souls to Christ,” as well as the demands of born-again faith and biblical orthodoxy, evangelicals along with televangelists, revivalists, and missionaries, pursue a wide array of social, cultural, and even commercial enterprises, inspiring all manner of innovation, indoctrination, and controversy. This course takes a serious look at evangelicalism from an anthropological perspective. Covering topics such as revivalism, Biblicism, contemporary Christian media, missionization, and gender ideology, we will consider multiple dimensions of evangelicalism as lived religion, an explore its active role in shaping many of the key cultural movements, debates, and historical transformations that have defined secular modernity, from confessional notions of self and society to conflicts over religion and science and the separation of church and state. Our aim will be neither to evaluate nor justify evangelical Christianity but rather to better understand the depth and complexity of its global influence in the contemporary moment.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology, English
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports
Keywords: thematic
Danielle B. SiglerAuthor
Austin CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
Traditionally, religion and American literature course shave examined expressions of religious faith and practice in American fiction using American religious history as an organizational tool. This course recognizes that the relationship between American literature and religion is complex and not merely representational. Thus, we will examine a variety of works that typify four different ways American writers have combined art and religion: rewriting sacred texts, writing works of fiction and non-fiction that have inspired new religions and new religious movements, writing fiction that examines issue of faith and the supernatural, and finally critiquing American religion through fiction.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, English
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Protestant
Mormonism
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: satire
Sarah DeesAuthor
Iowa State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
The purpose of this course is to teach students about histories, sources, ways of knowing, politics, and ethical considerations that are valuable when seeking to understand Native American religious traditions. The course explores historical and contemporary Native traditions in what is today the United States. We will draw on theories from Religious Studies and Indigenous Studies, and utilize a range of methods, including historical, anthropological, and cultural studies approaches. Lectures, readings, discussions, and assignments will help to illuminate features of Native American traditions and situate them within important historical and political contexts. The course covers Native North American religious diversity, history, and contemporary practices. We will consider a number of issues: ethics, politics, practice, popular culture, self-determination, cultural appropriation, land rights, relationality, and environmentalism. We will both try to gain a big-picture look at themes and issues that affect many practitioners while examining case studies from specific Native nations.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
American Indian Studies, Indigenous Studies
Religious Traditions: Indigenous
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Lila Corwin BermanAuthor
Pennsylvania State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
As one of the earliest non-Christian immigrant populations, American Jews have struggled to explain how they could nonetheless fit into American cultural, political and social life. At the same time, many Jews have been concerned with their own survival as a distinctive group, unwilling to cede those practices, behaviors or traits that designate them as a people apart from other Americans. The student of American-Jewish history must be attuned to the multiple ways that Jewishness has been defined: as a race, a religion, a nationality, and an ethnicity. In this course, far from choosing just one of these designations, we will explore Jewish life from many different angles. Topics to be considered include religious reform, immigrant experience, political activism, popular culture, and struggles over community authority and membership.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Jewish Studies
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
M. Cooper HarrissAuthor
Indiana UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
A provocation: There is no more significant historical influence on the development of American language and literature, political oratory, musical/entertainment style, and
the refinement of media and technology—all of which is to say “American culture”— than preachers and their preaching. This course begins with a brief historical overview of the diversity of American preaching and some primary cultural and theoretical concerns before tracing its contributions to presumably “secular” culture considered in three categories: word (literature, rhetoric, and authority), performance (music, oratory, symbolic action, embodiment, affect), and media (pamphlets, radio, television, Internet, and other technologies). In the process we’ll consider religious dimensions of cultural production, questions of authority and identity, phenomenologies of charisma and emotion, and the critical possibilities for theology, homiletics, and other confessional “data” within the study of religion and culture.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religious leaders
Max Perry MuellerAuthor
University of Nebraska-LincolnInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2023 Date Published
Description:
This course examines the development of the category of the “prophet” in American history and culture, especially the prophetic category that has arisen to address “sins” committed by the American state and/or people. We will examine “prophets” from multiple communities, including African Americans, Native Americans, social justice advocates, anti-poverty movements, as well as religious minority communities who have been the victims of persecution and suspicion. We focus mostly on examining the category of prophet in regards to the relationship between religion and the broader society-especially as these prophets have defined “sins” (e.g. slavery, racism, Indian removal, poverty, religious persecution, among others) as when: the experience of Americans have not matched up with the promises of the American democratic and pluralistic experiment to guarantee all people “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and “equality before the law.” We will also examine the primary rhetorical style by which prophets have called out-and called America to account for-these sins: the jeremiad tradition.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Hybrid
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Politics, Prophet, Jeremiad
Rachel WheelerAuthor
Indiana University-Purdue University IndianapolisInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
A consideration of American religion, with particular emphasis on the development of religious diversity and religious freedom in the context of the American social,political, and economic experience. Special attention will be directed to changes in Roman Catholicism and Judaism as well as to alterations in the nature of American Protestantism.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Cara BurnidgeAuthor
University of Northern Iowa Institution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
This course is a semester-long examination of religion and refugees in American history and culture. We will study what Americans mean—and have meant—when they talk about “religion,” “refugees,” and even “America”; we will examine what it means to belong to a nation as a citizen and what it means to be stateless; we will think historically and critically about nationalism, religion, and American culture; and we will reflect upon the relationships between and among all of these issues and their influence in our lives and American life today. In doing so, we will dwell upon the big questions central to religious and national identity: who belongs and who does not? Who has—or had—the authority to decide who belongs? How is that belonging enforced? What, if anything, unites “us” as an “us”? How do we know who is with “us” and who is not? As we think about these questions, we will see in more ways than one how this issue hits close to home.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: service learning
Sarah McFarland TaylorAuthor
Northwestern UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
This course provides an introduction to critical issues in and approaches to the study of religion and popular culture in America. We will self-reflexively consider what counts as “religion” in America, why, according what criteria, how definitions of religion change over time, and who has the authority to decide what falls into this category and what is excluded. In thinking through these questions, students will be asked to problematize “high” versus “low” culture distinctions, definitional oppositions between “the sacred” and “the profane,” and theoretical divisions between what is labeled as “religious” and “secular.” Examining a series of case studies drawn from film, television, popular music, performance art, and consumer culture, we explore the ways in which various forms of popular culture not explicitly recognized as being “religious” arguably take on religious dimensions. Where do we “see” or do not “see” religion, and what cultural and aesthetic factors (including iconographic and mythic representations of “America”) might shape these perceptions? Finally, we consider the export of American religion and popular culture to a global audience and the broader cultural ramifications of this phenomenon.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Health/Death, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords:
The Association of Religion Data Archives Author
Other Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
These timelines allow instructors or students to interactively explore the most significant events and people in the history of American religion. The ARDA has 9 different timelines that place historical people, events, and contexts into conversation with each other.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: Timeline, American Religion
Karin E. GedgeAuthor
West Chester UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
Students in this course will acquire a broad overview of American religions from pre-European contact to the present with an emphasis on continuity and change over time, the remarkable variety and intensity of voluntary religion, and the sources of both conflict and consensus within and between various traditions. Since this is an advanced level history course, students will be required to demonstrate not only knowledge of course content but also skills in note-taking, inquiry, research, analysis, synthesis, and historiography. No prior knowledge of American religions or religious history is required. However, a basic working knowledge of American political and social history is an asset. This is a very demanding course, but students will have the opportunity to to acquire interesting, valuable knowledge and skills they will be able to use and apply beyond this course.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords:
Tracy Neal LeavelleAuthor
Creighton UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
Religious communities and inspired individuals have through time discovered in America a seemingly ideal place to pursue their hopeful visions of purity, truth, and salvation. We will explore in this course the vibrant, contentious, and unfinished story of this ongoing search for the Promised Land. Together, we will examine the mutual influences of religion and American culture through studies of diverse religious communities with a particular emphasis on the intersection between religion and place. Specific issues for consideration include concepts of home and sacred space, religious dimensions of the conquest of America, religion and nature, the faith and practices of exile communities, and the influence of border culture on religion. Students will also participate in an ongoing project mapping Omaha religious landscapes. The project involves site visits, interviews, research in local historical material, and the use of advanced GPS and GIS technology.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous
Topics: Health/Death, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Region/Urban/Rural, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords:
Jennifer GraberAuthor
College of WoosterInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
Religious life in the United States has been marked by an ongoing tension: the power sought, and sometimes obtained, by majority religious groups and the religious pluralism that marks the population and is protected by law. In this class, we will explore this tension through a historically organized survey of majority and minority religious communities. We begin with the continent’s original pluralism in its hundreds of Native American religious traditions. We then move to powerful varieties of Protestant Christianity as they interacted with smaller groups, including colonial-era Jews, upstart Mormons, African-American Christians, newly immigrated Catholics, and more recently arrived immigrants who practice Hinduism and Islam.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Immigration/Refugees, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Leonard Norman PrimianoAuthor
Cabrini CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
Folklife Studies refers to the scholarly discipline which cultivates a sensibility and an appreciation for the culture of everyday life in complex societies. Religious folklife means specific cultural creations that express religious attitudes and beliefs. This course in American religious folklife will examine the history and culture of religion in America with specific reference to Christian and Christian-based systems, as well as believers’ religious artifacts, art, craft, architecture, belief, customs, habits, foodways, costume, narrative, dance, song and other cultural expressions.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Other
Folklore Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Judaism, Other Traditions, Protestant
Vodou
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Immigration/Refugees, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: material culture
Valarie ZieglerAuthor
DePauw UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
American Religious History functions as a church history/Christian theology course. Though no semester course could possibly cover all or even most of the relevant issues, this course will introduce you to a variety of Christian expressions that have found life in America. We will begin with a study of Native American and European antecedents and proceed to an analysis of selected developments in American Christianity from the colonial period to the present. Two of the themes that will guide our study will be theoretical. The first is a theological question: what did the various groups and individuals believe? We will also ask a sociological question: in what ways did contact with the larger culture affect beliefs, practices, and self-identities? To what extent did religionists seek to shape their culture, and to what extent were they reflections of it? In addition to those theoretical questions, we will give also give attention to two enduring issues of debate: the relationship of men and women and the relationship of European Americans and African Americans within various Christian groups.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History, Theology
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: christian thought, the south
Eugene McCarraherAuthor
University of DelawareInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the history of religion in the United States. They will examine the relationship of of religious life to the cultural, social, economic, and political currents of American history, and consider how the history of religion shapes the way we should understand American history as a whole. Thus, they study the development of religious practices and beliefs in relation to proprietary and corporate capitalism, faith in technological progress, an increasingly pervasive market culture, changing gender conventions, racial and ethnic pluralism, and a political democracy structured, in part, by the separation of church and state. What, they ask, is “religion” in America? How have religious communities, practices, and ideas defined the course of American life?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: modernity,
Keith HarperAuthor
Southeastern Baptist Theological SeminaryInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
American Religious History will trace the development of American religion from the Colonial period to the present. We will not ignore important minority traditions such as Catholicism, or Judaism, but our focus will be on Protestants, especially evangelicals. Our operative assumption is that the religious groups and sub-groups that created American religious history have engaged in an ongoing search for order, stability, and legitimacy.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Seminary
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
Spencer FluhmanAuthor
Brigham Young UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2009 Date Published
Description:
Student Learning Outcomes: Students who put forth the requisite time and effort (i.e., reading, writing, speaking, listening) will be able to (1) identify the historical origins, beliefs, and practices of major religious groups in the United States, (2) identify major events,trends, and transformations in the history of American religion, (3) critically examine historical documents related to the history of American religion, and (4) offer informed perspectives on the ways scholars have understood the history of American religion.
The Course: The course engages documents relating to religious people, practices, and ideas in the American past. Together, we tackle questions about religion in American life: how has religion shaped American culture? Been shaped by it? How has religious difference influenced social development in the United States? How have Americans understoodreligion’s place in the Republic?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords:
Edward J. BlumAuthor
San Diego State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2009 Date Published
Description:
This course begins with New World encounters as North and South Americans, Europeans, and Africans made religious sense of their experiences. It proceeds through the formation of the United States, the role of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the major shifts in America’s religious cultures, the coming, fighting, resolving of the Civil War, the rise of an industrial nation, the Great Depression, the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement, the rise of the new conservatism and beyond. We will pay particular attention to the role of religion in animating American politics, society, economics, and systems of oppression and resistance. We will focus on a variety of religious traditions, including Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, indigenous faiths, spiritualism, and Judaism.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Anne BlankenshipAuthor
Syllabus Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Introduction to the basic issues in American history including the study of Puritans, immigration, church and state, revivalism, civil and military religion, apocalypticism, and new age religion.
We will dig beyond rituals and doctrine to discover the roles religion plays in the lives of Americans. Moving roughly chronologically, the class will give particular attention to race, immigration, and pluralism in American religion. We’ll wrestle over the meaning of religious liberty and different understandings of the separation of church and state. We will experiment with textual and visual analysis and ethnography to see what these methodological approaches offer us as scholars. Class periods will be filled with a mixture of discussion, short videos, group activities, lectures, and student presentations as we learn about new and old religious traditions in America.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Brad StoddardAuthor
McDaniel CollegeInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
This assignment asks students to reflect on the politics of narratives of American religious history. Instead of embracing a traditional theory of American religious history, students will write their own as they place an unconventional group at the center of American religious history. Students will use their example to reflect further on the political implications of historical narratives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions:
Any and all
Topics:
Keywords: American, history
Shelby BalikAuthor
Metropolitan State University of DenverInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
This syllabus is for a survey course in American religious history. At my university, this course also fulfills the Multicultural General Studies requirement, so it includes emphasis on indigenous spirituality and communities of color.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: American religion, slavery, immigration, American Indians, Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Latin American, Eastern religion
Rachel LindseyAuthor
Saint Louis UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
Saint Louis is among the most religiously diverse cities in the American Midwest. It boasts mighty cathedrals, towering minarets, synagogues old and modern, extravagant temples, humble storefronts, and endless domestic shrines, altars, and prayer corners. The sounds of the city and county are pierced with voices in song, protest, and prayer. The story of the city—from empire, settlement, enslavement, and immigration, through civil rights, manufacturing, the arts, and, of course, beer and baseball—is intimately wound up with communities of faith, religious practices, and the power of religious thought.
This course places the religious life of St. Louis at the center of the city’s history, civic landscape, and public life. While anchored in the local context, the course engages a wide range of global religious traditions and diasporic communities in the city as well as the intersections of local, regional, and global issues, identities, and politics.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: Saint Louis, Arch City, Religious Life
Douglas L. WiniarskiAuthor
University of RichmondInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
“Art, Religion & Material Culture” introduces students to the diverse array of religious traditions that have flourished in America over the past four centuries through a focused examination of things: the “stuff” of religious life embodied in art, commercial and “folk” objects, buildings,and landscapes. We will learn to read the “visual culture” of American religion like a text,discovering along the way that a collection of neopagan ritual objects arranged carefully on a bedroom dresser can communicate as much information about the beliefs and practices of its owner as an introspective diary or letter.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, New Religious Movements, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Health/Death, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: altars, sacred space
Helen Jin KimAuthor
Emory UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2024 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Family/Children/Reproduction, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: minority, Pacific, Asian, American,
Joseph BlankholmAuthor
University of California, Santa Barbara Institution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
What is atheism? Is it the absence of belief in God? Is it the absence of belief in the supernatural? Or is it a worldview and a way of life? Does atheism always oppose religion, or can the two co-exist or even embrace one another? This course traces the historical development of the set of ideas we now call atheism and takes account of its varieties in the world today. In addition to the history of atheism, we will look at related contemporary topics, such as religion-like secular communities, Islamophobia, and the possibility of an atheist spirituality. This course emphasizes reading and discussion, and students are strongly encouraged to complete the readings and to read with care.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism
Topics:
Keywords:
The Association of Religion Data Archives Author
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesInstitution
Syllabus, Teaching Module, Assignment, Video, Class Readings List, Other Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Social researchers must be careful to make sure that the measures they use are valid. That is, do the questions measure what we think they measure? Sometimes we assume that attitudes and behaviors are the same, but often they are not. This learning module will use data from the General Social Survey 2014 and 2021 to explore the differences between attitudes and behaviors.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: volunteer, sociology, behaviors
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module will explore the various attitudes in the United States about life and death. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Health/Death
Keywords: death, life, religion, United States, sociology
Harriet HartmanAuthor
Rowan UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2014 Date Published
Description:
Professor Harriet Hartman of Rowan University has created a Learning Module which is designed to introduce students and scholars to the analysis of Jewish survey data in a relatively easy-to-use format, utilizing some of the local Jewish community study and national Jewish survey data which are available at the Berman Jewish DataBank.The module is a self-learning, self-directed activity which focuses on exploring Jewish identity (religious identity and ethnic identity). The module’s exercises invite thinking about Jewish identity and exploring ways in which Jewish identity is expressed. The activities within the Learning Module are designed to help users learn how to read survey data to understand and interpret Jewish identity, to help users explore some of the differences among Jewish persons with different denominational identifications (or none at all), and to compare findings in one Jewish community study to findings from other Jewish community studies.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords: judaism, religion, comparative, module, self-learning, Jewish
David MigliaccioAuthor
Other Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: abolitionist, race, methodist
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Melanie L. Harris (Texas Christian University) answers the question “What are your thoughts on Black churches and the youth?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 5, February 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: youth, Black studies, race
Other Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: heaven, american,
Jonathan ArbuckleAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Courtland BladeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joshua PhillippeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joe: SkvareninaAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Audrey JeffersonAuthor
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Barry LeBlancAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Jeffrey DodgeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Douglas HammerlingAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Allen SmithAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Audrey JeffersonAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Jonathan ArbuckleAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joanna WosAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joshua PhillippeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Amy GuessAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Barry LeBlancAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Tanya MartinAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Jeffrey DodgeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Patrick MeeganAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism
Topics:
Keywords:
Jennifer CaplanAuthor
Towson UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
This is a semester-long group project in which the class designs a religion, and then breaks into smaller sectarian groups to think about what brings people together and what pulls them apart.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Theology/Liturgy
NRMs
Keywords:
Lincoln MullenAuthor
George Mason UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The relationship between religion and capitalism has long occupied historians of the United States, and before them it concerned the people whom historians study. In this class, you will meet many people whose religion led them to interact with capitalism in unexpected and unusual ways. You will meet the Puritans whose work ethic supposedly created capitalism, but who insisted on resting on the Sabbath; Moravian missionaries who made converts and money; slaves, slaveowners, and abolitionists who all claimed the Bible when reckoning with the capitalist system of slavery; a Protestant writer who insisted that Jesus was a businessman, and Catholics who believed Jesus called them to a kind of socialism; African American preachers who marketed their recorded sermons; Jews who mass-manufactured matzah and created Yiddish socialism; an industrialist who wrote The Gospel of Wealth, and laborers who created churches for the working class; nineteenth-century consumers who turned gift-giving into a ritual, and twenty-first-century television personalities who turned consumption into therapy; Christians whose faith turned them into environmentalists, and Christians who drilled for crude oil; converts who thought religion required poverty, and Prosperity Gospelers who thought it promised wealth. You will read primary sources from American history, secondary works in American religious history, and excerpts from theorists of religion and capitalism. Through these readings and your own writing, you are invited to make sense of this perpetual historical puzzle.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor
Keywords: capitalism
Henry GoldschmidtAuthor
Wesleyan UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
This course will examine a range of social, political and philosophical issues surrounding the concept of “chosenness”—the belief that a particular community (usually one’s own) has been singled out by God for some special favor or purpose. We will trace the roots of this concept in the Hebrew Bible, and examine a number of religious communities (including orthodox Jews, Puritan settlers, Black Hebrew Israelites, and the Christian Identity movement) who have claim-ed divine chosenness through narratives of Israelite descent. Above all, however, we will examine the role of chosenness in popular understandings of American national identity—tracing the history of United States claims to be a “chosen nation,” and exploring the way these claims may shape contemporary American foreign policy.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Jonathan ArbuckleAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Joanna WosAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Joshua PhillippeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Amy GuessAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Joe SkvareninaAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Barry LeBlancAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Tanya MartinAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy, Other
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Alphonzo AtkinsAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Douglas HammerlingAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Patrick MeeganAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Audrey JeffersonAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Jonathan ArbuckleAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Joanna WosAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Joshua PhillippeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Courtland BladeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Joe SkvareninaAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Barry LeBlancAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Tanya MartinAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Jeffrey DodgeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Alphonzo AtkinsAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Allen SmithAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Douglas HammerlingAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Patrick MeeganAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Janine Giordano DrakeAuthor
Syllabus Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
This course examines the relationship between formations of Christianity in the United States and formations of American nationalism. What about the United States promotes the growth of religious communities? How have expressions, and institutions, of American religion helped construct and reimagine what it means to be American?
The course fulfills the College of Arts and Sciences’ intensive writing requirement and as such involves 5,000 words of original work, with required revisions. The goal for us is to improve our writing skills as we analyze American religious history. We will pay particular attention to the conventions of writing in history and learn how to locate, analyze, utilize, quote, and document historical sources.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: Christian nationalism, Black Freedom Movement, Labor, Feminism
Kathleen FlakeAuthor
Vanderbilt UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
The objectives of this course are: to study the historical context of America’s contemporary debate over the proper relation of church and state; to analyze the seminal theories that have characterized historically the interpretation of the religion clauses of the constitution; and to become familiar with the uses of legal documents for historical research and theological reflection.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Protestant
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: religious freedom, case law
Shelby M. BalikAuthor
Metropolitan State University of DenverInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
Somewhere, in the overlapping space between religion and the state, Americans have sought to define their nation. But in that seemingly narrow overlap, they have imagined nearly infinite national identities and visions. How have Americans used religion to define national belonging, nation to define religious membership, and how have churchly and national polities given shape to each other? As we explore these questions, we’ll consider several key moments in American history that can shed light on the relationship between religion and the state. In particular, we’ll consider several questions. First, how have Americans understood religious liberty (or lack thereof) to serve the purposes of their society and nation? Second, how has religion intersected with politics during some of the fiercest debates of American history? Third, how has religious belief given rise to various political coalitions? And finally, how have Americans linked spiritual and national identity in different ways? By investigating these questions, perhaps we will come to a better understanding of what it has meant to be religious (or not) and American.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: religious freedom
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module will focus on a variety of questions ranging from levels of commitment of religious leaders to how satisfied citizens are with their congregational leaders. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: congregations, United States, religion, sociology
Matthew J. GrowAuthor
University of Southern IndianaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
From one perspective, these communal religions seem marginal to the American story. They have typically existed at the fringe of society, attracted only a tiny minority of America’s population, and formed countercultures to the American mainstream. For most contemporary Americans, communalism conjures up images of Shaker historic communities, hippie communes, or the traces of communalism that remain in modern American material culture—Oneida silverware, Shaker furniture, and Amana appliances. Nevertheless, throughout American history, these groups have captivated, bemused, and infuriated the broader public. Their efforts have provoked deep controversy as they questioned some of the most fundamental ideals of society—private property, capitalism, republican government, traditional gender roles, mainstream clothing and diet mores, and monogamous marriages. This course will examine attempts to implement utopias and communal societies in the American past and present. We will pay particular attention to nearby New Harmony, the site of two utopian experiments in the early 1800s
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Elfriede WedamAuthor
Loyola University ChicagoInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2013 Date Published
Description:
Please take two of your observations and compare and contrast them according to the following rubric:
1) Type of ritual (what specific elements)
2) Relationship between the sacred and the profane (what indicators symbolize the difference)
3) One of the following sociological concepts:
a. Social class
b. Gender
c. Race/ethnicity
4) Conclude with one paragraph in which you explain what observing religious practices has taught you about religion in society.This paper should be approximately 3 – 4 pages.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: comparative, religion, sociology, paper, social class, gender, race, ethnicity
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module will explore how congregations extend their mission beyond worship within their communities. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: religion, congregations, community, sociology, anthropology, public
David BromleyAuthor
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityInstitution
2007 Date Published
Description:
America is the most religiously diverse nation in the world. There are more than 2,500 separate religious organizations in the U.S., and the number of groups has increased steadily through our history. This is an introductory course in contemporary religious movements in North America. The focus of the course is on groups that emerged during the last half of the twentieth century, New Religious Movements (NRMs). The overall objective of the course is to examine the diversity of these movements and to make sense of them from a sociological perspective. This project involves understanding how these movements are distinctive, what gives rise to them, how they differ from one another, and how they develop through their histories.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, New Religious Movements
Topics:
Keywords: sociology, religion, social movement, comparative, groups, traditions, religious organizations
Vaughn BookerAuthor
Dartmouth CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
This course presents African Americans who have created religious and spiritual lives amid the variety of possibilities for religious belonging in the second half of the twentieth century and the early twenty-first century. By engaging an emerging canon of autobiographies, we will take seriously the writings of theologians, religious laity, spiritual gurus, hip hop philosophers, LGBT clergy, religious minorities, and scholars of religion as foundational for considering contemporary religious authority through popular and/or institutional forms of African American religious leadership. Themes of spiritual formation and religious belonging as a process— healing, self-making, writing, growing up, renouncing, dreaming, and liberating—characterize the religious journeys of the African American writers, thinkers, and leaders whose works we will examine. Each weekly session will also incorporate relevant audiovisual religious media, including online exhibits, documentary films, recorded sermons, tv series, performance art, and music. 0
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Intro, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
African American / Africana / Black Studies
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Islam, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Yoruba, Taoism
Topics:
Keywords: African American religions, Africana religions, spirituality, religion and gender, religion and sexuality, religion and race
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Richard Gunderman (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) answers the question “How are religious communities dealing with an epidemic of loneliness?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 3, December 17, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Health/Death
Keywords: health, COVID-19, pandemic
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Richard Gunderman (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) answers the question “Are all the lessons we need to learn from the pandemic scientific and medical in nature?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 3, December 17, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Health/Death
Keywords: COVID-19, religious communities, health
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: terror, religion, violence, sociology, political science, United States
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module focuses on the relationship between crime and religion. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: crime, religion, comparative
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Caleb Elfenbein (Grinnell College) answers the question “How do teachers deal with vulnerability while also addressing emotional exhaustion?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 8, May 20, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: teaching, pedagogy, learning
Tisa WengerAuthor
Yale Divinity SchoolInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2009 Date Published
Description:
This course examines how and in whose interests American concepts of and about “religion” have been produced. What cultural sites (the courts, the media, schools, the academy) are most influential in producing ideas about religion-in-general, or about particular kinds of religion? Who has the power to determine what groups are recognized as legitimate and therefore constitutionally protected religions? What is imagined to be the appropriate scope of religion’s impact in public life—is it primarily a private concern, or is it relevant to public interests? What relationship do such concepts of religion have with the politics of race, class, gender, and colonialism?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Other Christianities, Other Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Lydia Huffman HoyleAuthor
Georgetown CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course will explore: 1.) the nature and sources of denominationalism in America; 2.) the genesis, development, theology, and practice of nine denominational families in America; 3.) the changing face of denominationalism in America today; and 4.) issues in denominationalism. Upon completion of this course, the responsible student will be able to discuss possible reasons why America was particularly well-suited for the development of multiple sects and denominations and discuss the importance of the Reformation in setting the stage for the development of denominations.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: field work, hostility
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: denominations, congregations, religion, sociology, United States
Lincoln MullenAuthor
George Mason UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2018 Date Published
Description:
This collaboratively written post at The Immanent Frame offers teaching assignments for a number of different digital projects in religious studies. The contributors are Melanie Adrian, Amélie Barras, Jennifer A. Selby, Emily Floyd, Chris Gratien, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Lincoln Mullen, Alexander van der Haven, Isaac Weiner, and Amy DeRogatis.
Institution Type: Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Other
Digital humanities
Religious Traditions:
Topics: Science/Technology/Environment
Digital humanities
Keywords: Digital projects
Cooper HarrissAuthor
Indiana UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
This is an upper-level course listed in the Religion in the Americas section of IU’s religious studies curriculum. Capped at 25-30 students, it usually fills with a waiting list–in no small part because it satisfies multiple general education requirements. Students who subscribe to the class range from reigious studies majors to students taking what will be their only religious studies course. This syllabus represents my first attempt at teaching the course online, though the readings and topics have not changed radically in the transition from face-to-face learning.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Online
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: Disaster, Culture, Film, Dance, Graphic Novels, Music, Blues, Theodicy,
Rachel McClearyAuthor
Harvard UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
This course looks at several different veins regarding economics and religion. Such topics include the Protestant Reformation, religiosity, secularization, economic growth and several others. Additionally the course sets out to discuss theories regarding capital accumulation, church and state, as well as social participation.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Sociology, Other
Economics
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Islam
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Economics
Keywords: Religion, social science, economics, sociology, political economy
Michael McBrideAuthor
University of California-IrvineInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
The purpose of this course is to teach how basic principles from economics yield a greater understanding of religious behavior. We will learn economic concepts step-by-step, use them to develop theories and predictions about various aspects of religion, and then review evidence in support of these theories. Simple ideas and clear examples will bring to light very interesting aspects of religious phenomena.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
Economics
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor
Economics, Religion
Keywords: Religion, economics, discussion, intro
John C. SeitzAuthor
Fordham UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2014 Date Published
Description:
This course approaches American religions through historical study of the pursuit of ecstatic, utopian, and healing experiences. We will seek to understand America’s religious past by investigating specific contexts in which Americans have sought radical release from everyday consciousness, social disorder, and pain. These pursuits, while distinct from one another in crucial ways, share an intense uneasiness with life as it is and an equally intense hopefulness in a particular solution. Sometimes people explicitly theorized these pursuits, but often they simply lived them as extensions of practical knowledge. In all cases we will explore the reasons for their hope as well as their responses to its triumph and its all-too-frequent failure. Whether successful or not, those driving these endeavors remained (sometimes despite their desires) permeated by and influential upon the worlds around them. Accordingly, we will explore the ways their hopes and desires—while often expressed with unique assertiveness and addressed with solutions considered radical—linked them with the wider communities from which they emerged.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Alyssa Maldonado-EstradaAuthor
Kalamazoo CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2023 Date Published
Description:
This seminar explores the craft, ethics, and politics of ethnography, a qualitative methodology
essential to the study of lived religion. Ethnographers conduct participant observation and
cultivate long-term collaborative and intimate relationships with contemporary communities. By
centering the genre of ethnography, we examine how research is about relationships. Research
relationships are messy, rife with power dynamics, intimacies, and tensions, and contingent on
bonds of trust and access. We consider how ethnographers of religion navigate spaces and
histories crowded with the presences of gods, spirits, and ancestors and the work of writing
about those presences.
We will explore the relationship between research and embodied knowledge and the tensions
between balancing story-telling, history, and theory. This course will help students develop
analytical and methodological skills as they explore the ethical dimensions of humanities and
social science research with human (and nonhuman) subjects.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Hybrid
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics:
Ethnography
Keywords: Ethnography, politics, qualitative
Tricia BruceAuthor
Maryville CollegeInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2013 Date Published
Description:
This assignment is designed to elicit common sociological themes across multiple religious traditions. You need to have read your ethnography in its entirety by the date of our first panel. Although others will have also read this book, this is not a group presentation: you do not need to coordinate your efforts as a group prior to the panels. If, however, you have questions regarding your reading, I would recommend finding time prior to the panels to discuss this with others who have read your ethnography. On panel days, we will rearrange our chairs to form a triangle and generate discussion around the questions posed below, applied to each of the ethnographies read by the class.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics:
Keywords: comparative religion, ethnography, panel, religion, sociology, presentation
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module focuses on the influence and potential growing numbers of evangelicals within the United States. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Class/Power, Region/Urban/Rural, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: evangelicals, United States, religion, sociology, influence
Kathryn Gin LumAuthor
Stanford UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
This class sheds light on religion’s deep roots in American history in order to help students understand its continued significance today. The course is divided into five thematic units, each offering a different way of understanding religion in America: 1) through the lens of the supernatural, 2) in its entanglements with race, 3) as women’s history, 4) as entwined with American politics, and 5) in contemporary culture. Each unit begins with a session titled “What’s at stake?”, which focuses on secondary source debates over the topic more broadly. Other sessions in the unit typically pair a brief secondary source reading on the day’s specific topic with primary sources.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: thematic, religious freedom
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions.This specifically is about the clergy, or religious leaders, are important figures in the lives of congregations and other religious groups.This assignment was created by the Association on Religious Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power
Keywords: clergy, congregations, religion, college
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module focuses on congregations in American religious life. This assignment was created by the Association on Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: congregations, America, exploration
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions.This module focuses on religions denominations in the United States and the frequency of mergers, schisms, and names changes.This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives0
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: denominations, religion, United States
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. Within this module we will explore the differing proportions of Mormon groups in states. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Mormonism
Topics: Class/Power, Region/Urban/Rural, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: mormonism, denominations, United States, religion, sociology
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions.This module focuses on individual’s religiosity.This assignment was created by the Association of Religious Data Archives.0
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Science/Technology/Environment, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: individual, religious, beliefs, behavior
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: international, religion, sociology, research
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions.This module focuses on religious beliefs and practices and how they vary dramatically across nations.This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.0
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Family/Children/Reproduction, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: international, religion, assignment, exploration
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions.This module will allow you to explore differences in religious freedom across nations and compare different populations within the same country. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.0
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: comparative religion, religion, religious freedom, freedom, sociology
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions.This module focuses on the status of religious minorities across nations. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.0
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: minorities, religion, nations,
Courtney IrbyAuthor
Illinois Wesleyan UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2023 Date Published
Description:
Americans often view emotions as personal and individualistic, but social norms and institutions, such as religion, shape what people feel, when they feel, and how they express their feelings. Emotions, in turn, also structure religious views on what it means to become spiritual and belong to faith traditions. The course explores the social organization of emotions by examining what feeling rules reveal about religious authority and identity in American society.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Hybrid
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Faith, Emotions, Society
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module focuses on women playing roles within the religious history of the United States. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality
Keywords: history, female, women, religion, United States
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Evan Berry (Arizona State University) answers the question “How does the fossil fuel industry and marketing effect environmentalism?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 6, March 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: climate change, weather, global warming
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Lisa H. Sideris (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) discusses “framing nature as a place where people are not.” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 5, March 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: climate change, weather, global warming
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Corey Miles (Morgan State University) answers the question “How do you reflect on what futurity might offer for the work that’s been done in studies of race, gender, and religion?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 5, February 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Elaine PeñaAuthor
George Washington UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
This course combines perspectives from the fields of geography, anthropology, performance studies, and religious studies to cultivate a deeper understanding of how communities produce, maintain, and legitimize sanctified spaces. Although course readings direct our attention toward U.S.-based case studies, we will also consider their transnational dimensions—how religious groups build belief across national boundaries. We will pay particular attention to the political and economic factors that facilitate the development of transnational sacred spaces. In some cases, our starting points are actually located outside of the United States. By expanding our horizons, we will be able to critically engage the idea that American religious spaces, and notions of American religion more generally, are produced primarily within the boundaries of the U.S. nation-state.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Other
Geography
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Islam, New Religious Movements, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: Sacred space
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Health/Death, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: paranormal, religion, sociology, United States
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores non-traditional beliefs within the United States. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: paranormal, religion, sociology, United States
Angela TarángoAuthor
Trinity UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
What exactly is the Christian tradition? Can we even say that one exists? This class aims to challenge how students view Christianity by taking a tour of the varieties of world Christianity
that exist in the twentieth and twenty-first century, and by sampling a wide variety of methods in how one studies the field of Christianity. These will include historical, sociographical,
ethnohistorical, anthropological, theoretical, and gender studies methods, all of which challenge traditional (meaning mainly those steeped in the field of church history) scholars of religion to expand their understandings of Christianity in the modern period. This class is not a historical overview of Christianity and its variety of theologies, but rather it focuses on how Christianity in the modern period has become entangled with politics, race, sexuality, healing, issues of gender, revolution and religious strife (among other things.) This course focuses on content, methodology, and also seeks to situate each case study within current world events. In each section of this class we will consider case studies from all over the world including the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East in order to both understand some of the main themes that trouble the study of modern Christianity along with the methods by which it is understood and studied.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
International Studies
Religious Traditions: Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Politics/Law/Government, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords:
Raymond HaberskiAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
From Puritans waging war against the Pequot tribe to prayers offered after September 11, 2001, Americans have understood war in religious terms. This course introduces students to a historical debate over the connection between God and war in the United States. It looks to presidents, preachers, poets, and the American people for insight into that relationship and asks students to consider the conflict within religions and through religious terms as Americans fought, killed, and died for their country.0
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions:
Topics: Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: American civil religion, war, sacrifice, nationalism
Jonathan ArbuckleAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joanna WosAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joshua PhillippeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Amy GuessAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joe SkvareninaAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Janet Rhodes-CarlsonAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Other
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Barry LeBlancAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Tanya MartinAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Jeffrey DodgeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Allen SmithAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Douglas HammerlingAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Patrick MeeganAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Jonathan ArbuckleAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joanna WosAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joshua PhillippeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Courtland BladeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joe SkvareninaAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Janet Rhodes-CarlsonAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Other
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Barry LeBlancAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Tanya MartinAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Jeffrey DodgeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Allen SmithAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Douglas HammerlingAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Patrick MeeganAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Hinduism
Topics:
Keywords:
Kathryn LongAuthor
Wheaton CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1996 Date Published
Description:
Purposes: To gain an overview of events, ideas, people and groups that have helped to shape Christianity in the United States and Canada from the colonial era to the present (with primary emphasis on Christianity in the U. S.). To become aware of the tensions, challenges and opportunities facing various expressions of the Christian church in North America and to examine “how the Christian religion has fared in America” (Noll, 3). In the context of that examination, we will ask, among others, the following questions: What has it meant to be a Christian in America, in relation to the church and to the culture? How has the Christian faith affected the public and private lives of people in North America? Who has shaped the story of Christianity on this continent and why? To locate ourselves as representatives of various denominations and religious traditions within the “community of memory” we belong to as professed Christians. To cultivate an enjoyment and appreciation of the complexity and rich heritage of Christianity in North America.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Kathleen RileyAuthor
Ohio Dominican CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course is a survey of the major thoughts, movements and personalities of American Religious History, from the colonial era to the present day. A special emphasis will be placed on Catholicism, and its place in the religious landscape of the United States. Among the topics to be explored during the course of the semester will be: the religious motives for settling the New World; Awakenings, Revivals and Reform; Immigration and Nativism (Protestant-Catholic tensions); twentieth century “Isms” (Fundamentalism, Liberalism, Modernism and the “heresy” of Americanism); the Post Work War II Religious Revival; the crisis of the Sixties and the Second Vatican Council; and “Civil Religion” (the Religion of the American Republic) as a persistent force in American life and politics.
From the particular perspective of Catholicism, two persistent and pervasive themes will predominate: Immigration and Americanization. Our focus will be on the internal evolution of American Catholicism as it met and absorbed divergent social and ethnic groups, and that of the external relations between the Catholic community and the greater Protestant national community. This focus will allow us to explore, with historical evidence, the more theoretical issues of diversity/pluralism/multiculturalism in American history, and the relations between elites and subordinates – Insiders and Outsiders. Few communities in American History have sustained in such large numbers and over such a long period of time the varieties of peoples as American Catholicism.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: American Studies, History, Theology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
Laurie F. Maffly-KippAuthor
University of North CarolinaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
This course is a survey of religion in America from the pre-colonial era to the present. Although this is a large class, our goal will be to explore together certain moments and themes in American religious history that have significantly shaped the development of the nation as a whole. The approach will be chronological, that is, we will move through time from the pre-colonial context to the late twentieth century; but our aim will be to connect past events to issues and problems that continue to affect the expression of religious beliefs and practices in our own culture. At times, we will employ a “case study” approach: rather than trying to cover every significant religious development and each religious group, we will analyze specific events and ideas that have a wider applicability.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Charles IsraelAuthor
Auburn UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
In this course we will explore in both broad scope and some more focused case-studies the role religion has played in North American social, cultural, and even political history. The object is to explore religion both as an extraordinary experience or abstract idea and as an important component of individual and group social identity in the American past. We can all agree that there were churches, congregations, and denominations in the American past; but how did religion operate in American history? What was the interaction between otherworldly faiths and present, worldly, and temporal interests of humans?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Islam, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords:
Paul HarveyAuthor
University of Colorado, Colorado SpringsInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1996 Date Published
Description:
In this block we will probe, discuss, and analyze the multiple religious traditions in America. Each student will prepare and present a research project, which may be historical or contemporary, that will focus on a particular religious tradition. Additionally, “fieldwork” will be done in which each student will be asked to participate in a religious event of some sort which will be foreign to your experience, whether that be in a fundamentalist mega-church, a Jewish synagogue, or a New Age temple. We will make a trip to the Baca campus and visit the Carmelite monastery there, and observe their ritual day. Class time will be oriented around discussion of specific texts, with period short lectures to fill in necessary factual material. To encourage discussion of the material, students will also be asked to prepare one or two email responses a week in reaction to questions set by the moderator of our email discussion group (I will serve as the moderator).
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: block plan, class intensive, big picture, consumerism
Steven EppersonAuthor
Brigham Young UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1996 Date Published
Description:
We intend to examine the story of the religious “experience” of the American people from the 16th century to the present. Our principal concerns are to gain a better understanding of a) the essential beliefs and practices of America’s religious communities, b) the major interpretive themes employed to make sense of the American religious story, c) aspects of the interaction between religion and American culture, and d) the role individuals play in the formation and sustenance of religious movements and institutions.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords:
Charles F. IronsAuthor
Elon UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2009 Date Published
Description:
This course offers a selective survey of American Religious History from pre-Columbian times to the present. It emphasizes the remarkable diversity of religious belief and practice in the area that became the United States. Challenging theoretical questions about the essence of religion and the scholarly study of it are an essential part of the course.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Evelyn SterneAuthor
University of Rhode IslandInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
This course will explore the history of religion in the United States from the colonial period to the present, with emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Our focus will be less on theological issues than on the political, cultural, ethnic, racial and gender dimensions of religion. Major themes will include: the diversity of religious traditions in this nation; the intersections between religion and politics; and the ways in which religion has shaped and been shaped by national, ethnic and racial identities. Throughout the course, we will bring together past and present by discussing how the study of religious history informs our understanding of current issues and debates.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Elizabeth L. JemisonAuthor
Clemson UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
This course offers a broad introduction to American religious history from the 1600s to today. As we travel together from the early colonial period to the present, our course will consider four
important themes in the history of religion in the United States. By the semester’s end, students will be able to describe and analyze important aspects such as church and state, race and religion, and the challenges of pluralism, as well as have a solid understanding of the historical development of American religious cultures.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religious freedom
Richard J. CallahanAuthor
University of Missouri-ColumbiaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
The course attempts to illustrate the dynamic and powerful role that religion has played, and continues to play, in the social, cultural, political, economic, and creative aspects of realms of American life. Because of the broad scope of the subject, a course such as this one can only survey the landscape rather than being a comprehensive account. We will pay special attention to the diversity of American traditions and cultures while we also look for patterns that emerge from their shared history as Americans. We will also explore the history of a few selected religious
issues more thoroughly. We will be attentive to issues of power that have shaped American religious history, the ways we interpret that history, and the ways we think about religion. By the end of the course, you should be familiar with a general chronological overview of historical developments and issues in American religion.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords:
Eleanor J. StebnerAuthor
The University of WinnipegInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course provides a study of the history of religious life and practice in Canada and the United States from the time of European colonization to the present. It includes the study of select individuals, church and state relations, and comparisons between the Canadian and U.S. nation-states. Various denominations and sects that comprise the North American religious milieu are highlighted, as are significant movements such as evangelicalism, fundamentalism, feminism, and ecumenism. Historical analysis will inevitably lead to discussions regarding Christianity within our current time and contexts. A combination of lecture and seminar format is utilized.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Area Studies, History, Theology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Ryon J. Cobb (University of Georgia) answers the question “How has the COVID-19 pandemic permanently changed religious life?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 3, December 17, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Health/Death, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: health, COVID-19, pandemic
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Amanda J. Baugh (California State University, Northridge) answers the question “How is environmentalism framed among scholars and religious communities?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 6, March 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: climate change, weather, global warming
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality
Keywords: religion, leaders, United States, sociology, gender
Brandon BayneAuthor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
This course examines diverse indigenous engagements with Christianity in the Americas from earliest contacts to the present. Topics will range from missionary contestations in colonial Mexico to the Native American Church’s fight for religious freedom in 20th Century United States, from historical revitalization movements like the Ghost Dance to postcolonial indigenous theologies in North and South America. Along the way, we will consider a variety of responses to Christian evangelism; including rejection, revitalization, revolt, and renewal. The title of the course implies multiplicity; “native and Christian” can be an opposition, tension, identification, combination, or all of the above. We will wrestle with how to appreciate cultural continuities, account for historical changes and articulate new religious combinations. At the same time, we will tackle questions of violence, asymmetrical power, colonization, and the need for decolonized methodologies. Students should come prepared for an active, lively discussion, and ready to critically investigate the readings, while I will provide short lectures on historical background. Our work together will culminate with research projects on contemporary expressions of indigenous Christianity that will apply the theoretical, historical, and methodological tools acquired in the course.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
American Indian Studies, Indigenous Studies
Religious Traditions: Indigenous, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Syncretism, religious freedom
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: America, sociology, political science, religion, beliefs
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions.This module focuses on regional practices of religious expression, profession and practice. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.0
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: future, international, religion, sociology, freedom
Kristin SchwainAuthor
University of Missouri-ColumbiaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
Due to the introductory nature of the course, we will survey a variety of objects from a number of American religious traditions. Each week we will center our attention on a different type of object and a different model of intellectual inquiry. In the first section of the course, “Tools of Art Historical Interpretation,” we will learn basic skills of visual analysis through our examination of Northwest Coast aesthetics, African-American Bible quilts, New England gravestones, and Warner Sallman’s Head of Christ. Then, we will use these interpretive tools to examine religious “ways of seeing” that characterize particular traditions and at certain historical moments. In Part III, we will analyze how objects are used by a variety of traditions to mediate different temporal moments, geographic locations, and cultural contexts. In the end, we will recognize the manifold ways objects shape religious beliefs and practices and inflect ways of seeing and knowing,
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Health/Death, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: sacred space, altars
Winnifred Fallers SullivanAuthor
Washington and Lee UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1996 Date Published
Description:
What is American Religion? Does it make any sense to talk about American religion? What is American about American religion and what is religious about American religion? Religion in the United States is extremely vital and diverse. It has been throughout American history. It is also a very important part of contemporary American culture and politics. It is impossible in one term to hope to canvass the depth and variety of five centuries of American religion in a complete way. This course will instead introduce the student to religion in America through the consideration of three thematic approaches to a description of American religion as a whole. These thematic approaches cut across religious traditions and attempt to characterize some of the ways in which the extraordinary variety in the American religious imagination shares characteristics by virtue of its common environment and its common history. The three thematic descriptions of American religion that we will examine are Natural Religion, Denominational Religion, and Constitutional Religion. There are of course other themes that could be chosen and we will from time to time note those other themes as they touch on our work. The object of the course is to develop in the student a beginning competence in thinking, talking and writing about American religion.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
D. Keith NaylorAuthor
Occidental CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
Participants in this survey course will examine religion in the USA from historical and socio-cultural perspectives. Our most persistent questions will be, “What is religion?” and “What is America?” We shall explore the contours of American culture and society as a setting in which various religions are imagined, established, nurtured, hindered, altered, valued, ignored, and/or abandoned. This course will include lectures, assigned readings, class discussions, student panels, and films/videos.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Dwight SimonAuthor
Teaching Module Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: race, racism
R&AC Author
IUPUIInstitution
Video Resource Type
2003 Date Published
Description:
Video from the “Ask an Expert” series responding to the question “Is America a Christian Nation?”Produced by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: America, Christian, Nation
Laura LevittAuthor
Temple UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
This assignment is for the first week of class. It uses the short video, “The Tribe” (available online), to get students to think about what it means to identify as Jewish. Barbie becomes the object lesson both in the film and in the question. Is she Jewish? Or not? Students need to make a case and there are no wrong answers. Having shown the film in class when I taught in person, this assignment allowed me to get to know each student and respond to them (class of 27 students) in a no pressure and playful manner. It was an ice-breaker from afar.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Online
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
Jewish studies
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Identification, religion, race, ethnicity, culture
Keywords: Jewish, identification, Barbie, religion, race, ethnicity, culture
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Evan Berry (Arizona State University) answers the question “Is climate change shaping religion?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 6, March 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: climate change, weather, global warming
Susan YolmehAuthor
Teaching Module, Other Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: race, kkk, racism
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module is centered around whether the United States is indeed a Christian nation. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: nation, religion, United States
R&AC Author
IUPUIInstitution
Video Resource Type
2003 Date Published
Description:
Video from the “Ask an Expert” series responding to the question “Is there a difference between “spiritual” and “religious”?” Produced by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: Spiritual, Religious
Tazeen M. AliAuthor
Washington University in St. LouisInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2023 Date Published
Description:
From Olympic athlete Ibtihaj Muhammad and Democratic Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali, there are several prominent American Muslim public figures today. Indeed, Muslims have long been an embedded part of American culture since their forced arrival through the Transatlantic slave trade and later waves of immigration throughout the 18th to 21st centuries from various regions across the world. Yet, Muslim national belonging in the U.S. has continually been publicly contested throughout history up until our current political moment. In this course, we examine the notion of a religiously plural America and analyze Muslims’ place within it, considering the ways that American Muslims both shape and are shaped by U.S. society as both religious actors with autonomy and as a marginalized outgroup.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Hybrid
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Islam
Audrey JeffersonAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Jonathan ArbuckleAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Joanna WosAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Joshua PhillippeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Amy GuessAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Joe SkvareninaAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Barry LeBlancAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Tanya MartinAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy, Other
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Jeffrey DodgeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Allen SmithAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Douglas HammerlingAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Patrick MeeganAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Audrey JeffersonAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Alphonzo AtkinsAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joanna WosAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joshua PhillippeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joe SkvareninaAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Barry LeBlancAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Tanya MartinAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Jeffrey DodgeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Allen SmithAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Douglas HammerlingAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Patrick MeeganAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Courtland BladeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel B. GrossAuthor
San Francisco State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
This course uses questions about communities as the basis for a survey of U.S. Jewish history from the colonial period through the present. We
will move between studies of specific Jewish communities and conceptions of national U.S. Jewish communities, asking questions about communities that be applied to other groups in and beyond the U.S., including those in which class members participate. How should we define community? How do communities function and how are they maintained? How have gender norms and expectations shaped communities? Who and what has held power in U.S. Jewish communities? Are U.S. Jews one community or many communities?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Jewish Studies
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Audrey JeffersonAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Jonathan ArbuckleAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joanna WosAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joshua PhillippeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Courtland BladeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Joe SkvareninaAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History, Other
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Barry LeBlancAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Tanya MartinAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Jeffrey DodgeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Alphonzo AtkinsAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Allen SmithAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Douglas HammerlingAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Patrick MeeganAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics:
Keywords:
Adrienne KroneAuthor
Allegheny CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2024 Date Published
Description:
An exploration of the relationship between food, justice, and Jewish identities. Students learn about Jewish ethnic, cultural, and religious history as they explore the complex justice issues related to food. Students investigate all aspects of food production including growing, processing, cooking, and eating as they relate to issues of race, gender, religion, class, and sexuality. Students examine Jewish biblical dietary laws, rabbinic regulations, and modern kosher cookbooks to understand the formation and flexibility of Jewish food systems.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Online
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Politics/Law/Government, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: food, justice, Jewish, cooking, eating,
Stratos PatrikiosAuthor
University of StrathclydeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2014 Date Published
Description:
Defying the predictions of secularization theory regarding the decline of religion in the modern world, religion is resurfacing in global affairs. The impact of faith upon politics is evident in the 1979 revolution in Iran, in the subsequent, ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and the Middle East and their implications for international security, in the Catholic Church’s contribution to democratization efforts in Latin America and Eastern Europe, in the religious dimension of recent electoral results in the USA, and in the role of Christian actors in current debates on Islam in the EU. The class introduces students to the systematic study of these phenomena mainly using a quantitative methods perspective. Qualitative approaches are also considered. We will examine religion’s role in politics across cultures, states and regions. The seminar is about the empirical application of relevant theoretical frameworks.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: religion, government, church and state, political science, modernity
Brett HendricksonAuthor
Lafayette CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
Latinas/os, or people who trace their ancestry to the countries of Latin America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, are the largest minority group in the United States. Religion forms
an important part of the lives of many Latinas/os. From various expressions of Catholicism, to Protestant and Pentecostal movements, to religions that draw on African heritage and folk
devotions, many Hispanics have a rich religious life. Adding to this richness, Latinas/os are a diverse group made up of communities that claim distinct countries of national origin, including
Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and people from Central and South America. This course explores the history and practice of several major Latina/o religions, the role religion plays in ethnic identity formation and maintenance, the ways in which religion aids Latinas/os in a context often touched by racism and prejudice, and the cultural products associated with Hispanic religions.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements
Topics: Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Linda PrzybyszewskiAuthor
University of CincinnatiInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course focuses on the relationship between religion and law in a country without an established church. Despite this constitutional separation between church and state, many American believed that faith in God in some form was necessary to the success of the Republic. Historians of religion write that the United States had established Protestantism, in effect, voluntarily and informally during the 19th century. We will be looking at the attempts of various Americans to determine what the proper relationship between religion and law should be.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Julie ByrneAuthor
Duke UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
When most people in the United States think of religion, they think of beliefs. But beliefs are only a small part of religion in a country full of people of faith who also practice, mix, play, dispute, reform, consume, market, support, change,and leave their religions. In short, people don’t just believe religion; they live it. In this class, we will explore “lived religion” in America. Along the way, we will continuously raise a few key questions: Who lives lived religion? What are the advantages and disadvantages to thinking of religion this way? What are particularly American features of lived religion? What do we see about particular traditions through the lens of lived religion?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Islam, Other Christianities
Mormonism
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: Field work
Dwight SimonAuthor
Teaching Module Resource Type
2010 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: lived religion, pluralism
Sarah ShmittAuthor
Portland High SchoolInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: lived religion, pluralism
Jonathan L. WaltonAuthor
Harvard Divinity SchoolInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
The Civil Rights and Black Power movements (narrowly defined) were principally struggles for racial equality and economic justice. The public ministries of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X have come to signify these movements respectively and have remained at the center of debates concerning competing trajectories of response. But though the philosophies of Malcolm and Martin are often portrayed as incommensurate, their philosophical and theological commitments led them to a similar place of aligning with the poor and oppressed on a global scale. This is not their only similarity. Both Martin and Malcolm extend from religious traditions where notions of social respectability and hyper-masculinity are inextricably linked to gendered conceptions of racial progress. The aim of this course, then, is to engage the theological, philosophical and social thought of these men while unmasking normative assumptions about race, domesticity and sexuality that informed their outlooks and animated their gendered moral frameworks and masculinist organizing strategies.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Theology
Religious Traditions: Islam, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
Eric K. GormlyAuthor
Arizona State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
Among academics, there is a growing awareness of the need to examine media, religion and culture from perspectives simultaneously informed by religious studies, sociology, cultural studies, journalism, and studies in communication and mass communication. It is a nascent, cross-disciplinary field that relies on the full range of methodological approaches available to the contemporary scholar. Because the field has developed so recently, little has been done to synthesize these areas and advance the field. This course represents an early attempt at fusing these elements into one comprehensive framework.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
Interdisciplinary, Media Studies, Communication Studies, Journalism
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: televangelism
Kevin Lewis O'NeillAuthor
University of TorontoInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
The anthropology of religion is a discipline-specific endeavor. British Functionalism, French Structuralism, American cultural anthropology—the history of anthropological thought can be taught through the very category of religion. But what of the study of religion’s continued rapprochement with the anthropology of religion? How might the study of religion, a discipline in its own right, draw upon anthropological approaches to religion without succumbing to discipline-specific debates? This graduate course addresses this methodological question through a reading intensive course. While its success will turn on the entire class keeping up with the readings for each week, its lasting effect will depend on the student’s ability to appreciate not so much the history of anthropological thought or the anthropology of religion but rather what this course ultimately calls “anthropological approaches to the study of religion.”
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics:
Methodology
Keywords: theory of religion
Samuel L. PerryAuthor
University of OklahomaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2023 Date Published
Description:
More often than we like to acknowledge, a comprehensive understanding of social phenomena (groups, problems, processes) requires that we draw on multiple research methods beyond the vital analytic strategies we learn in our statistics classes. This graduate-level course will provide an introduction to the theoretical underpinnings, development, and application of mixed-methods research designs. Because our department currently does not offer a focused course in qualitative research methods (though that will soon change in the future and thus this course will evolve), this semester we will explore and emphasize qualitative methods initially and then begin to develop our understanding of how to integrate these methods with the quantitative methods students should already have some familiarity with by this point in their graduate training.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Hybrid
Discipline: Sociology
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: Research, Mixed Methods, Sociology
Christian SmithAuthor
University of Notre DameInstitution
2008 Date Published
Description:
The key question we will explore is: What happens to religion under conditions of modernity, why, and how? This exploration first requires a more fundamental consideration of the nature of “modernity” and “religion” as concepts and realities themselves. It also involves thinking about what we might mean in saying that religion is, for instance, “strong,” “growing,” “declining,” or “losing authority.” Engaging the secularization debate also necessarily raises questions about human beings and their constitutional needs and tendencies, human societies and their requirements and operations, and basic sociological concerns with historical change, causal attributions, research design, data collection methods, measurement, and analysis. Throughout this seminar I want us to attend closely not only to associations between measured variables but also to the causal mechanisms theorized as promoting or preventing secularization. Working through the specific analytical issue of secularization therefore both grounds us solidly in debates at the heart of the field sociology of religion specifically, and engages us in a variety of important concerns that are crucial to consider for the doing of any good work in sociology generally. 0
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: modernity, secularization, religion, sociology, civil religion, politics, race
Christian SmithAuthor
University of Notre DameInstitution
2008 Date Published
Description:
This class provides an introduction to the long-standing and wide-ranging debates in sociology about secularization. The central question that we will explore from a variety of perspectives is: What happens to religion under the conditions of modernity—and why and how so? What we will be trying to figure out is whether modernity (and post-modernity) secularizes religion, strengthens religion, transforms religion, or produces some other effect. Secularization was a central concern in the thinking of the founding fathers of sociology—Weber, Durkheim, Marx, and others. It has also been the core concern of the field of sociology of religion from the start.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: modernity, secularization, religion, sociology, spiritual, civil religion, identity, american
Judith McDonaldAuthor
Other Resource Type
2010 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: morality, pluralism
Peter ThuesenAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
Because of its relatively recent origins, the Mormon tradition is an ideal case for studying a religion in the making. The Latter-day Saints also offer a unique window on how religions evolved under the U.S. Constitution’s system of the separation of church and state. Accordingly, this course focuses not only on the basics of Mormonism itself (its history, beliefs, and practices) but also on questions of wider significance in the study of American religion.0
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics:
Keywords: Mormonism, Latter-day Saint, First Amendment, Christianity, restorationism, polygamy, scripture
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, The Arts
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports
Keywords: music, religion, American
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module will explore the different uses of music in varying religions. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: music, religion, sociology
Jonathan ArbuckleAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Joanna WosAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Amy GuessAuthor
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Joe SkvareninaAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel Barrett-KnightAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Barry LeBlancAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Tanya MartinAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Jeffrey DodgeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Allen SmithAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Douglas HammerlingAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Patrick MeeganAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Audrey JeffersonAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Joshua PhillippeAuthor
Ivy TechInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
IUPUI partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to introduce fifteen community college instructors to the religious traditions of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist communities in greater Indianapolis. With support from NEH, “World Religions in Greater Indianapolis” utilized primary and secondary humanities texts and humanities experts at several local universities, supplemented by field trips and discussions with local practitioners, to explore these five world religions, their history and life in the United States, and their presence in and contributions to cultural life in the metropolitan area. The program resulted in the production of 150 course modules that incorporate knowledge about world religions into Ivy Tech’s core humanities curriculum.
Institution Type: Community College
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: The Arts
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords:
Ioana BerceaAuthor
Assignment Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Indigenous
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: native american, indigenous
Rebecca MooreAuthor
San Diego State UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2014 Date Published
Description:
This is a combination of several assignments including an analytical paper in which students are asked to compare and contrast arguments from readings. Additionally a separate assignment revolves around visiting a Special Collections whereby students will identify an item relating to New Thought or New Age, examine it both physically and materially and write a short descriptive paper. The second section of this assignment requires that the student travel to a worship service and observe the service and it’s characteristics such as demographics, topics covered, and general ambience. The final assignment addressed in this course is about a particular new religion and how the media has covered it.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics:
Keywords: new religions, religion, sociology, analytical, media
James BennettAuthor
Santa Clara UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
A syllabus of a New Religious Movements course
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics:
Keywords: cult, Mormonism, Christian Science, Nation of Islam, Branch Davidians, Scientology, Jonestown, People's Temple, Shakers, Oneida
Stephen TaysomAuthor
Cleveland State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
This course explores the phenomenon of “New Religious Movements,” sometimes called “cults.” We look at how NRM is actually a category group’s move into and out of, rather than a
fixed list of religious traditions; it is a label that almost no group embraces. In the American context, nearly every religious group that has come to enjoy social approval and a “mainstream” label spent some time in the NRM category. The popular media is one of the key tools that facilitate the creation and maintenance of the NRM category. We will look at how various media outlets (pamphlets, newspapers, radio, television, and the Internet) use the NRM category, why they do so, and explore the impact this has on the broader society. Finally, this course looks at how violence, both physical and rhetorical, is an integral part of the way that the NRM category has functioned in the American context since the 17th century.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Nichole R. Phillips (Emory University) discusses despotism. This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 4, January 21, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: race, politics, election
Adrian WeimerAuthor
Providence CollegeInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
“A Town Petitions against Arbitrary Government”Primary Source Analysis of a Petition from the Inhabitants of Hadley, Massachusetts Bay Colony, April 25, 1665 (Massachusetts Archives CVI.107)Includes manuscript image, annotated transcription, discussion questions, and further reading.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Political Science, Theology
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: Puritans, Petitions, Monarchy, Government, Liberty
n/a n/aAuthor
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Pandemic Religion is a project that seeks to collect sources on how American religious groups have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. This teaching guide offers an easy-to-adopt assignment for students who wish to contribute to the collection.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course, Online, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: pandemic, COVID-19, digital history, digital humanities
David CampbellAuthor
University of Notre DameInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
One part is to research the history, beliefs, practices, and political involvement of your chosen tradition. You will need to consult both scholarly research and what the religion says about itself in its own literature (including websites, books, pamphlets, etc.). The second part is a visit to a congregation representing the tradition you have chosen to study. Since you will be ambassadors of Notre Dame, please be sure to dress and act appropriately during the service. Learn when the service starts and ends so that you can arrive early and stay until the end. If you have questions about the service many congregations have a website to consult, or you can call the congregation’s office and ask about appropriate attire, length of the service, etc. You are welcome to attend a service in the South Bend area, in your hometown, or anywhere else of your choosing. Students in the class are also welcome to attend a service in small groups, keeping in mind the need not to be disruptive. You will find that nearly all congregations are very welcoming to visitors, so you should not be shy about introducing yourself and explaining the purpose of your visit.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: comparative religions, religion, political science, area studies, sociology, traditions, paper
David CampbellAuthor
University of Notre DameInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
The purpose of this paper is to have students respond to religious switching among Americans, specifically the use of examples from Amazing Grace and any other assigned readings. Questions include: ‘What are the political implications of the relatively high rate of religious switching among Americans?, ‘In answering this question, you will want to consider the possible effects on America’s religions or the possible effects on the nation’s political system–or both.’ and Whatever the effect(s) you discuss, consider also the following question: Is this healthy for American democracy? Why or why not?’
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Theology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: political science, religion, religious switching, paper, response
David CampbellAuthor
University of Notre DameInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
The purpose of this paper is to garner student’s attitudes about religion and it’s role in politics. Questions include: ‘Have your beliefs about religion–which includes a belief in something in place of religion–affected your political views? If so, how? If not, why not?’ and ‘Do you think voters should draw on their religious beliefs in forming their political opinions? Why or why not?’ This paper is a personal response where the responder does not need to cite sources.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: paper, political science, religion, voting,
Jon Ivan Gill Author
Syllabus Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords:
Rachel LindseyAuthor
Saint Louis UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
This is the second of a three-part series of “Snowball Essays” designed to guide students from reflection on race and religion in their own personal experience (Snowball Essay #1 is a Positionality Essay) to sustained reflection on race and religion in American life, history, and culture. I present this as a “process essay” that builds on course readings and incorporates distinct methodologies and forms of evidence.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Melissa Borja (University of Michigan) answers the question “What does political activity look like and how might it look different in Asian American communities?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 1, October 15, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Islam, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: Asian American, Asian, politics, election
David CampellAuthor
University of Notre DameInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
How can America be religiously devout, religiously diverse, and religiously tolerant? When we look at other nations, or even this nation at other periods in history, religious differences have led to discord and even bloodshed. And yet the United States has a remarkably high level of religious tolerance. Indeed, this tolerance is even more remarkable in light of the divisive role religion plays in our politics. This course will examine the ways in which religion is interwoven into American politics. Then it will turn to trying to solve the puzzle of America’s religious pluralism—if religion is so politically divisive, why are Americans so accepting of (most) religions other than their own? What explains the exceptions?
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: political science, religion, tolerance, American, church and state, religious right, race, diversity
Laura OlsonAuthor
Clemson UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2014 Date Published
Description:
This course is designed to examine and critically analyze the nature of the relationship between religion and various aspects of politics in the United States. We analyze how religion affects American politics among the masses and in the courts, and we ask why religion and politics are so thoroughly interwoven in the United States by examining the religion-politics relationship in historical and theoretical perspective. In doing so, we will encounter a range of themes that are relevant to the study of American politics.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: political science, religion, policy, separation, America, religiosity, politics, social movements
Chris GilbertAuthor
Gustavus Adolphus CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2013 Date Published
Description:
This course examines the political impact of religion in the United States, both historically and today. The phrase “separation of church and state” is one (but not the only) characterization of the official relationship between U.S. governmental institutions and religious institutions; it does not begin to cover the myriad connections found between organized religion and government at all levels and in all historical periods of American society. The primary goals are first, to understand how the interrelationships between religion and politics in the United States have developed; and second, to explore how religion in various forms continues to affect American public life, the workings of key political and social institutions, and the lives of citizens.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Islam, Judaism, Protestant
Evangelicalism, Latter Day Saints
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: political science, religion, race, politics, policy, activism, evangelicals, judaism, mormon, culture
Nicole Myers TurnerAuthor
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
This course explores the history of African American religious communities from the colonial times to the present. It explores the organization and politics of these institutions and how the
various historical forces and major events of slavery, emancipation, migration, urbanization, racism, race consciousness, gender and class have shaped black religious communities across the centuries. It uses a diverse grouping of primary and secondary sources and experiential learning activities to further these aims. Course materials include scholarly monographs, chapters and articles, primary accounts of religious life and records of religious organizations. Students will come away from the course with an enhanced sense of the complexities of black religious life and the evolution of black religions as central social and political agents in black life and the black freedom struggle.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Africana Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Matthew WahlertAuthor
Teaching Module Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: populist, pluralism
Mark BrewerAuthor
University of MaineInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
Many of you are probably familiar with the old saying that it is impolite to discuss religion or politics with strangers and dangerous to do so with friends. We are going to purposely ignore this advice, and spend the entire semester talking about these two subjects, devoting particular attention to how religion and politics intersect in the United States. Not long ago it was widely assumed that modernization would eventually eliminate religion as a significant force in American society. As recently as the 1970s, conventional wisdom held that religion no longer mattered in American politics. These claims have proven to be completely and utterly wrong. The United States is and always has been a religious society. Along the same lines, religion has historically played a substantial role in American politics, and continues to do so today. This interaction between religion and politics will be the focus of this course. Over the course of this semester students will be expected to engage in a thoughtful and critical examination of the many different ways that religion affects American politics, and also ways in which politics affects matters of religion. 0
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Protestant
Church of Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religion, political science, government, policy, race, African American, abortion, abolition, behavior, catholic, protestant
Wendy CadgeAuthor
Brandeis UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2007 Date Published
Description:
Does spirituality promote health as the cover of Time magazine asks? Should pharmacists be required to dispense birth control when they feel it conflicts with their religious beliefs? What have scientists learned about the influence of prayers on health? What is it like to be a hospital chaplain? Does religion or spirituality influence the work of doctors and nurses? What do Muslim community healthcare organizations do? How do leaders of local churches, synagogues, mosques and temples respond to the health needs of their congregants? This seminar investigates these questions and others by looking at the relationship between religion, health, and healing in the contemporary United States. We explore how a wide range of religious and medical organizations understand these relationships and focus specifically on contemporary tensions between religious and medical beliefs. Course materials include academic and popular writings, films and guest speakers.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Health/Death
Keywords: health, religion, praying, chaplin, relationship, political science, sociology, america
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module will assist in choosing a congregation to visit, explore their website and learn about the larger group. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: congregations, United States, religion, sociology
Grace YukichAuthor
Quinnipiac UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
Many of the most important movements for social change in American history—from the abolition of slavery to civil rights to women’s rights—have been fueled in part by progressive religion. In this course, we will examine religion from a social scientific perspective. Using sociological research, we will address questions like: What do we mean we talk about “religion”? What counts as “progressive religion” and who decides? How does “progressive religion” differ from “conservative religion”? Does being part of a marginalized religious tradition make it more likely that you will fight for progressive causes? How do race, class, and gender shape people’s approaches to progressive religion? How does progressive religion shape politics, gender & sexuality, and other parts of society? We will explore these questions by focusing on a wide array of religious traditions and contemporary topics.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores the various events and people in the United States throughout history. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports
Keywords: history, people, United States, religion
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Jamil Drake (Florida State University) answers the question “What if Qanon is at the center of American religion?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 2, November 19, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: qanon, race, politics
David WattAuthor
Haverford CollegeInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
In the 1930s and 1940s, Quakers engaged in a number of remarkable—and controversial—activities that were intended to provide assistance to people who were being persecuted by the Nazis. Those actions were criticized by some US citizens (who thought that Quakers were giving unwitting aid to the Nazis) and also derided by Nazis such as Joseph Goebbels (who thought that Quakers were demonstrating a complete lack of awareness about how the world really works.) Nevertheless, Quakers’ actions did end up saving some lives. Students in this course will examine what Quakers accomplished—and failed to accomplish—in the 1930s and 1940s. The course is not designed as a venue in which to decide, once and for all, which of the Quakers’ actions were wise and which were foolish. The course is meant, rather, to offer students an opportunity to reflect on the ethical questions with which Quakers wrestled and an invitation to compare those questions with the ones they face themselves. Special attention will be paid the connections between Quakers’ responses to the Holocaust and Quakers’ religious beliefs and practices.0
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
Peace, Justice, and Human Rights
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics:
Keywords:
Alexis Wells-OghoghomehAuthor
Vanderbilt UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
What does it mean to be “American?” Since their inception, America and American identities have been constituted through ever-evolving religious and racial imaginaries, conflicts, and lineages—forging ideological stances, symbols, and myths that rival traditional “religions.” Using a historical approach, this course explores the racial and religious imperatives encapsulated within concepts of “Americanness” and the racial and religious ideas that define the discursive, historical, and sociopolitical boundaries of American identities. In addition to examining how claims to American identities have altered the religiosity of historically-marginalized racial “Others,” we will also consider the ways racial concepts have resembled and drawn upon religious forms in their operations in America. Finally, we will discuss how peoples’ responses to concepts of race and religion challenge, nuance, and expand notions of America and the American.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: Race in America, Religion in America, Race and Religion
Alexis Wells-OghoghomehAuthor
Vanderbilt UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
What does it mean to be “American?” Since their inception, America and American identities have been constituted through ever-evolving religious and racial imaginaries, conflicts, and lineages—forging ideological stances, symbols, and myths that rival traditional “religions.” Using a historical approach, this course explores the racial and religious imperatives encapsulated within concepts of “Americanness” and the racial and religious ideas that define the discursive, historical, and sociopolitical boundaries of American identities. In addition to examining how claims to American identities have altered the religiosity of historically marginalized racial “Others,” we will also consider the ways racial concepts have resembled and drawn upon religious forms in their operations in America. Finally, we will discuss how peoples’ responses to racial and religious imperatives challenge, nuance, and expand concepts of America and the American.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Interdisciplinary
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: thematic
Gerardo MartiAuthor
Davidson CollegeInstitution
2011 Date Published
Description:
This seminar pursues sociological analysis at the intersection of race-ethnicity and religion. Our focus in this class centers on American congregational communities (whether it be church, temple, or mosque)— especially in relation to processes of immigration and transnationalism. Our class begins with a broad discussion of Will Herberg’s classic discussion on the American assimilation of religious groups and the formation of the historic Black Church in America. The class continues with an analysis of religion and migration at the turn of the 20th Century. The transformations of both black churches and non-native, ethnic churches throughout the mid-century will quickly culminate into an examination of the relations between race-ethnicity, religion, and broader civic society today. The course ends with a look at the rare achievement of multi-ethnic/multi-racial religious communities.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: race, religion, immigration, sociology, racial identity, American religion,
Kristy Nabhan-WarrenAuthor
Augustana CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
We will spend the next ten weeks together examining some the ways in which race, ethnicity, and religion overlap and inform one another within African American communities. But before we begin our journey of exploration, we need to ask ourselves, what do these terms and concepts mean (both to African Americans as well as others) and how have they been used in the United States? According to social theorists Michael Omi and Howard Winant, “Racial categories and the meanings of race are given concrete expression by the specific social relations and historical context in which they are embedded.” In this course, we will explore how “racial categories” and the “meanings of race” have been used to define African Americans and also how African Americans determine racial categories for themselves and others. In this course we will be looking at the multiple ways in which race, ethnicity, and religious identities overlap for African Americans, and how African American men, women, and children negotiate their way through the complex meanings that are inscribed on them and to those that they ascribe to themselves.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Islam, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Gerardo MartíAuthor
Davidson CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Course Description & Student Outcomes: The purpose of this course is to gain appreciation for sociological analysis at the intersection of race-ethnicity and religion through the phenomenon of Donald J. Trump’s election as the 45th president of the United States. Let me be clear: the course is not an opportunity for the professor and students to air their opinions, and we will not be focused on Trump’s personality. Instead, the class constitutes a careful exploration centering on racial and religious dynamics as they touch on the historical context of the Trump presidency—including our discernment of significance in his positions, policies, political appointments, and particular public statements (and those of his surrogates/supporters/representatives). The course is analytical, historical, and empirically grounded in observable patterns. <p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,0
Institution Type: Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Online, Seminar
Discipline: History, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: history, sociology, race, class, religion, politics, power, inequality, Donald Trump, national identity, America
Zaid AdhamiAuthor
Williams CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2024 Date Published
Description:
Malcolm X is one of the most iconic yet controversial figures in the black freedom struggle in the United States. He is also arguably the most prominent and influential Muslim in the history of the United States. His story and legacy powerfully illustrate the complex intersections of Muslim identity, political resistance, and national belonging. From the early period of “Black Muslim” movements represented by Malcolm X, to the current “War on Terror” era, American Muslims have faced a complex intersection of exclusions and marginalization, in relation to national belonging, race, and religion. Taking Malcolm X as our point of departure, this course examines how American Muslims have navigated these multiple layers of marginalization. We will therefore consider how the broader socio-political contexts that Muslims are a part of shape their visions of Islam, and how they contest these competing visions among themselves. In so doing, we will examine the complex relation between religion, race, and politics in the United States.
Throughout the course, we will be engaging with historical and anthropological material, autobiographies, comics, documentaries, films, historical primary-source documents, and social media materials. The course fosters critical thinking about diversity by challenging assumptions of who Muslims are, what being American means, and what Islam is. It also focuses on the complex interaction of different dimensions of diversity, from religion to ideology, race, nationality, ethnicity, culture, gender, and language.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Online
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Family/Children/Reproduction, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: Islam, Muslim, Malcom X, culture, ideology, race, nationality, politics, black
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: race, religion, sociology, political science, organizational, ethnicity
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module serves as a guide to understand how religion and race/ethnicity are interconnected. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: race, ethnicity, sociology, religion, history, United States
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Jamil Drake (Florida State University) answers the question “What are your reactions and broader thoughts about how you saw religion at play in the campaigns, the rhetoric, and narratives up to the election?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 2, November 19, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: race, politics, election
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores the different variations of religiosity within the same religion. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, New Religious Movements
Topics: Region/Urban/Rural, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: religiosity, catholic church, study, sociology, religion
R&AC Staff Author
The Center for the Study of Religion & American CultureInstitution
Syllabus, Teaching Module, Video Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
While discourses around religion and Artificial Intelligence have been with us for decades, the exponential growth of models such as GPT-3 (the basis of Chat GPT) and the ascendancy of OpenAI as a company has accelerated the conversation at both philosophical and practical levels. This panel seeks to address the question of how religious studies as a discipline can serve as a fruitful conversation partner for both perennial and emerging questions around AI. For instance: to what extent are such historically determined concepts as “soul” and “real” helpfully informed by religious studies? As the academy wrestles with incorporation of AI into both student work and scholarly research, how might religious studies as a discipline be affected? Will the landscape of the practice of religion be altered significantly by AI, or are such prognostications premature? Join us as we explore these and other salient questions surrounding this timely topic.
Panelists from this session have provided materials and resources that they use, created, or enjoy for learning and teaching the topic of this episode.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: religion &, religion, a.i, artificial intelligence, technology
R&AC Staff Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
2022 Date Published
Description:
While discourses around religion and Artificial Intelligence have been with us for decades, the exponential growth of models such as GPT-3 (the basis of Chat GPT) and the ascendancy of OpenAI as a company has accelerated the conversation at both philosophical and practical levels. This panel seeks to address the question of how religious studies as a discipline can serve as a fruitful conversation partner for both perennial and emerging questions around AI. For instance: to what extent are such historically determined concepts as “soul” and “real” helpfully informed by religious studies? As the academy wrestles with incorporation of AI into both student work and scholarly research, how might religious studies as a discipline be affected? Will the landscape of the practice of religion be altered significantly by AI, or are such prognostications premature? Join us as we explore these and other salient questions surrounding this timely topic.
Find resources from panelists, show notes, teaching ideas and more through this resource.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
At this time of planetary crisis and pandemic, it is critical to address questions about overlapping and multispecies injustice. This episode will interrogate issues about food accessibility and the frontline communities of climate change (human and non-human animal), specifically those who are the first to bear the brunt of environmental degradation and pandemics and the industries and policies most responsible for contributing to them. These panelists illuminate the ways that religious institutions are constructed and enacted in response to these evolving social and environmental conditions, especially as they pertain to animal, food, and racial justice; the histories of activist communities; and the work of diverse coalitions, including Black vegans, radical healthcare advocates, and animal rescue efforts, that imagine and enact forms of multispecies solidarity in the midst of society’s death-dealing structures. Join humanities and social science scholars for a conversation at the intersection of religion, animal rights, and food justice.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Region/Urban/Rural, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: animals, food, justice, environment
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
As the pandemic dominated Americans’ attention in 2020, another crisis—climate change—worsened with alarming speed. The year 2020 brought the most active Atlantic hurricane season ever, the West Coast’s worst fire season, and the hottest global temperatures (tied with 2016). All of this unfolded even as the Trump administration, in alliance with evangelical climate-change deniers, continued to thwart policies that would combat global warming. Now, with the election of Joe Biden, the U.S. has rejoined the Paris climate accord and environmentalism is regaining political momentum. What is religion’s role in this new environment, and how does it shape Americans’ understanding of climate change? What questions should scholars be pursuing on religion and climate? Join our expert panelists as they reflect on these and related questions.
Panelists: Amanda J. Baugh, California State University, Northridge Evan Berry, Arizona State University Cohosts: Lisa H. Sideris, Indiana University, Bloomington Peter J. Thuesen, IUPUI
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Health/Death, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: climate change, weather, global warming
Justine HoweAuthor
Case Western Reserve UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
What happens to religious beliefs and practices in sites of colonial contact? How have colonial encounters shaped our knowledge of religion? These two questions will frame our semester-long inquiry into colonial religious practices and the production of knowledge about religion in colonial settings. Along the way, we will pay close attention to how religion relates to other sites of social power and organization, namely race, gender, and nation. This course focuses on various empires as they were/are constituted in Asia, Africa, and North America. Through these case studies, we will explore the institutions, texts, practices, and material cultures through which varying historical actors created and negotiated the religious in the context of modern empires. To do so, we will focus our attention on primary sources alongside secondary analysis by modern scholars.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Religious participation in conspiracy theories has received increased attention in both scholarship and public discourse lately. As a result, a number of key questions have emerged: Why are some worldviews described as conspiratorial when others are seen as rational, or at least unthreatening? Are conspiracy theories in the body politic a problem to be solved as well as a phenomenon to be understood? What are the material, social, intellectual, and class conditions under which conspiracy theories arise and are transformed? How can religious studies understand and influence public invocations of terms like “conspiracy,” “cult,” etc.? This panel discussion will examine these and other questions in light of what many argue is a recent intensification of the connection between religion and conspiracy theories, particularly in the United States. Join humanities and social science scholars for a conversation at the intersection of religion, the state, and conspiracy.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, History, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: conspiracy, fake news, q anon
The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureAuthor
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Religious communities have often been at the forefront of providing services and support for parishioners with varying health, social, and economic needs. However, this attention to difference has not always translated to a thoughtful encounter with intersectionality and the ways in which ability operates differently across race, gender, and class. This panel hopes to address questions of access by examining the intersection of disability and religion through a lens that focuses on embodied religious practice and embodiment more broadly. Moreover, this panel will address how disability and religion provide a novel space to think critically about inclusion and visibility in the political arena, classrooms, and religious spaces. We ask: “How has disability theory and activism opened up new arenas for social protest and political belonging—particularly with regard to religious spaces?” This panel discussion will examine these and other topics in light of what many argue is a renewed attention to neurodiversity, varied abilities, and access in an age of social media and distance learning. Join humanities and social science scholars for a conversation at the intersection of religion, disability, and resistance.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: disability, health, impairment
R&AC Staff Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
2024 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords:
IUPUIInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
100 years after the ratification of the 19th amendment and in this moment of racial reckoning, the American political climate is still dominated by the unequal representation of women, especially women of color, in local, state, and electoral politics. For the inaugural session of “Religion &’, we will explore the intersection of gender, race, politics, and the role of religion. Specifically, this panel will analyze the role that religious traditions play in sustaining or mitigating new models of engagement, political formation, and social change. How do current works on the intersection of gender, race, religion, and political participation help us frame and anticipate this current electoral season? Furthermore, have our theoretical focus on certain groups, like white Evangelicals, and insistence on traditional constructions of topics, like climate change from the perspective of nation-states and the corporate elite, adversely impacted our ability to tell a compelling story of the American religious landscape and its resistances to the current moment? How might we tell a more comprehensive story of the American electorate and its relationship to gender, race, religion, and belonging?
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: Gender, Race, Politics
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Given the year we’ve been through—the multiple types of losses and “sadnesses” people have struggled with—it is fitting that we consider the roles of religion in all of this. “Religion & Grief,” however, extends beyond the pandemic, and this discussion will explore the ways scholars of religion and American Studies are theorizing grief, death, suffering, and the rituals that attend to these moments. Have our understandings of grief changed or expanded in this current moment? Do new religious movements or the deeper engagement of groups (like the nones, women of color, victims of racialized or sexual violence) complicate our analysis and narration of grief? Is grief an adequately compelling and capacious term to address the loss and sadness that we theorize in our work? Join humanities and social science scholars as they explore these questions and the larger relationships between religion, ritual, and various types of grief and loss.
Panelists: Candi Cann, Baylor University Michael Brandon McCormack, University of Louisville
Cohosts: Laura Levitt, Temple University Brian Steensland, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Health/Death, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: grief, loss, death, pandemic
R&AC Staff Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
2024 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords:
R&AC Staff Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
2022 Date Published
Description:
Popular culture productions often reflect the deepest concerns of a society. It is in these movies, literature, and music that a culture and its artists do the work of unpacking the fears and aspirations of a generation and even a nation. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop, America as well as the wider globe has reflected upon Hip Hop’s origins in Black expressive cultures, its unique contributions, and its evolving shape and reach. This panel seeks to address the ways in which Hip Hop has and continues to function as a type of script or scripture for narrating Black life, belonging and the afterlives of transatlantic enslavement. Furthermore, this panel will address the deep relationship between hip hop, spirituality, and alternative Black religions. How has Hip Hop shaped and nurtured discourses on Black religious diversity? What role has Hip Hop played in creating the narrative capacity for varied groups to imagine worlds otherwise, culturally, theologically, and politically? How might the study and teaching of religion more fully engage the contributions and insights of Hip Hop and its far reaching impact on our culture? Join us as we explore these and other critical questions at the intersection of Hip Hop, the study of religion, and cultural production.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment, Video Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, English, History, The Arts
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Catholic, Judaism, Other Traditions
Topics: Health/Death, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports
Keywords: Religion&, horror, film. media, movies, television, religion &,
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers played his first game in the major leagues on April 15, 1947, ending the “color line” in baseball and forever changing sport and society. Robinson famously promised Branch Rickey, the team’s president, that he would turn the other cheek when confronted with the hostilities of racial bigotry. How did Robinson’s faith prepare him for the trauma he endured and the sacrifices he made? Moreover, how have the presumed obligations of religious faith and nationalism haunted professional athletes, especially athletes of color, ever since? Major League Baseball will commemorate the 75th anniversary of Robinson’s first game on April 15. However, it will do so once again within the lens of white America alongside the ways in which religion, capitalism, and sport intersect. “Turning the other cheek becomes an expectation of subsequent Black and Brown players,” Professor Carmen Nanko-Fernandez writes, “and martyrdom is a way of domesticating dangerous memories and complicated inconvenient prophets such as Jackie Robinson.” In this episode, the panelists will not only discuss the complicated history and memories of Robinson’s integration of baseball, but they also will address the ways in which American sport has been an especially compelling case to theorize the relationship between race and religion. Join humanities scholars and journalists for a timely and thoughtful conversation at the intersection of American studies, religion, and sport.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: race, sports, baseball, jackie robinson
R&AC Staff Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
2024 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureAuthor
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
At this very moment, thousands of Afghan refugees are arriving in the United States and other places around the world after a frenzied evacuation effort and bungled military withdrawal. This moment not only revives old debates about the United States’ relationship with Afghanistan and the Taliban regime, but it also reopens critical questions about policies on refugees, migration, and asylum. At the same time, the US continues to contend with the ongoing arrival of migrants fleeing Central America and the contested nature of a US-Mexico border policy. In this “Religion &”, panelists will address the history of refugee and migration policies and the role of religious organizations in supporting or challenging policies. Additionally, this episode will explore how scholars of religion and practitioners are employing new methods to study the movement, agency, and institution building of refugee and migrant communities. Join scholars and leaders in the field of migration policy as they explore these issues and the larger relationship between religion, refugees, and migration policy in the United States.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, History, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: immigration, refugees, politics
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Description: The field of Africana Religious Studies has undergone significant reappraisal in the past 10 years. Specifically, the field has begun to actively, and from an interdisciplinary perspective, engage the idea of futurity and Afro-diasporic futures. Scholars from across the spectrum are advancing new approaches to understanding the human condition and social institutions in an age of intelligent machines, social media, and technological innovation. In this panel, we will look at the emerging approaches to Black futures in the fields of religious studies and American studies and how approaches from new media, social sciences, and brain sciences have opened new models for studying Black religious futures. Join humanities and social science scholars for a conversation at the intersection of religion, technological innovation, and Black futures.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: black, futures, race
R&AC Staff Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
2024 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords:
R&AC Staff Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Other Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Study of the secular and secularism has always been of interest to thinkers and theorists of religion. In a moment when the traditional boundaries between religion and the secular continue to be blurred, the time is ripe to return to this category, examine emerging theorists and theorizations, and explore its continued usefulness. The panel will explore its many and varied meanings and how different constructions of the secular help us narrate contemporary phenomena. They will explore the ways that secularism not only help us theorize what some have called the “losing of religion” but also the reconfiguring of traditional and new religious movements. Additionally, this panel will discuss why the current evangelical revival, discourses on Afro-pessimism, and rising political partisanship cannot be read apart from histories of and discourses on the secular. Join us as we explore these and other critical questions at the intersection of secularism, the study of religion, and American culture.
Panelists from this session have provided materials and resources that they use, created, or enjoy for learning and teaching the topic of this episode. Find books, scholars, fun facts and more!
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: Religion&, public, teaching, religion &, secularims
R&AC Staff Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
2022 Date Published
Description:
Study of the secular and secularism has always been of interest to thinkers and theorists of religion. In a moment when the traditional boundaries between religion and the secular continue to be blurred, the time is ripe to return to this category, examine emerging theorists and theorizations, and explore its continued usefulness. The panel will explore its many and varied meanings and how different constructions of the secular help us narrate contemporary phenomena. They will explore the ways that secularism not only help us theorize what some have called the “losing of religion” but also the reconfiguring of traditional and new religious movements. Additionally, this panel will discuss why the current evangelical revival, discourses on Afro-pessimism, and rising political partisanship cannot be read apart from histories of and discourses on the secular. Join us as we explore these and other critical questions at the intersection of secularism, the study of religion, and American culture.
Teaching and learning resources created out of the Religion & Secularism episode.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
In foundational museum studies literature of the past 50 years, museums have been called “temples,” “sacred groves,” and places to connect with “something higher, more sacred, and out-of-the-ordinary.” How do museums today engage religion and spirituality, with whom, and why? Can encounters with objects and exhibits move people beyond the material world to consider the divine, the transcendent, the magical? In what ways do museums serve the growing number who consider themselves “spiritual but not religious,” those of different faiths, and those of no faith? In light of global challenges, how could museums contribute further to spiritual well-being as well as our collective future? Join four public-engaged scholar-practitioners of museum studies and/or religion to explore these intriguing questions and highlight the growing connections between religion, spirituality, and museums.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: museum, spirituality, gender, race
The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment, Video Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
In foundational museum studies literature of the past 50 years, museums have been called “temples,” “sacred groves,” and places to connect with “something higher, more sacred, and out-of-the-ordinary.” How do museums today engage religion and spirituality, with whom, and why? Can encounters with objects and exhibits move people beyond the material world to consider the divine, the transcendent, the magical? In what ways do museums serve the growing number who consider themselves “spiritual but not religious,” those of different faiths, and those of no faith? Considering global challenges, how could museums contribute further to spiritual well-being as well as our collective future?
These resources have been created from the religion & webinar.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, Area Studies, History
Religious Traditions:
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Religion&, museums, history, spaces, spirituality, teaching, religion &,
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Jamil Drake (Florida State University) answers the question “What are your thoughts on religion & the Georgia runoff?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 2, November 19, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Georgia, runoff, politics, race
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Andrew Whitehead (Indiana University-Purdue University) answers the question “What are your thoughts on religion & the Georgia runoff?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 2, November 19, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Georgia, runoff, politics, race
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Amanda Friesen (Indiana University-Purdue University) answers the question “What are your thoughts on religion & the Georgia runoff?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 2, November 19, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: Georgia, runoff, politics, race
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Religious Studies departments, like many other departments in the humanities, have been under attack by legislators for their content and methods while simultaneously dealing with declining enrollments and interest from student populations. The impact of the pandemic and the changing shape of the modern university have only exacerbated the demand for thinkers and teachers of religion to reimagine the field, the delivery of content in the classroom, and the role of religious studies departments in the higher education landscape. On this episode, panelists will explore the ways that creative and boundary-pushing Religious Studies departments have re-imagined themselves in the last 10 years, discuss the benefits and costs of new models in graduate education, and suggest the possible futures for the humanities and Religious Studies in light of the changing and often erratic political context.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: academia, college, culture wars, education
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
On the first Monday of February 2022, the Supreme Court reinstated an Alabama congressional map that a lower court had argued diluted the power of Black voters and was a threat to equal representation for all communities. These type of challenges, court cases, and state laws are on the rise and the question of the access to the franchise to all eligible voters has come under great scrutiny during the last couple of election cycles. Who gets to vote? When do voters have opportunity and access to vote? How have and how do electoral maps shape policies, elections, and the future of the US democracy? What roles have religious organizations and emerging activists groups played in bolstering or challenging the dilution of voting rights/access across the country? There has been considerable scholarly and public attention given to the ways that religious institutions and ideologies have impacted and continue to impact the mobilization of voters and political activitsts across the country. In this episode of Religion &, we will address the long history of the Voting Rights Act and voter suppression, the relationship of religious and civil rights organizations to this act, and how current communities and activists are deploying language, protest, and direct engagement in order to re-imagine and transform the possibilities of democratic participation. Join humanities and social science scholars for a conversation at the intersection of religion, voting rights, and competing visions of democracy.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: politics, vote, economy
R&AC Staff Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Syllabus, Teaching Module, Assignment, Video, Class Readings List, Other Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Over the last couple of years, the University, its curricula, and its responses to ongoing ideological debates have been under an intense microscope. This new reality has impacted every constituency on the university campus, but it has been particularly noteworthy for scholars whose work intersects with politics, activism, and community engagement. In this episode, a group of deeply engaged and outspoken scholars will address the role of being a public intellectual in politically fraught moments. Our panelists will discuss the ways that their latest works and discourse in the public sphere have placed them in an increasingly complex and unrelenting spotlight. Additionally, they will engage their process of creating more public and accessible works and the impact these works have on their relationship with the university, community partners, and the broader public.
Panelists from this session have provided materials and resources that they use, created, or enjoy for learning and teaching the topic of this episode.
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History, Political Science, Sociology, Women's Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Islam, Judaism, Other Christianities
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: Religion&, public intellectual, teaching, religion &,
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Religion and religious freedom are often key themes before the Supreme Court. A 2021 New York Times article went as far as to claim “An Extraordinary Winning Streak for Religion at the Supreme Court.” Both the current docket and the faith traditions of the sitting justices have ignited a series of questions around the issues of disestablishment, free exercise, and the ways race, class, and gender identity interact with each of these bedrock American principles. For instance, does the Supreme Court’s protection of religious freedom undermine equality before the law? Does this protection go beyond what even the Founders intended? Panelists will discuss the justices’ understanding of religion, the ways religion is changing in America, and the impact of these combined variables on American life. How can new scholarship about religion, race, gender identity, and jurisprudence help us interrogate the current moment? How can scholars in these fields help us understand the inflection points that define the relationship between Supreme Court decisions and our shared future? Join humanities and legal scholars for a conversation at the intersection of religion, equality, and the Supreme Court.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: supreme court, law, justice
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module focuses on the religiosity of differing ages of people. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Health/Death
Keywords: age, religion, religious
Beth S. WengerAuthor
University of PennsylvaniaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course examines how and in whose interests American concepts of and about “religion” have been produced. What cultural sites (the courts, the media, schools, the academy) are most influential in producing ideas about religion-in-general, or about particular kinds of religion? Who has the power to determine what groups are recognized as legitimate and therefore constitutionally protected religions? What is imagined to be the appropriate scope of religion’s impact in public life—is it primarily a private concern, or is it relevant to public interests? What relationship do such concepts of religion have with the politics of race, class, gender, and colonialism?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, English
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religious freedom, theory of religion
Matthew A. SuttonAuthor
Washington State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2009 Date Published
Description:
This course surveys the history of American religions from pre-contact times to the present, focusing on the evolution of religious faiths as varying groups came into contact with one another. In particular, the course will analyze how steady immigration and limited governmental intrusion produced a diverse and pluralistic culture that places tremendous value on religious beliefs. In addition, the course will focus specifically on the ways in which Americans have used religion to shape their communities, their cultures, and their nation. Religion has never been simply about belief; it is always about actions as well. As a result, this course will place heavy emphasis on “lived” religion, or religion “on the ground.”
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Heather CurtisAuthor
Tufts UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
“In God we Trust,” “One Nation Under God,” “God Bless America,”: phrases like these alert us to the on-going influence of religion in American public life. This course explores the role of religion in shaping American civic engagement and political activity from the 17thcentury to the present, aiming to put contemporary events in broader historical context. Key topics and themes include: the relationship between church and state in the colonial period; faith and the founders; religion and social activism in the antebellum era (especially anti-slavery and women’s rights); religion, race and civil rights; religious “outsiders” and American politics (particularly Mormons, Catholics, and Muslims); spirituality and social protest in the 20th century (pacifism; feminism; and economic reform); the rise of the religious right; religion and American politics post-9/11; and the 2008 presidential election.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: religious freedom
Laura OlsonAuthor
Clemson UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2014 Date Published
Description:
You will complete an annotated bibliography for the topic you have chosen to study. Find at least ten sources (books, articles, news stories, opinion pieces, etc.) that relate directly to the topic you are studying. For each source, provide an accurate bibliographical citation and a few sentences summarizing the information contained in the source.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: political science, religion, annotated bibliography
Khyati Y. JoshiAuthor
Fairleigh-Dickinson UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
This course will investigate the relationship between religion and public education in the United States with a focus on issues affecting classroom practice, curriculum, and pedagogy. Based in large part on legal decisions in the area and relying primarily on a discussion format, it will be a blend of three elements: a brief examination of the historic relationship of religion and education in the United States; an analysis of historic and current legal and public policy materials related to that relationship; and an exploration of ways of balancing the relationship in curricula so as to respect the religious rights and responsibilities of teachers, administrators, students, parents, and the educational system in which they encounter each other.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
Education
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Islam, Protestant
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: religious freedom
Adrian Chastain WeimerAuthor
Providence CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
The stories of the native Northeast, Protestant New England, and Catholic immigration are often told as separate or competing narratives. What are the webs of relationships, both real and imagined, that help us to understand the rich history of religion in early New England as an interconnected story? How is “New England” itself an unstable category, and how does the self-understanding of various groups change over time? Examining local developments alongside Atlantic world and imperial contexts, we inquire how everyday life in New England was interconnected with broader cultural, social, intellectual, and religious movements. In addition to native Americans, puritans, Baptists, Quakers, Huguenots, and French and Irish Catholics, we will also look at the significance of New England for early Mormonism, as well as the long history of Jews and Africans in the region. Special attention will be given to issues of migration, varieties of cultural prejudice and tolerance, supernaturalism, Protestant-Catholic relations, social reform, and the political and devotional decisions various groups faced as they negotiated a place on the religious landscape.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Area Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Indigenous, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords:
Josef SorettAuthor
Columbia UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
This is an advanced-level seminar on African American religion and culture open to graduate students, and advanced undergraduates with prior background in the subject. More specifically, this course centers its queries around developments during the period commonly referred to as the “post-Civil Rights era,” (but which has also often been framed through the related rhetorics of “postmodern,” “postcolonial” and “post-Soul”). To this end, readings and discussions will explore black culture—both within formal religious traditions, but also more broadly as they are revealed in the arts, politics and popular culture—during the latter half of the twentieth century. Additionally, specific attention will be paid to major themes, challenges, questions and quandaries that have shaped the inter-disciplinary study of African American religion in recent years.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Africana Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Amanda BaughAuthor
California State University, NorthridgeInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
An “un-essay” assignment in which students serve as consultants charged with improving diversity efforts at environmental organizations.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Science/Technology/Environment
Environment
Keywords: ecology, environment
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA fin their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality
Keywords: gender, family, religion, comparison, institutions.
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA leaning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Health/Death
Keywords: health, religion, sociology,
Rosemary R. CorbettAuthor
Bard CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
This class will look at the history of modern humanitarianism—an activity that is now a multimillion dollar industry and that the U.S. funds more than any other country in the world—and its origins in charity, philanthropy, and missions. By interspersing case studies of humanitarian endeavors with theoretical investigations into the nature of such work, we will explore the evolving relationships between private religious humanitarian groups and more public actors, forces, and institutions such as nation-states, international law, and the market. Our goals will be to dig past the fiction that humanitarianism is ever impartial (a seemingly necessary fiction that allows many institutions to do their work in conflict areas) to uncover the political dynamics of various humanitarian endeavors. In so doing, we will seek to understand how such work and the narratives we tell about it shapes our notions of the proper roles of religious groups and government, as well as how religious groups represent (and contest) U.S. power in the world.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government
Keywords:
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores the connection between religion and music. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports
Keywords: music, religion
Brett GraingerAuthor
Villanova UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
This course offers a survey of American religions from colonial times to the present, using the theme of “nature” and the “natural.” Using methods and theories from the academic study of religion, we will explore how American religions have made meaning out of their encounters with non-human nature, and in turn, how natural environments have shaped religious belief and practice. Rather than cover every religious movement in American history (a fool’s errand), we will look at a series of case studies that open up recurrent themes, issues, and tensions in American religious history.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Interdisciplinary
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements
Topics: Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: thematic, cosmology, sacred space
Gerardo MartíAuthor
Davidson CollegeInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
Course Description & Student Outcomes: Religion exists in a social context, and always is shaped by and shapes its social context. Furthermore, religion itself is always (at least in part) a socially constituted reality–that is, its content and structure are always formed, at least partially, out of the “stuff” of the socio-cultural world (language, symbols, groups, norms, interactions, resources, organizations, etc.). The sociology of religion pursues an understanding of both the “social-ness'” of religion itself and the mutually influencing interactions between religion and its social environment. We will analyze religious beliefs, practices, and organizations from a sociological perspective, with a primary focus on religion in contemporary American society. <p class=”MsoNormal” style=”margin: 0in 0in0
Institution Type: Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: sociology, sociology of religion, theory
David P. KingAuthor
Indiana University Purdue University IndianapolisInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
This course explores three relationships between people’s religious traditions and their philanthropic ideas and activities: 1) how diverse religious traditions have shaped distinctive
philanthropic practices, 2) how political, economic and social forces have structured religious philanthropy, and 3) how competing visions of good lives and a good society have played out in
the give and take of religious philanthropy. In examining the normative models of giving and service through a variety of religious traditions, we will analyze how religious narratives,
practices, teachings and authorities have shaped people’s generosity and humanitarianism. In studying religious philanthropy in particular historical contexts, we will explore how religious
philanthropy has been influenced by secular states and market economies, transforming religious traditions and communities along the way. In observing the tensions between the purposes of givers and takers, we will locate religious philanthropy in the world of social action so as to assess claims about the uniquely selfless, altruistic or civic nature of religious philanthropy. The primary focus is cultural and historical, but students will also explore through research and application how the issues discussed in class affect individuals, institutions, and civil society in contemporary contexts.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
Philanthropic Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: charity
Class Readings List Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions:
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: pluralism
Leslie RibovichAuthor
Transylvania UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2023 Date Published
Description:
We often hear that you should never discuss religion and politics in “polite company.” Yet, religion and politics inform so much of our world today. From the religious affiliations and speeches of American politicians, to the Religious Right’s voting bloc, to tensions in the Middle East, to Hindu Nationalism, to churches’ views on same-sex marriage, it’s hard to read the news without coming across intersections of religion and politics. In this course, we will ask why religion and politics are such pervasive elements of our global society, with a focus on the American context, and whether religion is inherently political and politics inherently religious. We will begin by establishing frameworks for studying religion and politics from the academic study of religion and political science. Then we will examine contemporary case studies where religion and politics intersect by reading scholarship and primary sources. Finally, we will turn inward to study the politics of historical memory in Kentucky, Lexington, and Transylvania to unpack the personal and local dimensions of politics. Throughout, we will work toward a research paper that analyzes a case study of your choice. Counts for Area V: Writing Intensive.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Hybrid
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: Politics
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.0
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: politics, religion, political science, sociology, United States, research
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores the relationship between politics and religion as well as what that means for various policies. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: politics, religion, sociology, United States, policy
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: religion, politics, comparative
Charles BrownAuthor
Albright CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2009 Date Published
Description:
We will begin by defining religion and popular culture and then move on to answer such questions as: How do popular culture and the mass media affect religion? Conversely, how does religion affect our popular culture and mass media? What are we to think of Christian forms of commercial entertainment like “religious rock music,” “Christian hip-hop,” and “Christian romance novels” or motion pictures? Several critics have pointed out that the industry that produces these things is nothing more than an attempt to make money off of religion. Others, however, feel that this industry provides an important role in maintaining and reinforcing religious identity by giving people what they want: religious commercial entertainment. This course is designed to provide an opportunity for students to explore the role religion plays in creating and maintaining culture through popular cultural expressions such as music, television, motion pictures, sports, and fashion. We will analyze how popular culture affects religion and how religion, in turn, affects popular culture and society.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: popular culture, sociology, religion, television, sports, fashion, rock
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for the courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: race, ethnicity, sociology, religion
Samira MehtaAuthor
University of Colorado, BoulderInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
Religion and Reproductive Politics in the United States focuses primarily on how Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish conversations about sexuality and reproduction have shaped access to and attitudes towards reproductive health in the US over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Jews and Catholics provide an excellent way to think about how religious law/theology and religious practice/community needs diverge. Attention to Jewish thought on contraception, abortion, and reproduction helps to denaturalize any number of Christian assumptions about reproductive ethics that dominate the discourse in the US. While the course focuses on the three religious groups who were allowed to be policy influencers in the US political debate, the course allows students space to consider how other religious groups (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Indigenous) have interacted with and been affected by the dominant religious voices. By comparing the role of religion in US debates about reproduction to the Israeli version of those conversations, students will come to understand how these debates play out in another soil where the religious commitments are in some ways more embedded but also much more liberal on issues like abortion.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Women's Studies, Other
Jewish Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords:
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: science, religion, comparative, United States, research, theology
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores the relationship between religion and science. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: science, religion, comparative
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: science, religion, comparative
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality
Keywords: sexuality, religion, sociology, comparative
Kathryn LoftonAuthor
Yale UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2009 Date Published
Description:
This course seeks to answer one question: What is the sexuality of American religion? Through a series of case studies and theoretical ruminations, we will explore the relationship between ideas about sex and ideas about religion, as well as sexual practices and religious practices. The purpose of this course is to prepare you not only for upper-level work on the subjects of sexuality, religion, or American culture, but also to encourage a revamping of presumptive norms as well as an abiding suspicion of pat dichotomies.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death
Keywords: homosexuality, marriage
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power
Keywords: social class, religion, comparative
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: social movements, movements, research, religion
Fay BothamAuthor
University of IowaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
This course examines religion and American society by focusing on marriage law in American history, and the roles that Christianity played therein. American marriage law involves Christian beliefs about sexual morality and gender, as well as about natural and divine law. Some people thus view the right to marry as a religious right, while others perceive it as a secular (non-religious)right. Structuring this course around the topic of marriage allows us to consider specific questions in constitutional law, and how Christian beliefs shape larger societal views on morality, gender and sexuality. We will reflect on whether or not the influence of Christian beliefs on American marriage laws in effect establishes religion-based laws in contravention of the First Amendment promise to make no law establishing a particular religion.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: marriage
Christopher EllisonAuthor
University of Texas, San AntonioInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2013 Date Published
Description:
In this course, we will examine the dominant theories of religion and look at the ways in which sociologists use multiple types of empirical data –quantitative and qualitative– to study religion as a social institution. The first portion of the course will focus squarely on the debate between “old” and “new” paradigms in the sociology of religion. Among other specific topics, we will learn about patterns of religious affiliation, and the reasons for the growth and decline of particular religious groups and communities, as well as the varied factors that influence individual religious decision making. The second segment of the course will explore religious differentials in a number of important outcomes, ranging from pro-social behavior to health to family life, and other important areas of social life. In the third and final portion of the course, we will turn our attention to the important role that religion is playing in defining and responding to the AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religion, society, sociology, economics, AIDS, education, stratification, family life, sexuality, United States, Africa
Clarence HardyAuthor
Dartmouth CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
This course focuses on important currents in US religious history and culture. While the approach is very loosely chronological, it is not intended as a comprehensive survey of American religions in the United States. Our goal is to explore the relationship between religion and society by considering the interaction of society’s various participants in the shaping of a shared and often deeply contested “American” culture. Beginning with the encounters between native peoples, enslaved Africans and Europeans in the 1600s, we will look at the ways in which individual believers and various groups in the “New World” have defined their religious identities and attempted to manage their relations with one another and the state during periods of colonialism, slavery, migration, industrialization, immigration, and increasing ethnic and religious pluralism.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Vaughn BookerAuthor
Dartmouth CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
This First-year Seminar introduces students to American religious history and spirituality by focusing on how humans deal with death and the dead. Encounters with immaterial human subjects in North American history are somewhat distinct from communing and communicating with deities in a religion’s pantheon. They involve religious subjects performing ritual engagement with human beings across time and space—those who have “passed on”—for familial, social, and even political purposes. Religious uses of the language of ancestors, “mystical persons,” and concepts of martyrdom and “mortuary politics” invite reflection on the material impacts of spiritual subjects in this world for various groups. This course will familiarize students with various “Spiritual” traditions in North American religious history, paying attention to the complex categories and identities of race and gender in living religious subjects as well as the deceased subjects they engage—the dead who “talk back.”
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Intro, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Indigenous, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: death, mourning, memorialization, martyrdom, mortuary politics, spiritualism, new religious movements, activism
Courtney BenderAuthor
Columbia UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
This semester we will investigate the ways that practical concerns of daily living in the city as well as fears, desires, and nostalgia shape religion in the city. We begin by addressing how religious groups and institutions shape neighborhoods or districts, and analyze the contributions of religious institutions, histories and theologies to these urban regions. We will then address the ways that religious communities interact with each other as they share space or contest the boundaries of neighborhoods, analyzing how religious groups can foster both civic participation and social violence and disruption. Next, we will consider the various public settings wherein religious language, practice, and performance take place. We will then turn to the ways that religions in the city are shaped by new patterns of migration and globalization. Finally, we turn to focus specifically on the ways that “the city” is imagined, “read” and remembered through religious memory and social action.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Islam
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords:
Vaughn BookerAuthor
Dartmouth CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
This course presents the centrality of religious activists, organizations, institutions, intellectuals, clergy, and laypeople to the work of civil rights activism in twentieth-century United States history. Students will explore the theologies of African American Protestants, liberal religious thinkers, and adherents to Gandhian nonviolence that allowed many to wage nonviolent struggle against racial segregation, violence, and disfranchisement in American politics and society. In-class discussions and exercises will allow students to engage the religious sermons, speeches, memoirs, music, and visual protest strategies of movement activists as they risked their lives pursuing a nonviolent end to America’s violent Jim Crow reality.Units I and II focus on the historical backdrop and theological foundations of civil rights work for twentieth-century religious activists. Unit III shifts the course focus to the mid-century period of civil rights activism, 1955-1968. The term concludes with reflection on the legacies of religious activism for civil rights causes.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Islam, Judaism, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: Pauli Murray, Martin Luther King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Bayard Rustin, Malcolm X, civil rights, religious activism, religious liberalism, liberal Christianity, nonviolence, African American religion
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The purpose of this lesson plan is to introduce students to the relationship between religion and the family, explore how each social institution influences the other, and familiarize students with online research tools.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction
Keywords: family, religion, culture, institutions
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: paranormal, religion, sociology
The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture Author
Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment, Video, Class Readings List Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type:
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions: Islam, Judaism, Other Christianities, Other Traditions
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: Religion&, public intellectual, teaching, religion &,
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module focuses on the relationship between religion and views on homosexuality. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: homosexuality, religion, society
John M. GiggieAuthor
University of Texas at San AntonioInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
This is a course about religion in America. It attempts to define the nature of American religion as it developed over the past two hundred years, since the advance of capitalist industry at the end of the eighteenth century. It analyzes four distinct yet intimately related dimensions to the American religious experience that have been the subject of much of the best scholarship in the field during the last decade. They are: religion and commercial culture, devotional culture, religion and politics, and gender.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: devotion, consumerism
Martha L. FinchAuthor
Southwest Missouri State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
We cannot understand American culture and society without understanding the crucial role that religion has played—and still plays today—in the formation of American identity and values. The story of the American nation is, first and foremost, a story of religious foundations and growing religious diversity. From the first inhabitants of this land, Native Americans, to our Protestant colonial “founding fathers,” African slaves, nineteenth-century Catholic and Jewish immigrants, and the many Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and others arriving during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, religiously committed people have shaped the American social landscape and been shaped by it. Many religious movements have been born in our soil, as well, like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, charismatic Christianity, and Goddess spirituality.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Tracy FessendenAuthor
Arizona State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course focuses on important currents, representative populations, significant works, and interpretive methods in American religious history. While the direction of the course is loosely chronological, it is not intended as a comprehensive survey of American religions; much of importance is necessarily omitted. In providing a broad overview of the development of religious ideas, rituals, and forms of community from the colonial period to the present, the course gives attention to economic change, politics, immigration, gender, regionalism, and racial and ethnic diversity. Religions to be studied include those of Native Americans; Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish European Americans; Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim African Americans; and others. Each of these groups itself constitutes a diversity; a central question of the course will be on the relationship between religious and other identities (racial, national, gender, ethnic), and on the ways in which these identities are conceived, expressed, maintained, and interpreted. We will also look at the ways in which these groups have attempted to manage their relations with one another, particularly during periods of colonialism, slavery, and immigration.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Madeline DuntleyAuthor
The College of WoosterInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
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.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Ava ChamberlainAuthor
Wright State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
Among western industrialized nations, the United States is unique both in the rate of religious belief and in the diversity of religious expression. Many early European colonists came to North America in order to freely practice their strongly held religious beliefs, and the right to free exercise of religion is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. This course will explore the multiplicity of religious groups that compete in the modern religious marketplace. It will consider, first, the variety of faiths that constitute the religious consensus, and second, the even greater diversity of faiths that are found outside the consensus. It will consider such issues as: the effect of church/state separation, the difference between institutional and popular religion, the distinctive beliefs and practices of religious groups, and the historical development of the major religious traditions in America.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
James B. BennettAuthor
Santa Clara UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
This course provides an introduction to the development, character, and impact of religion in the United States from the pre-colonial era to the present. Guiding our investigation will be the ideas of “contact,” “conflict” and “combination” as ways to characterize the American religious experience. Course readings and discussions will center on the relationship between religion and the development of American culture. We will explore the variety of religious traditions and experiences that have shaped and been shaped by the American context. Given the time constraints of a quarter the course cannot be exhaustive. Instead, we will examine representative episodes in American spiritual history that highlight larger themes and major turning points. The course will proceed in a chronological order. Among the topics covered are Native American traditions; colonial religious impulses; slavery; revivalism; spiritual creativity; religion and war; immigration; race; church and state; and modern religious pluralism.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Indigenous, New Religious Movements
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: religious freedom
Jonathan BaerAuthor
Wabash CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
This course is an introduction to the religious history of America. We will explore the historical development of the primary religious traditions in America, especially Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism, as well as the formative influence of religion among women, African Americans, and American Indians. Principal themes include pluralism, the impact of religious disestablishment, revivalism and reform, theological movements, and religious innovation.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Mormonism
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Matthew J. CresslerAuthor
College of CharlestonInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
Is the United States a Christian nation or the most religious diverse country in the world? Does the story of religion in America begin in 1492, 1619, or 1776? What does “religious freedom” mean in society built on slavery and settler colonialism? And why do these questions matter? Students will engage each of these questions and more as they are introduced to religion in the 4 Americas broadly and in the United States in particular. The course will situate religion in America in its historical and cultural context. It will also unearths our assumptions about what “religion” and “America” are in the first place. In addition, students will debate contemporary issues at the intersection of religion, race, and politics in America. Topics explored include the convergence of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans in the context of Christian empires; Jews, Catholics, and African Americans negotiating religious freedom in the nascent U.S. nation; as well as the ways Asian, African, and American im/migrants changed the religious landscape in the 20th and 21st centuries. Oh, and we’ll listen to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton and debate Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “The Case for Reparations” while we’re at it.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Christopher WhiteAuthor
Georgia State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
What are the major cultural and intellectual forces shaping religions in America? How have religious Americans encountered people of other faiths and nationalities? How have they seen America as a promised land or place of refuge—or as a place of bondage, conflict or secularity? What are the main ways that religious Americans think about faith, spirituality, religious diversity and church and state? How might we understand the complexity of these and other issues in a country of so many different religious groups—Protestant, Jewish, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim? There will be several other topics that we will examine: 1) What it means to be an American or a religious American; 2) how Americans of different faiths have interacted, argued and cooperated with each other; and 3) how Americans have thought about personal religious experiences.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
T. Paul ThigpenAuthor
Southwest Missouri State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
The religious heritage of the United States encompasses a fascinating array of wildly diverse traditions– some transplanted from other cultures, others “homegrown.” Religion has in fact played such an important role in shaping American society from its very beginnings that we can’t hope to understand our nation’s history and culture adequately without examining its religious elements. This course offers an introductory survey of religion in America from early Native American traditions to the present. Our central concern will be the relationship between American religion and American culture.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: thematic, field work
John SchmalzbauerAuthor
Southwest Missouri State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
There have been many attempts to tell the story of religion in America. Many scholars emphasize the secularization of American life, arguing that religion has become less and less important in our society. Others believe that we have grown more religious over the past 200 years, highlighting what they call the “Churching of America.” Still others celebrate the amazing diversity of American religion, focusing on the spiritual journeys of native peoples, immigrants, and African-Americans. In “What is Happening to Religion? Six Sociological Narratives” sociologist James Spickard summarizes these conflicting approaches, arguing that that “each of these stories is plausible” and that few scholars “are wedded to any single story.” In this course, we will consider the multiple storylines that have been used to make sense of American religious history. Your job is to determine which storylines make the most sense to you. You need not be wedded to a single story
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Jennifer RycengaAuthor
San Jose State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
From the bountiful religious insights of Native Americans, to the dreams of religious freedom developed by many newcomers to these shores, this course will examine how religions in America have blossomed, migrated, transformed, and developed both in conjunction and in struggle with each other. By studying the religious conflicts and hopes of the peoples of this continent, we will develop critical methodologies for reading and evaluating spiritual and historical ideas, movements and writings. The course will focus on American religious creativity and diversity, with special interest in the interactions of different religions under conditions of cultural adaptation, immigration, oppression, and political-economic circumstances. The syllabus blends chronological history with experiential voices and thematic explorations.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Judaism, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Gerald McDermottAuthor
Roanoke CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
The primary goal of this course is to understand the principal expressions of American religion from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. We will examine the relationship between religion and society, and look intermittently at institutional change, but our primary focus will be on religious thought (theology). That is, we will try to comprehend how Americans have thought about God and the religious life. A secondary goal of this course is for students to begin to think as historians. That is, they should learn to regard primary texts both as interpretations and as documents requiring interpretation. They should learn to restrict their interpretations to what can be discerned from textual evidence, and to seek to place each text or passage within its contexts–social, intellectual, political and religious. We will study American religious traditions to an extent proportionate to their relative prominence in American history. That is, we will give the most time to Protestant Christian traditions and thinkers because that tradition has been the most dominant in American religious history. Less (but still substantial) time will be given to Roman Catholic, Jewish and Native American traditions.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
Elizabeth McAlisterAuthor
Wesleyan UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course asks how diverse American groups have used Biblical scripture to cast themselves as God’s elect, chosen to create the New Israel in the U.S. Beginning with Native American religions, Puritans and the colonial project, we move to slave religion, the Great Awakening, Mormons and Millerites, AfroChristianity, Fundamentalism, and selected U.S. Catholicisms and Judaisms, as well as new immigrant religions (Haitian Vodou, Rastafari). We will be interested in asking how each religious group fashions both its own identity and that of the U.S. as a whole.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Judaism, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Mormonism
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Laura LevittAuthor
Temple UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This is a course on Religion in America that takes material culture as its primary focus. It is a course about the interrelationships between America as a system of beliefs and/or a place committed to nurturing various religious practices and specific locations in the United States that are for many sacred sites. By looking at religious objects, material practices, art, monuments and memorials, this course ask students to use their unique aesthetic skills to ask critical questions about Religion in America. As part of the course students will be asked to assess museum catalogues, collections, clothing, shrines, places of worship, sites of mourning and memorial as important texts in the study of Religion in America. The course will address the ongoing effects of religious rites, rituals and practices on American life in both the past and the present.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, The Arts
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Health/Death, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: thematic, material culture, sacred space, consumerism
Thomas S. KiddAuthor
Baylor UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
A study of the variety and persistence of American religious beliefs and practices from the meeting of European and Native American peoples in the 16th century to the turn of the 21st century.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Jonathan EbelAuthor
University of IllinoisInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
This seminar takes a thematic and roughly chronological approach to the religious history of the United States from 1900 to 1941. It is designed to familiarize students both with the religious lives and thoughts of Americans in the first four decades of the twentieth century and with the many overlapping issues confronting American society and American religion during that time. We will focus our discussions on four themes: debates over the meaning of modernity, understandings of the relationship between religion and society, the gendering of faith, and the relationship between religion and American identity. We will read from many scholarly monographs during the course, but readings will also come from works of fiction and primary documents. Students will be evaluated based on four graded exercises: two in-class presentations, one mid-term paper, and a final research project.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Judaism, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Yvonne ChireauAuthor
Swarthmore CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1996 Date Published
Description:
This course is intended to acquaint you with some of the major themes in American religion from the perspective of actors/subjects who are traditionally underrepresented in the study of religious history. Our goal is to explore the relationships between religion and society by considering the interaction of its various participants -including women, ethnic and racial minorities, and religious “outsiders” -in shaping American culture.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Rebecca Kneale GouldAuthor
Middlebury CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
America has often been paradoxically defined as simultaneously the “most religious” and “least religious” of nations. This course, an historical survey of American religious life, will trace the unique story of American religion from colonial contact with native cultures to the present. Along the way, we will examine Puritan life and thought, the emergence of evangelicalism, liberal and radical challenges to the Protestant mainstream, the impact of Jewish and Catholic immigration, African-American religious experience, the importance of women’s history and the ongoing challenges of religious diversity. Readings include sermons, essays, diaries and fiction, as well as secondary source material.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Indigenous, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Anne Blue WillsAuthor
Davidson CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
This course will explore the origins, development, and character of a variety of religious traditions and movements in North America and the United States, from pre-contact to the present. Although we will cover historical terrain of dates, places, and people, and consult primary documents and critical essays, our study will be organized around our reading of five “fictions,” works that rise out of and/or imaginatively describe religious movements.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, English
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Wendy YoungbloodAuthor
Teaching Module, Other Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: database, research, sociology
John G., Jr. StackhouseAuthor
Regent CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
The primary goal of “The American Religious Experience” is to examine the beliefs and practices of the major religious traditions and movements in American history. This course surveys major religious traditions, movements, and themes in American history from the colonial period to the present. Additionally, we will explore the relationship between religious values and beliefs and other aspects of American culture. Along with acquiring certain factual information, another purpose of the course is to critically analyze and understand the interaction between religious beliefs and social, cultural, and intellectual forces in American culture.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religious leaders, santeria
Matthew GlassAuthor
South Dakota State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
Americans frequently distinguish between being religious and belonging to a church or some other religious organization. In this course we will try to take this distinction seriously. If the religious expressions of the American people are not necessarily tied to the institutions which dot our landscape, then where ought we look in order to understand the role of religion in our culture? In what parts of our lives does religion crop up? What is religion anyway? We will focus our efforts on examining various features of American culture in order to trace the many different ways in which religious aspirations shape and reflect the changing nature of life in America.
While we will be somewhat attentive to the variety of religious groupings which have either migrated to or developed over time on American soil, our primary approach will not be historical. Instead our focus will be on those aspects of religion that are intertwined with other parts of American culture. We will attempt to provide a comparative and socio-cultural perspective on the forms of American religion and their role in American culture, as well as examine the sorts of religious interpretations which have been given to the American experience itself.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports
Keywords: material culture
Tony FelsAuthor
University of San FranciscoInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
This course is an introduction to the central themes and issues in the history of American religion, as this subject matter had been discussed and interpreted by historians. It will acquaint students with the internal life of the nation’s diverse religious institutions, and it will attempt to draw connections between these religious experiences and the history of the wider society and culture of the United States.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Roberto R. TrevinoAuthor
University of Colorado at Colorado SpringsInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This overview of religious history emphasizes the interplay between religion and secular culture, and how this has affected American history. The course is presented from a social history perspective and takes an expansive view of what constitutes American religions, their functions, and influences in shaping the nation’s past. The material is presented chronologically against the background of the developing United States with religious expression and traditions appearing as they came onto the American scene, but without tracing their entire histories. Instead, we selectively explore some important links between ‘sacred’ and ‘secular’ arenas that influenced the way America and its peoples evolved. Thus some of the recurring topics of the course include the impact of religion on: identity, community and nation building, social and political change, class, gender, and ethnic relations, and so forth. The course will introduce students to the myriad religious traditions in American history but, more importantly, it will deepen their understanding of religion as a historical force, and hone their skills of historical analysis and writing. Activities designed to achieve this include lectures, films and, most importantly, structured small-group exercises that emphasize the critical evaluation of historical evidence and formulation of coherent arguments necessary for writing thesis-driven essays.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
T. J. TomlinAuthor
University of Northern ColoradoInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
America has long been recognized for its distinct religiosity. This semester, we will examine the complex role of religion in the American past and the process by which, often against its will, the United States became home to a baffling variety of religious groups who changed and were changed by America. By the end of the course, you should be able to: 1.) Use “religion” as a category of historical analysis. 2.) Explain the core beliefs, practices, and (most importantly) experiences of Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and other religious groups over time. 3.) Analyze how religion and American culture shaped each other. 4.) Create and complete an original, thesis-driven research project in American religious history supported by primary and secondary sources.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Judith HunterAuthor
State University of New York at GeneseoInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1996 Date Published
Description:
We start with the creation of a Protestant hegemony and trace its development through the Civil War. We continue to examine the fragmentation of the religious landscape in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a result of both pluralistic forces (e.g., immigration) and internal divisions among Protestants (e.g., the Modernist controversy). We conclude with the emergence of the postwar consensus surrounding civil religion. Class lectures places an emphasis on mainstream religion, but students are encouraged to explore “non-mainstream” religious issues in their papers.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Thomas TweedAuthor
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
This course provides an introduction to the history, themes, and issues in American religion from the precolonial period to the present. It is divided into three sections. The first provides an historical overview and an introduction to some of the religions that have been most prominent–Catholicism, Protestant, and Judaism–as well the traditions that are native to the land. The second and third sections consider some “non-traditional” religions (those outside orthodox Judaism and Christianity). Those sects and religions include, for instance, Mormons, Shakers, Zen Buddhists, and Black Muslims. We also explore in those last two sections of the course a wide range of topics. Most of them concern the relation between religion and some other theme or dimension of American life–politics, art, science, literature, music, race, gender, class, and popular culture. This is a writing intensive class.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Kathleen M. JoyceAuthor
Duke UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
Religion in American life is a one semester survey course. We will be exposed to people, events, beliefs, and traditions that may be unfamiliar to you, but the course focuses on Jewish and Christian mainstream traditions. Students will develop analytical capabilities by investigating primary and secondary source documents. This course is intended to be a collaborative effort, with students and instructor joining together to discuss texts and reflect on the issues they raise. The texts and issues we will be considering lend themselves to active discussion and debate.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Maura Jane FarrellyAuthor
Brandeis UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
This course will chart the origins and development of the various (and primarily Christian) religious movements that have shaped and been shaped by the American experience, with a goal toward understanding and appreciating the richness, complexity, and influence of this country’s contemporary religious landscape. We will explore the answers to countless questions that you may not have realized you even had: What happened to the Puritans – are any of them still around? Why are there Southern Baptist churches in New England? What are people really saying when they call themselves ‘agnostics’? My hope is that when this course is over, you will look upon the subject of religion in America with discerning eyes– that you will appreciate the diversity and sophistication of religious belief, even if a particular belief or “belief” in general is not something you share, and that you will recognize the extent to which some of the best and worst parts of contemporary American society are a byproduct of the fact that people have believed.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, General Comparative Traditions, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Wendy CadgeAuthor
Bowdoin CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
This course introduces the tools and concepts central to the sociological study of religion. We ask what religion is, how it is present and influential in contemporary American public and private life, and how the boundaries of public and private are constructed and contested in relation to religion. Specific attention is devoted to people’s religious practices, religious communities, and the identities people develop through their religious traditions. Central to this course are a series of assignments that ask you to select a particular religious tradition and map its contours, examine how its practitioners are involved in public life, and learn about practitioners’ religious identities and communities in the United States. Readings, lectures, and course discussions are drawn from the range of religious traditions practiced in the United States.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, General Comparative Traditions, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: religious freedom
Wendy CadgeAuthor
Brandeis UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2013 Date Published
Description:
This course introduces you to the tools and concepts central to the sociological study of religion in the United States. We ask what religion is, how it is present and influential in public and private life, and how and where people from different religious traditions interact in the contemporary United States. Specific attention is devoted to people’s religious practices, religious communities, and the identities people develop through their religious traditions. Questions about religious pluralism, diversity, and multi-religious citizenship are central to the conversations we will have throughout the course.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics:
Keywords: religion, sociology, race, gender, class, pluralism, healthcare, military, spirituality, case study
Lawrence W. SnyderAuthor
Western Kentucky UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1996 Date Published
Description:
This course is a study of the ways in which religion is understood and expressed in contemporary American society. More specifically, we shall focus upon the changing religious climate in the United States since the end of the Second World War. At least since 1920, the idea that America is–or ever has been–a “Christian nation” has become increasingly problematic. And while our coinage may remind us daily that “In God We Trust,” some Americans have rightly asked, “Whose God?” Is it the God of the Christians, or that of the Jews, or that of the growing number of Muslims, or perhaps one of the many deities of the Asian faiths or even of the Native American Indians? Is this God white, black, or red? Is God male or female? As Americans have become aware of the great ethnic, racial and spiritual diversity within this country, the reality of pluralism has challenged traditional understandings of religious freedom and American identity. People are rightly asking how religion relates to politics, education, and the great social issues of the day. Given these changes, what role can or should religion play in contemporary American society?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Rebecca A. GoetzAuthor
Rice UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2009 Date Published
Description:
This writing-intensive course introduces undergraduates to the joys and challenges of studying religion historically. How should we study what people in the past believed? What happened when people from different faith backgrounds met and interacted? How can understanding beliefs help us understand their motivations and actions? How should we think about belief historically? And what can understanding religious belief in the past help us understand about the present? Students will examine these questions through reading and writing about four episodes in the religious history of colonial North America.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Indigenous, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Syllabus Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: American Studies, History
Religious Traditions:
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: history, comparative religions
Colleen EddyAuthor
NEH InstituteInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, English, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports
Keywords: literature, reading, text
David YamaneAuthor
Wake Forest UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
This course surveys the major developments in religious life in the United States since the 1950s. We will read some of the most important recent books on this subject and discuss these works in class. The overall aim of this course is to cultivate a sociological imagination and apply it to religious life.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality
Keywords:
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores the debate of various religious issues when it comes to public schooling. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: public, schools, religion
Michael EmersonAuthor
Bethel CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
We all have extensive personal experience with religion. This course is about, among others, how things social shape our personal experience. Religion exists in a social contextit is shaped by and shapes that social context. Moreover, religion is always a socially constituted reality; that is, its content and structure are always formed, at least partially, out of the “stuff” of the sociocultural world (language, symbols, norms, interactions, organizations, inequality, conflict and cooperation). In Religion in Society, we seek to understand both the “socialness” of religion itself and the mutually influencing interactions between religion and its social environment. We examine religious beliefs, practices, and organizations from a sociological perspective, with a primary (but not exclusive) focus on religion in the contemporary U.S.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
John HayesAuthor
Augusta State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
With different religious groups as the main characters, this class tells a winding story of the diverse ways in which people have religiously imagined life in the American South. How did they understand the relation between the sacred and society? What did they picture as the ideal way of life? What rituals did they practice to codify this ideal, and who was included in these rituals? Was their religious vision a sacred alternative to the dominant culture, or did they seek to craft a sacralized society? In pursuing these questions in a narrative format, we will learn that religion in the South has been neither homogenous nor unchanging. Different groups have waxed and waned in cultural power, and different visions of the sacred have been imagined in changing contexts. The story of these groups and these changing visions is the story of religion in the American South.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Area Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: the south
Quincy D. NewellAuthor
University of WyomingInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
This course explores the history of religion in the American West. The boundaries of this topic are fuzzy, at best: what is religion, exactly? Is it more than going to church? More than what someone believes? Can planting gardens count as a religious practice? What about rock climbing? And where is the West? Is California part of the West? Was it ever part of the West? What about Wyoming? What is the difference? We will begin with considerations of these questions, and keep them in mind throughout the course. This course has three major learning outcomes: 1.) Students will synthesize the religious history of the American West by identifying key figures, groups, ideas, and events and explaining the connections between them. 2.) Students will evaluate how the physical, social, and cultural environments of the West have affected the presence and practice of religion, and vice versa. 3.) Students will recognize and analyze manifestations of religion that do not fit dominant institutional models.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Area Studies
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Mormonism
Topics: Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: migration, the west, Sacred space
John CorriganAuthor
Florida State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The syllabus for a graduate seminar. The reading list includes some primary as well as secondary sources. Geographic areas include the Caribbean, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, New France, New Netherland, New England, Native American territories. The course centers religion in relation to the contestation of space, shiftings of power, race, commerce, colonialism, and empire.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Indigenous, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: religion, Americas, colonial, empire, indigenous, race
Eda UcaAuthor
Northwestern UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
What happens when religion goes digital? This course examines how religious practitioners and the “spiritual but not religious” are reimagining worship, presence, ontology, community, authority, ethics, and care for the digital age. Case studies center BIPOC, queer, and feminist voices, lived religion, digital arts, social media, and social justice. Students practice skills for digital humanities research, engage in ethical reflection, theorize self-and-community-care for the digital age, and apply course learning to create a self-care toolkit, digital artifact, and final paper.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements
Magic, Occult, New Age
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: American, digital, online, internet, religion, feminist, BIPOC, queer, LGBT, care
Joshua PaddisonAuthor
Indiana UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
Although the boundaries of what is considered “the west” have shifted over the past three centuries, the region has always loomed large in American mythology. Imagined at various times as a virginal wilderness, savage frontier, bountiful garden, and heavenly utopia, the west has served as a reflection of Americans’ wildest hopes and most urgent fears. From its “wide open spaces” where individuality and freedom might finally flourish to its promise of opportunity and re-invention, the west continues to inhabit a central place in American culture. This course will focus on the religious dimensions of Americans’ fascination and interactions with the west during the nineteenth century. Using a mix of recent writings by historians and primary sources from people who lived during the era (missionaries and converts, map makers and ghost dancers, Mormon exiles and Chinese immigrants), we will consider how religious ideas shaped day-to-day life in the west as well as how religion influenced how the region was imagined, conquered, and transformed.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Area Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Other Christianities
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: the west
Rodger PayneAuthor
Louisiana State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
Religion forms a significant part of the rich cultural mosaic of American civilization. But what does it mean to speak of American religion? On one level, the freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment have encouraged the most religiously variegated society in the Western world; Americans share no common theology or religious customs. On a deeper level, however, a pervasive religious self-understanding has contributed to a strong cultural consensus that crosses denominational distinctions: America is a new “promised land” populated by a new “chosen people.” This course is an intensive survey of religion and religions in America that addresses this question of radical religious pluralism vs. common cultural identity. Rather than follow a strict chronological survey, we will investigate certain themes in American religious history that best demonstrate the conflicts and accommodations between pluralism and consensus.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Philip K. GoffAuthor
California State University, Los AngelesInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1996 Date Published
Description:
It is difficult to say which is more impressive, the variety of religions in America or the sheer volume of them. Drive down the average city street and you will doubtless pass more religious meeting places than convenient stores. And chances are, each one will look a little different, feel a little different, and even smell a little different than the one just down the block. Why? The purpose of this course is to help you unravel the fascinating and sometimes confusing story of religion in America. Beginning with the Native Americans, we will tour this subject through jaunts of immigration and the nation at war (sometimes with itself). But this will not simply be sightseeing entertainment, for you will interact with religious movements through historical sources and firsthand experience. In the immortal words of Bette Davis, Hold on, this could be a bumpy ride.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: thematic, ritual, primitivism, iconoclasm
Luis E. MurilloAuthor
Trinity UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
This introductory course examines both the diversity of traditions and the diversity within traditions of numerous religious groups, including Native American, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Buddhist, Muslim, Mormon, and more. While lectures will cover the historical background of these groups from 1500 CE and on, we will concentrate on the last one hundred years of the American experience. The primary goal of this course is to begin to critically analyze the impact of these traditions upon American culture in general, and, when possible, upon San Antonio. In order to best understand the impact of religion upon the American experience, this course concerns itself more with the practice of religion than the beliefs/theology of a particular religious tradition. In addition, the course is organized both thematically and historically around a series of case studies. We will focus on particular themes within a historical framework within each thematic subset.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Health/Death, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Kate Carté EngelAuthor
Texas A&M UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2009 Date Published
Description:
The United States has been called a nation with the soul of a church. It has also been called wicked, soulless and corrupt. A Christian nation and a melting pot where all faiths are welcome. Religion plays, and has always played, a central role in the nation’s history, but that has never been a simple history. This course will explore American religion as an ongoing series of conversations: over the role of religion in our politics, in our understanding of each other, in the way we engage science and knowledge, in the way we understand gender and family, and in our mass media and culture.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords:
Daisy VargasAuthor
Syllabus Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
This course will explore the central role of religion in shaping constructions of race and ethnicity in U.S. history, especially in light of immigration debates. Since the country’s founding, immigrants have expanded ethnic and religious diversity in the United States in the face of powerful anti-immigrant movements. Students will engage with in-depth studies of immigrant communities who shaped the American religious and ethnic landscape, including diverse American expressions of religions such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Evangelical Protestantism, and Vodou.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: immigration, diversity, race
Philippa KochAuthor
Missouri State UniversityInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
This is a unit designed for a course called “Body and Health in American Religions.” It could be used in a variety of courses, including a survey of American religion and an elective on sexuality, healing, and family life. It could also be used in a course to cover the topics of religion and colonialism.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Indigenous, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: Body, Health, Religion, Caribbean, Hawaii, Piilani, Obeah, Eddy, Witchcraft, Infanticide, Medicine, Christian Science, Possession, Slavery, Crime, Execution, Quarantine, Government, Women
Everett HamnerAuthor
Western Illinois University-Quad CitiesInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
This course pursues the unique insights contemporary fiction and film offer for understanding world religions and spiritualistic. What do such narratives suggest about similarities and differences between Midwestern Protestantism and New York City Judaism, or between Iranian Islam and New Zealand indigenous spirituality? Conversely, the course considers the value of religious and secular questions for understanding literary and filmic characters and plots. What can understanding basic concepts of Hinduism or Taoism, for instance, reveal about an Oscar-winning film or a major science fiction novel?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
Film Studies
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords:
Darren DochukAuthor
Purdue UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2009 Date Published
Description:
This course provides both a chronological and thematic overview of the history of religion, politics and society in twentieth century America. This course will encourage us to think more deeply about the ways religious ideas, institutions, and individuals intersect with and weave through broad political developments like populism and progressivism, corporate and labor activism, the rise and decline of New Deal liberalism, war and American empire building, the power shift to the Sunbelt, urban and suburban power struggles, social movements of the Left and the Right, the politics of family, education, and community, civil rights and ethnic identity, conservatism and globalization. The overarching goal of this course is to place religion at the center of political development in the twentieth century, and at the center of our understanding of this recent past. Here religion will not (as is often done by political historians) be cordoned off as an agent of change worthy of consideration only under exceptional circumstances and in rare moments, but rather be considered as a consistent, powerful player that always brings competing passions and interests, drama and controversy to the political realm.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Islam, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Family/Children/Reproduction, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Lerone A. MartinAuthor
Washington University in St. LouisInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
This seminar examines the relationship between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and religion (i.e. faith communities, clerics, and religious professionals) as a way to study
and understand twentieth century religion and politics. The course will investigate the history of the FBI, as well as the various ways in which the FBI and religious groups have
interacted. We will address several questions, including: What are the origins of the FBI? Did religion play a role in shaping the formation of the FBI? How have such origins shaped the FBI and public perceptions of the same? How, if at all, has the FBI shaped religion in America? How and why did the FBI spy on religious groups? Why did some religious groups fight the
FBI while others chose to cooperate and coordinate with the FBI? How did race, class, gender, and/or the theological composition of religious groups/persons contribute to such
variance? In what ways, if any, did FBI surveillance and counter-intelligence shape religious and political activity? Closely related, how, if at all, did FBI partnerships with cooperating and coordinating ministers, faith communities, and consultative religious professionals influence religious and political activity? Did the FBI’s engagement of religion alter public, cultural, political, and governmental perceptions and opportunities of religious communities and persons? And finally, what does the history of the FBI and religion tells us about religion and politics in America?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Melissa Borja (University of Michigan) answers the question “What is your sense of the best way to understand religion’s role at the intersection of race and gender in today’s political landscape?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 1, October 15, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: race, politics, election
Darrius HillsAuthor
Grinnell CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2023 Date Published
Description:
For many Americans, both scholars and faith
communities alike, one of the truly confounding
tasks in contemporary settings, is how to define and
categorize the nature and scope of American
evangelicalism. Such a task is all the more
complicated when one asks, “which” evangelicals—a
nuance tethered to demographic considerations,
namely along the lines of race, sex, and even shifting
theological commitments. In light of this, this course
has two goals: 1) introducing students to major
markers of American evangelical thought and
historical development; 2) interpreting the shifts of
American evangelicalism as a feature of race
relations and political arrangements in the 21st
century.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Hybrid
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Race, Evangelicalism, Evangelical, sex
Anthony PetroAuthor
Boston UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
What forms does religion take in the modern world—and in the U.S. in particular? Do we live in a secular age? How do we understand the relationship between religion and secularism? And how do genealogies of secularism shape the politics of ‘religious freedom’? This seminar examines the growing field of secularism studies and postsecular critique, including its intersections with religious studies, anthropology, feminist and queer studies, and critical race theory. We will pay special attention to histories of religious freedom, secularism, and politics in the U.S.0
Institution Type: Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Islam, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: secularism, religious freedom, religion and politics
Amy KoehlingerAuthor
Florida State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the historical study of religion in the United States, with an eye toward ways that social and cultural contexts have shaped the religious experience of Americans in different places and times. We will survey religious developments, movements, groups, and individuals, stopping to linger over representative “soundings” within each historical period. The primary goal of the course is for you to become familiar with the history of American religion both by learning about central events and trends, and by learning how to think and write historically.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Judaism, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Revivalism, Utopianism, Violence, Resistance
James GermanAuthor
University of Nebraska at KearneyInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1996 Date Published
Description:
This course offers an historical examination of some of the various expressions of religious belief and practice in American culture. It focuses on the creation of the Protestant establishment in the colonial period and the challenges posed to that establishment by democracy, science, multiple competing cultures, and even the mainstream of American culture.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: thematic,
Brad StoddardAuthor
Syllabus Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
A wide-ranging examination of the diverse religious life of the United States both in history and today. Attention is given to religion among native/First Nations peoples, mainstream groups such as Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism, marginal movements such as Scientology and other new religious movements, and religions among recent immigrants. The course will look at the history of religions in the United States, themes that have characterized U.S. religions, and case studies drawn from religious practice in the United States.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: diversity, new religious movements
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Health/Death, Politics/Law/Government, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: health, religion, sociology, research
Jeff WilsonAuthor
University of WaterlooInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
North America is one of the most religiously diverse regions in the history of humanity; it is also one of the most monolithically Christian places on Earth. Scholars of religious history in North America must deal with this tension between the so-called mainstream and fringes, recognizing how a dominant tradition itself produces plurality while simultaneously exerting pressure on outside groups to lose elements of their distinctiveness. This course will therefore explore diversity within and outside of the Christian tradition(s), examining forces of change, diversification, and conformity, and consider how immigration, gender, race, class, theology, praxis, and other forces have produced and been shaped by the religious ferment of North American society.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module will explore religious experiences in everyday life as well as how many Americans report having such experiences. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: religion, United States, everyday, sociology
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Amanda J. Baugh (California State University, Northridge) answers the question “How might religious laity be engaged in environmentalism?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 6, March 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: climate change, weather, global warming
Ansley QuirosAuthor
University of North AlabamaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2023 Date Published
Description:
Religious Lives in America is a graduate seminar that explores themes in American history through examining
the genre of religious biography. Listening to voices from various eras, regions, and identities, students will
analyze the craft of religious biography, its promises and perils. We will interrogate how culture, race, gender,
class, sexuality, place, and relationship impact individuals and both expand and constrain traditional religious or
institutional narratives. What makes a biography of a person religious? Who decides? Whose stories are told? By
whom? What is included or left out? How do individual lives intersect with broader narratives of American
religion(s)?
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online, Hybrid
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Race, Gender, Politics
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module focuses on non-christians in the United States and their experiences. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Region/Urban/Rural, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: non-christians, religious minorities, religion, United States
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Family/Children/Reproduction, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: world, religion, sociology, introduction, research
Joe CreechAuthor
Valparaiso UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
In this course we will examine American literary works spanning from the colonial to the modern period that in one way or another address religion and national identity as those entities have changed over time. This course is explicitly cross-disciplinary, combining insights from history and the study of literature to shed light on the way religion has shaped how Americans understand themselves and their nation. Starting with the colonial and moving through to the modern period, this course will examine such themes as exceptionalism, innocence, election, social concern, and freedom as they were expressed in mainstream and non-mainstream religious contexts.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, English
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Janelle Wong (University of Maryland) discusses “Religious Nones and Kamala Harris.” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 2, November 19, 2020.
In January, it became known that Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos had filed for divorce after 25 years of marriage. At the same time, the media revealed that one of the reasons for this decision was Lauren Sanchez, the new love of the Amazon founder. Lauren’s biography immediately became one of the most discussed topics, in part because it turned out that she herself was not free. At the time of the novel with Bezos Sanchez was not the first year married to the owner of a major Hollywood casting agency WME Patrick Whitesell. Bezos and Sanchez haven’t officially confirmed Jeff Bezos new girlfriend their relationship yet, though plenty of evidence has surfaced – the National Enquirer tabloid also blackmailed him and Lauren with intimate correspondence and photos, as Bezos himself told the world.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Hinduism
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: Kamala Harris, nones, race, politics
Shari RabinAuthor
College of CharlestonInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
This course explores the relationship between select outsider religions – Native Americans, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Mormons, and Buddhists – and the American state from the beginnings of the nation until the present day. In a country that is premised on the separation of church and state but that also includes diverse religious communities, the place of religion in public life and of the government’s role in regulating and defining religion have long been contested. What do church-state relations look like if we focus on groups outside of the Protestant mainstream? What are the scope and limits of “religious freedom”? In this course, students explore these questions in relationship to immigration, education, national security, first amendment jurisprudence, and more.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religious freedom
Joshua GuthmanAuthor
Berea CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
Historians tell stories. The really good ones can turn their theses, their heaps of evidence, and their historiographic concerns into literary narratives that vibrate with the kind of energy we usually associate with novels, memoirs, or the types of nonfiction titles on the best-seller lists. There is a style to good history writing, and that style does work. This course is about understanding the ways in which literary style—choices about plot, character, narrative trajectory, and point of view—shapes the writing of serious religious history. As we will see, religions and religious people offer historians the most compelling and difficult subjects for writing true stories about the past.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: English, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Melissa BorjaAuthor
University of MichiganInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
The U.S. is more multireligious than ever before, and Americans are often eager to proclaim their commitment to religious freedom and their respect for religious diversity. However, religious intolerance and hostility continue to be a problem in the United States, and religious difference remains a source of conflict. This first-year seminar explores the possibilities and perils of American religious pluralism, with attention to the changing religious demographics in the U.S. and the evolving ways that diverse Americans have attempted to live peaceably across boundaries of religious difference. Considering both historical and contemporary examples, this course considers religious pluralism in relation to several other aspects of American life, including immigration; race and racism; law, politics, and public policy; popular culture; economic life; health; and family. Moreover, this course introduces students to fundamental issues in religious studies—in particular, the contested meaning of “religion” and its implications for the academic study of religion, as well as the pursuit of justice and freedom in the U.S. today.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Amanda J. Baugh (California State University, Northridge) answers the question “How can religious institutions be useful in creating a sense of political urgency on climate change?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 6, March 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: climate change, weather, global warming
Lynn S. NealAuthor
Wake Forest UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
Living communally, dressing differently, following a charismatic leader, these are all traits associated with the idea of “cults,” and “cult members” are seen as brainwashed, gullible, sheep being led to their doom by a charlatan shepherd, but is this an accurate perception or merely a stereotype? In this course, we will examine the relationship between popular “cult” rhetoric and the reality lived by these religious groups. We will pay special attention to the “cult” stereotype and how this stereotype is perpetuated through various forms of media. And, as we delve into the beliefs and practices of various New Religious Movements (NRMs)—Shakers, People’s Temple, Mormonism, Branch Davidianism, Satanism, and Wicca—we will also examine the consequences of the “cult” stereotype holds for these groups. Throughout, this course emphasizes the need for you to study the concept of “cult” as both a religious term and a rhetorical device.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords:
Samuel PerryAuthor
Oklahoma UniversityInstitution
2015 Date Published
Description:
This course will focus on social science research methods with applications to the study of religion. Although issues of epistemology will be covered initially, the primary goal of the course is to provide broad, practical understanding and competency in social science methods. Topics covered include theoretical and conceptual issues, ethics, research design (including question formation, measurement, operationalization, sampling, etc.), various quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analyses, and publication. The course should help sharpen your existing research skills and introduce you to new techniques. By the end of the semester you should have a new appreciation for social research, understand how social research enhances our understanding of religion, and most importantly, be able to conduct and critique social scientific research on religion.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology, Other
Research Methods
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics:
Research Methods, Qualitative
Keywords: religion, research methods, qualitative methods, publishing, content analysis, interview, design
Christopher D. CantwellAuthor
University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
Local history, like public history, is peculiar among other fields of historical inquiry in that its central focus is not topical. After all, one could do local labor history, local women’s history, local business history, and, as we will, local religious history. Rather, what sets local history apart from other parts of the historical profession is a set of professional and ethical concerns. Who is local history for? And where does one go to find it? How does a historian work with the community they study when members of that community may be a neighbor as much as objects of study? What can local history do? And how can historians build the kind of relationships that not only yield obscure or overlooked sources, but also ensures their work has impact? We will try and work through all of these questions throughout the course of this semester. Rather than consider local history from a conceptual standpoint, we will actually do the work of local history by launching a new project focused on the history of Milwaukee’s churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, and other houses of worship. Throughout this semester, each of you will work with a religious community in Milwaukee to write its history. The process will involve archival research, one-on-one interviews, and ethnographic analysis. These histories will then be published online to create a living resource of Milwaukee’s religious diversity.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Anthropology, Area Studies, History, Other
Museum Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Methodology
Keywords:
Anna M. LawrenceAuthor
Florida Atlantic UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
Why have women been the majority of religious congregations? What sorts of gender structures are central to religious groups in America? How has women’s relationship to religious institutions changed over time? This course will help foster students’ ability to think, read, and write about American religious history and women’s history from an informed and critical perspective. This course will span the time period from the colonial era to the twentieth century. However, instead of seeking to be complete in its coverage (since this would be impossible), this course will focus on key periods in the formation of American women’s relationship to religious ideas and institutions. Topics include: Native American women and Colonialism, Puritan Women, Quakerism, Witchcraft Accusations, Evangelicalism, American Catholic Life, Black Churches in America, Social Movements, Spiritualism, the L.D.S. Church, Jewish Women in America, Fundamentalism, Muslim Women, Modern Witchcraft, Goddess Movements, and Buddhism.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History, Women's Studies
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Judaism, New Religious Movements
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: witchcraft
Other Resource Type
2010 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords:
Rebecca MooreAuthor
San Diego State UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
This assignment is actually two assignments grouped into one. Therefore it includes the following: four academic book reviews each about 4 pages in length and a 5000-wood research paper. All of these assignments revolve around the course topic of Satan and Satanism.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, General Comparative Traditions
Satanism
Topics:
Keywords: satan, satanism, research, religion, sociology, comparative
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Philippa Koch (Missouri State) answers the question “Do scholars of religion have a responsibility to name or engage with religious communities whose actions are harmful to public health?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 3, December 17, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Health/Death, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: health, COVID-19, pandemic
Anne BlankenshipAuthor
North Dakota State UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
A fun and interactive activity where students role play different parts of the Scopes trial using excerpts from the trial transcripts. The included script is edited to 30 minutes of content with notes summarizing the missing portions.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: Scopes trial, evangelicalism, creationism,
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module, Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The purpose is to introduce secularism in the United States, explore various measurement strategies used to examine secularism and to familiarize students with online research tools.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Secularism
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: secularism, United States, activity
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: secularism, secular, United States, religion, sociology, research
Kathleen HolscherAuthor
University of New MexicoInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
From nineteenth century talk of manifest destiny to twenty-first century evangelical interventions in U.S. foreign policy, religious motivations have undergirded American empire. This course recognizes the role of religion in the processes and relationships of U.S. imperialism. We’ll focus on the similarly important role of secularism in shaping ideologies, practices, and experiences of empire. Over two centuries, American imperialism has been tied to imaginings, formal and informal, of the United States as a secular nation—a government and culture where “religion” exists apart, as something privatized and optional. This course considers how U.S. formations of “the secular”– and efforts toward defining and regulating “religion” that they incubate– extend into imperial relationships. We’ll ask how these co-emergent categories have played into the interlocking modern projects of capitalism and colonialism. We’ll pay attention to how “the secular” and “religion” are assembled, historically, from ideas about race, class, gender, and sexuality, and how the state has invoked both to police racial, sexual, etc. identity and behavior. American imperialism extends to distant peoples, and it also bears on “domestic” populations who, by virtue of race, sexuality, immigration or felon status, are governed in ways that produce their marginalization within the body politic. This course examines how secularism and religion-making work in the service of empire, and how these diverse subjects of empire receive those categories and resist, trouble, or otherwise make them a part of their own lives.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Samuel PerryAuthor
Oklahoma UniversityInstitution
2015 Date Published
Description:
This course will focus on the scientific study of how race and ethnic issues influence and are influenced by religion. The course will focus upon this race and religion relationship within the context of the United States. We will begin with a historical and theoretical examination of religion and race/ethnic relations. This will lead us to examining how various racial interests have used religious concepts to legitimate their racial beliefs. We will examine empirical evidence of the ways religion can influence racial issues such as racism, discrimination and stratification. We will then look at the different religious traditions of various racial and ethnic groups in America. Lastly, we will consider the phenomenon of multiracial faith communities and their potential impact in our society. This is a seminar course will be discussion-based. It assumes previous course work in both the social sciences and religion.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: race, religion, sociology, history, region, African Americans, ethnicity
John SeitzAuthor
Fordham UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Sensory Mapping of Religious New York: A Course Blog Assignment
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: material religion, urban, New York City, mapping, senses
Anthony PetroAuthor
Boston UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
This course examines sexuality and religion in colonial America and the United States. We trace the history of this intersection while also paying attention to theoretical tools scholars have used to think about religious and sexual desire, identity, bodies, ritual, and regulation. We consider how religion and sexuality have changed over time, how they have mutually constituted one another, and how they continue to shape cultural and political debate in American society. Our course will survey a range of cases, with particular attention to Protestant and Catholic history, Mormonism, and Judaism, as well as to the history of same-sex and opposite-sex encounters, the history of sex and gender, queer history and politics, and the history of colonialism and race. Given the nature of this course, some of the materials we cover include graphic depictions of sex, including sexual violence. Students should be prepared to engage with these matierals critically and thoughtfully.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Women's Studies, Other
Queer Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: sexuality, religion, sociology, political science, comparative, United States, research
Kimberly BrooksAuthor
Other Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics: Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: patriotism, military, church of christ
Rebekah MassengillAuthor
Princeton UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2013 Date Published
Description:
The study of religion has played a central role in the discipline of sociology since its very beginnings in the mid 19th century. Today, sociologists of religion continue to ask questions about what people believe, how religion is organized, and how religion affects various aspects of social life. These questions become ever more important in light of religion’s diverse significance in modern society; for instance, religious organizations provide assistance to the needy, immigrants maintain ethnic identities through religious practice, families draw upon religious beliefs to construct and live out new gender ideologies, and some religious extremists believe that violence is an appropriate means through which to advance their cause. Understanding religion’s changing role in society – along with all of its diverse manifestations – represents the central purpose of this class. Along the way, we will explore religion from a variety of different vantage points within the social sciences, and consider the influence of religion in different areas of social life including the family, race, immigration, and politics.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: sociology, religion, economics, race, gender, ethnicity, class, conflict, violence, immigration
Gerardo MartiAuthor
Davidson CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2018 Date Published
Description:
Religion exists in a social context, and always is shaped by and shapes its social context. Furthermore, religion itself is always (at least in part) a socially constituted reality–that is, its content and structure are always formed, at least partially, out of the “stuff” of the socio-cultural world (language, symbols, groups, norms, interactions, resources, organizations, etc.). The sociology of religion pursues an understanding of both the “social-ness'” of religion itself and the mutually influencing interactions between religion and its social environment. We will analyze religious beliefs, practices, and organizations from a sociological perspective, with a primary focus on religion in contemporary American society.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: religion, sociology, comparative, non-religion, social change, karl marx, emile durkheim, secularization, max weber
Tricia BruceAuthor
Maryville CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
Religion exists in a social context. The sociology of religion is concerned with this social nature of religion and the mutually influencing interactions between religion and its social environment. While religion can be studied through a variety of theoretical lenses, the sociological perspective treats religion as a social institution that can be an agent of social change, control, cohesion, and division. We will be attuned to the ways in which religion intersects with other social institutions including the state, education, and family, as well as the intersection of religion with race, class, gender, and sexuality.This course does not attempt to argue for the legitimacy of one set of religious beliefs over another set of beliefs (or none at all). It is not a philosophy or theology course, and thus will not delve into the theological nuances of particular belief systems or ponder questions such as “Is there a God?” or “Why is there so much suffering in the world?” Such approaches do not fall within the scope of this course nor of the social sciences in general.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religion, sociology, race, politics, social movement, social change, ethnicity, authority, class, gender
Josh PackardAuthor
University of Northern ColoradoInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
Religion has long held a central role in sociology. As long as there has been society, people have been coming together to form belief systems in order to make sense of the world around them and express their experiences. Consequently, organized religion is bound up in our culture, in the construction of our daily existence, and even in our conflicts. In this class, we will examine each of these in order to understand the role of religion in U.S. culture.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religion, sociology, race, politics, United States, fundamentalism, pluralism, secularism, identity
Roger FinkeAuthor
Pennsylvania State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
Throughout recorded history, and across the globe, religion has served as an agent of peace and protest, reconciliation and war. Within the United States, religion has played a prominent role in the development of the American culture and remains closely tied to some of the most hotly contested social issues: abortion, sexuality, First Amendment freedoms, and family values. This course will review the social foundations of religion, explore the diverse religious movements, and examine the relationship between religion and the larger culture.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religion, sociology, race, ethnicity, politics, gender, United States, culture, movements
Charles BrownAuthor
Albright CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2010 Date Published
Description:
This course is designed to provide an opportunity for the student to develop a general sociological understanding and perspective with which to evaluate, interpret, and understand religion and religious institutions. This IS NOT a course in religious theology, nor will we be concerned with identifying the “truth” or “falsity” of religion in general or specific religions in particular. In short, we will confine ourselves to the scientific study of religion and not attempt to pass judgments about which religions are better or worse, true or false.We will begin by looking at how religion has been traditionally defined and how it differs from magic. We will also discuss some of the world‟s major religious traditions, the role of belief, values, and symbols, how and why people decide to join a religion and what happens when they decide to leave, how religious organizations form and are maintained, the link between religion and social inequality (in regards to race and gender), whether religion is diminishing in light of the advancement of science, and various contemporary expressions of religion (cults, civil religion, and fundamentalism). We will end by discussing the implications of the commodification of religion.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religion, sociology, comparative, historical, social inequality, cults, race, gender
Heath CarterAuthor
Valparaiso UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
Historians have often construed the Social Gospel as an elite theological movement within Liberal Protestantism – one which was driven by white, male ministers and seminary professors and which flourished primarily in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. In this course we will explore the viability of an alternative narrative, which posits a much wider and
longer Social Gospel tradition in American life. Over the course of the last two centuries countless American Christians have sought to apply the gospel to the most pressing problems of their day. Believing that sin infects not only persons but also systems and structures, they have set out to save not just individual souls but also the whole of society. In this class students will be introduced to a diverse array of social gospelers – women and men, rich and poor, Catholics and Protestants, African Americans, Latinos, and more – who participated in social struggles ranging from abolitionism to the labor movement, from battles for Civil Rights to campaigns to revive blighted urban neighborhoods. As we move chronologically from the early-nineteenth century to the present, we will spend most of our time immersed in primary documents, but we will also attend throughout to historical contexts, with an eye especially toward understanding the larger impact that social gospelers have had on the modern United States.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: History, Theology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
Robert SalerAuthor
Christian Theological SeminaryInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Uses three historical examples of socially engaged spirituality in the 20th century: Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, French philosopher Simone Weil, and the Eastern Orthodox saint Maria of Paris. All three of these women were deeply formed by prayer and mystical experience, and all three took on power structures of their day (two to their own deaths in World War 2). This course will examine key aspects of their lives and writings with an eye towards answering the following question: how does a life of deep prayer form courage for activism and helping the poor? How does Christian charity manifest itself at both individual and systematic levels? We will be particularly attentive to how these questions shape our own contemporary discernment for the lives of prayer, ministry, and social justice to which God calls us and the church.0
Institution Type: Seminary
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Theology
Religious Traditions: Other Christianities
Topics:
Keywords: mysticism, social justice, Simone Weil, Dorothy Day, Maria of Paris
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: social movements, movements, sociology, research, religion, political science
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Teaching Module Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores social movements in United States history. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: social movements, sociology, religion, United States, history
Elfriede WedamAuthor
Loyola University ChicagoInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2014 Date Published
Description:
While it may surprise many, the place of religion in American society is deep and broad. We will explore the many dimensions of religion—how it is defined, how people express it, how they experience its power. We will discover how religion changes as the structure and culture of society itself evolves. During the first half of the semester, we will learn about the varieties of religious traditions in America through our readings and lectures as well as by visiting them together as a class. We will focus especially on the practice of religion, what scholars call “lived religion,” which we will observe at the sites of religious worship. During the second half, we will focus on the social forces as experienced in the metropolitan Chicago area that affect and change some of these religious practices. These include modernization, secularization, globalization, stratification, fundamentalism, race, ethnicity, gender, and social conflict. But we will also ask how religion is not just the recipient of forces, but an influence on the broader culture (and subcultures) in which we live.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: sociology, religion, race, ethnicity, secularism, judaism, islam, protestant, catholic, chicago, sexual identity, modernism
Christian SmithAuthor
University of Notre DameInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
This course provides an introduction to the sociology of religion, an important field in the discipline of sociology. Religion is one of the most powerful forces of social cohesion, order, meaning, disruption, and change in human societies, both historically and today in the modern world. Sociology provides a particular disciplinary perspective and analytical tools and theories for describing, understanding, and explaining the nature and influence of religion. The course will engage the following kinds of questions. What is religion? Why is religion so primordial and prevalent in human societies? What do different religions teach? Why are people religious or not religious? What causal role does religion play in human personal and social life? How does the sociological study of religion differ from a theological or psychological study of religion? Why and how do religious organizations grow and decline? How, for example, did an obscure, early Jesus Movement manage to become the largest religion in the world today? How and why do people convert to a different religious faith or lose their faith entirely? Is modernity secularizing? What are the religious and spiritual lives of 18–23 year-old Americans today like? Why has the Islamist movement become so powerful in recent decades?
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religion, sociology, comparative, , pentecostalism, judaism, islam, hinduism, United States, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Mediterranean
Mark ChavesAuthor
Duke UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2013 Date Published
Description:
This is an introduction to the sociology of religion. We will begin by discussing questions such as: What is religion? Where does it come from? What is its fate in modern societies? We then will consider varieties of religious expression, exploring how social context shapes religious belief and practice. Finally, we will study American religion, focusing especially on what we can learn from social surveys.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics:
Keywords: religion, sociology, comparative, sects, expression, conversion
Christopher EllisonAuthor
University of Texas, San AntonioInstitution
2012 Date Published
Description:
In this course, we will examine the dominant theories of religion and look at the way sociologists use multiple types of empirical data –quantitative and qualitative– to study religion as a social institution. We will begin the course by focusing squarely on the debate between “old” and “new” paradigms in the sociology of religion. The next phase of the course explores the dynamics religious affiliation and disaffiliation, and the reasons for the growth and decline of specific religious groups and communities, as well as the varied factors that influence individual religious and spiritual practices. Subsequent segments of the course will address such topics as: (a) the links between religion, ethnicity, and immigration; (b) religion, gender, and family life; (c) religion, health, and well-being; (d) religion and socioeconomic stratification; and (e) religion and politics.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics:
Keywords: gender, race, religion, sociology, politics, health, quantitative, qualitative, socioeconomic stratification
Patricia M.Y. ChangAuthor
University of Notre DameInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This syllabus is developed for a semester long course introducing the sociology of religion at the undergraduate level. There are three goals in the course. The first is to review the ways that major thinkers in sociology have tried to define, approach and analyze religion. The second is to use these theoretical lenses to interpret materials that represent some of the variety and vitality in religious life that exists in America today. Through a series of short essays, and class discussions students will be challenged to use the analytical lenses provided to make sense of a variety of religious experiences. Through these essays students will individually and as a group, develop an individual critical perspective of the religious experience in America.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: theory of religion
Lori G. BeamanAuthor
University of LethbridgeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course is a beginning exploration of theoretical and substantive issues relating to the sociology of religion. One goal of this course is to enable you to understand your own religious experience or background in the context of a variety of religious traditions. While the course focuses primarily on Western religions, there will be some integration of material which examines New Religious Movements. Another goal of the course is to explore the continuing relevance of religion in today’s world. A third aim is to focus on issues of gender and religion, in particular, women as clergy and women as religious practitioners. Finally, we will seek to understand, compare and contrast, the worldviews of two particular religious groups, evangelicals and fundamentalists.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords:
Samuel PerryAuthor
University of ChicagoInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
In this course we will approach religion as a purely social phenomenon. This should not be construed as an ontological statement about religion, but merely a statement about the methodological perspective that social scientists typically employ. Using the perspectives and methods of a sociologist, we will examine the common social dimensions of all religions including moral definitions, group membership and dynamics, prescribed ritual practices, and the life-cycle of religious institutions. We will survey the various attempts at a sociological definition of religion and also examine the major theoretical contributions to the field such as those of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. We discuss the relationship between religion and modes of both vertical stratification (e.g., race, class, and gender) and horizontal differentiation (e.g., sects, NRMs, and denominations) in the United States. We will also study the more recent debates between secularization theorists and religious-market theorists. Lastly, we will survey the sociological dimensions of six major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: religion, sociology, race, gender, class, hinduism, buddhism, daoism, judaism, christianity, islam, United States, sects
Richard L. WoodAuthor
University of New MexicoInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
In what ways do individuals experience a religious or spiritual dimension in their lives? What are the patterns to that experience in different faith traditions? How are those patterns different, and how are they similar? We will consider in greater detail the communal or congregational dimension of religion: How do religious communities of various kinds give shape to the religious experience of individuals? How do religious rituals construct the “spiritual self” or “religious self” that encounters God, the gods, Yahweh, Satan, the Spirit, Buddha, Jesus, Allah, etc.? We will consider the linguistic and symbolic dimensions of religion: Does it matter that we talk about and symbolize religious belie in various ways (for example, the various names of god listed above)? We will look at the social dimension of religion: On one hand, how does religion serve to reinforce and legitimate the current social order of a given society (say, America in the 1990s)? On the other hand, how does religion serve to reform or revolutionize a society?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, New Religious Movements, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: theory of religion, modernity
Susanne MonahanAuthor
Montana State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course will examine topics related to the sociology of religion. In particular, we will focus on religion as a social phenomenon and how it affects individual and community experience, how it is structured, and how it affects broader society. The primary goal of the course is to locate the sociology of religion within the broader domain of sociology as a whole. The course does not aim to be exhaustive of all topics related to the sociology of religion, nor does it aim to touch on all theoretical perspectives that help us understand religion in society. Instead, it is intended to (1) demonstrate that religion is an important social phenomenon, (2) raise interesting questions about religion as a social phenomenon, and (3) show you that your previous training in sociology and anthropology gives you the tools to understand religion in its social context.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: theory of religion
William L. MacDonaldAuthor
The Ohio State University at NewarkInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This course is an introduction to the sociology of religion. I focus this course on basic sociological theories of the of religion, and on the relation between religion and other aspects of society, with particular reference to the United States. Throughout the course, I will emphasize a scientific approach to the study of religion. Sociology is a science, and thus it relies on research, or systematic observation in order to develop and test theories, or explanations of religion. In this course, I want to not only introduce you to that science, but also give you a taste of it. To do this, I will go beyond a simple survey of theorists and theories, and will actively engage you in the social scientific study of religion. Through a research project, you will have the opportunity to develop and test research hypotheses using data from a national survey.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: theory of religion
Conrad KanagyAuthor
Elizabethtown CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
Goal of Course: to broaden awareness of the importance of religion to the social contexts within which humans interact; specifically, to understand how religion shapes society and how society shapes religion. Specific Objectives: 1.) To examine how religion and the study of religion are shaped by our social contexts. 2.) To become aware of the sociological differences and similarities of American religious forms. 3.) To use the sociology of religion to better understand social interactions–particularly those characterized by religious conflict and/or religious community. 4.) To understand the social contexts within which our own religious biases have developed and exist, and to see how these biases affect our attitudes and behaviors. 5.) To improve written and oral communication skills through presentation of course materials and writing projects.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
Carol MacGregorAuthor
Loyola University New OrleansInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
This book review assignment is made up of two components—an oral presentation of roughly 15-20 minutes on the date you sign up for and a written report submitted at any point up until 5pm on the last day of classes. The written report should be about 6-8 pages and include both a brief summary and a more extensive critical reflection on the material. The report and the presentation should follow the basic format—a brief introduction and summary, a critical evaluation of the book and a conclusion. However, I also request that as part of your presentation you develop at least one big question for us to discuss as a class. You may use PowerPoint or any videos or materials you think would be illustrative as part of your presentation but depending on the number of other students presenting on your day you may not have much time so use audiovisuals wisely.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics:
Keywords: book review, sociology, religion, comparative
Wendy W. YoungAuthor
University of FloridaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
This survey course in the sociology of religion is designed for a class of thirty undergraduate majors in Sociology. The emphasis is on theory and qualitative methods, while exposing the student to a wide variety of authors and themes. The beginning of the course leads the student through the several conceptual frameworks created by the founding fathers of the academic study of religion including: Durkheim, Weber, Marx and Freud. The latter portion expands the course to consider feminist and multi-cultural perspectives and ends with consideration of the problem of individualism in a post-modern world.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: theory of religion, modernity
Christian SmithAuthor
University of Notre DameInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
The following course is about watching 3 movies that you are not familiar with, afterwards writing a response that tackles some sociological question, perspective, concept, or theory of the religious aspect of the film. Ensure to focus those responses on the religious aspect of the film.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: movies, religion, sociology, politics, culture, comparative, perspective, film
Roger FinkeAuthor
Pennsylvania State UniversityInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
This research project requires you to visit worship services at three different congregations and observe four YouTube videos. Based on these observations, you are required to write a three-to five page research paper.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: comparative, observational, religion, sociology, participation, history, online
Daniel VacaAuthor
Brown UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2017 Date Published
Description:
When people call themselves “spiritual,” what does that mean? This introductory course answers that question by exploring the wide range of ideas, practices, and desires that have come
to make up the concept of spirituality. Inviting students to consider why spirituality seems “not religious,” this course examines such phenomena as yoga, faith healing, hip hop, shopping, self-help books, psychology, surveys, and protest movements. By studying these sites of spirituality, this course will enable students to recognize how Americans have made sense of their own lives and institutional attachments through continually changing technologies of race, pluralism, science, capitalism, and secularism.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords:
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module discusses how various Americans feel and share their faith in a multitude of ways. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, New Religious Movements, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: religion, faith, spread, United States
Lucinda KanczuzewskiAuthor
Other Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction
Keywords: health, catholic, indiana
Bruce HindmarshAuthor
Briercrest Biblical SeminaryInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
I have designed this course to stimulate you to think in a disciplined way about the nature of Christian conversion through the study of a number of historical examples. We will focus most intently in the second half of the course on the early evangelical tradition of spiritual autobiography or ‘conversion narrative’, though we will set this within—and sometimes against—the larger history of the response of women and men to Christian proclamation through the centuries. Attention will be paid chiefly to theological themes in the literature studied, but this will be augmented by some discussion of interdisciplinary perspectives on the conversion experience. We will explore the relevance of all of this to our experience of faith and ministry in the contemporary world, and you will be encouraged to think through your own theology of conversion
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Seminary
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: History, Theology
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics: Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: class intensive
Prema KurienAuthor
Syracuse UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
I am a sociologist of immigration and religion. Unfortunately I do not generally get to teach courses that are related in any way to religion. This is the last time I taught a course linking my two areas of interest.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Sociology
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: Secularism, Multiculturalism, Contemporary Immigrants
Marion GoldmanAuthor
University of OregonInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
This short take-home exercise has been effective in a number of classes. It is useful for helping students understand how most Americans can become audiences or clients of new religious movements and how people reveal and understand their vulnerabilities in group contexts.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics:
New Religions Recruitment/Retention
Keywords: Class and Psychodrama
Andrew FrenchAuthor
Assignment Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: california, westward expansion
Andre E. JohnsonAuthor
University of MemphisInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Students in this survey class will examine the prophetic rhetorical tradition of African Americans. By engaging in a careful reading of texts that make up the African American oratorical and literary canons, students will examine how the African American prophetic tradition builds, forms, and transforms its audiences and communities. Moreover, students will examine how this rhetoric critiques, challenges and charges all of society to live up to the ideals which it espouses and finally how speakers adopt a “prophetic persona” in the delivery of these messages. In addition, the class will place emphasis on the rhetorical strategies used and how these strategies changed and/or remained the same over time.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Other
Religious Traditions: Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: African American, Prophetic, Tradition
Rosemary GoodenAuthor
DePaul UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
The primary goal of “The American Religious Experience” is to examine the beliefs and practices of the major religious traditions and movements in American history. Along with acquiring certain factual information, another purpose of the course is to critically analyze and understand the interaction between religious beliefs and social, cultural, and intellectual forces in American culture. This course surveys major religious traditions, movements, and themes in American history from the colonial period to the present.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: religious leaders
Betty A. DeBergAuthor
University of Northern IowaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1993 Date Published
Description:
This course investigates ways in which people in the United States have expressed and are expressing themselves religiously. There is much religious diversity in America, and we will study religious traditions represented by and beyond those of us in this class. There are also religious characteristics that most Americans share, and that influence our public and private lives together. Those, too, will be an essential focus of our investigation.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Theology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
Sylvester JohnsonAuthor
Indiana UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
This course aims to provide students with a rigorous assessment of the uses of the Bible and other scriptures to construe meanings about race in America; this history has most frequently involved reading modern race identities into biblical narratives and interpreting American experience as the fulfillment of biblical promise. This course will prepare students to understand American theologies of chosenness and divine destiny, racial appropriations of biblical narrative, and the cultural history of attempts to locate racial origins using biblical traditions. Students will examine the myriad ways racing the Bible and biblicizing race have been integral to histories of power in America.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Indigenous, Judaism, Other Christianities, Protestant
Mormonism
Topics: Class/Power, Race/Ethnicity, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Krista Hoffmann-Longtin (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) answers the question “Is there an unrealistic binary between science and religion?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 3, December 17, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Health/Death, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: science, pandemic, COVID-19
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Kate Bowler (Duke Divinity School) answers the question “What are your thoughts on the current state of public teaching?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 8, May 20, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: teaching, pedagogy, learning
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Gerardo Marti (Davidson College) answers the question “What are your thoughts on the current state of public teaching?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 8, May 20, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: teaching, pedagogy, learning
Paul WatsonAuthor
University of New MexicoInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2013 Date Published
Description:
The course’s goal is to address, as incisively as possible, the question of why humans have evolved intrapsychic design features leading them to create religions. Collaboratively, we shall analyze possible answers to this question from a purely materialistic modern Darwinian perspective. The aim of the course is to impart a rich blend of competing and complementary theoretical perspectives and empirical results, not available elsewhere, promoting the understanding and continuing study of religiosity, and its cross-cultural consequence, religion, as a natural phenomenon. This is a course dedicated to opening and elucidating questions about our shared, species-typical, pancultural human nature. In line with modern thinking on human behavioral biology, such questions about ourselves assume that not only relatively “hardwired” instincts are biological, but so are the complex and varied cultures that such instincts promote as they interact with the ecological and cultural environments of each individual. 0
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology, Other
Biology, Psychology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: Darwin, biology, religion, behavioral, biological, psychology, agnosticism
Jamil DrakeAuthor
Florida State UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
Black religion is a familiar category in American history and culture. It has been a reliable category to describe practices, institutions, and experiences of people of African descent. For a little over a decade, Sylvester Johnson, Barbara Savage, Curtis Evans, and other scholars of religion have called attention to how black religion is more a proscriptive and ideological than descriptive idea in human history. Following these scholars of religion, this course suspends the familiarity of black religion in order to assess its meaning(s) and function(s) in American history. Moreover, this course examines how the meaning and function of black religion was formed and constituted in conjunction with ideals used to differentiate “modern” and “premodern” social groups, behaviors, and institutions. The idea of Black religion coalesced with contested ideas and norms such as civilization and the nation-state; freedom and the human; science and rationality; morality and crime; and health and medicine. In the end, this course will demonstrate how the idea of black religion is not only central to the making of racial and ethnic identities, it is also important to the making of modern America.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Other
Africana Studies
Religious Traditions: Other Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords:
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Caleb Elfenbein (Grinnell College) discusses “The limits of scale and presence in university education.” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 8, May 20, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: teaching, pedagogy, learning
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Sylvester Johnson (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) answers the question “How do you link Black studies and humanities with science and technology?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 5, February 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: Black studies, race, theology
Other Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization is a vibrant, growing collection curated by leading Jewish Studies scholars which offers unprecedented direct access to excerpts from thousands of primary sources reflecting Jewish creativity, diversity, and culture world-wide, and will span biblical times to the 21st century when complete.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Judaism
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: Judaism, Culture, Civilization
David GerberAuthor
University at Buffalo (SUNY)Institution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
This seminar utilizes Supreme Court decisions regarding the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment to introduce students to both judicial processes and their history and ongoing debates about the relationships between the state and religion/religions in the public sphere, dating from the origins of the Constitution and the First Amendment. In discussing legal confrontations over polygamy, school prayer, public evangelizing, and the use of public resources to support sectarian institutions, the Supreme Court decisions serve to raise questions for students about their own ideas about order and justice. The seminar readings include classic court decisions from the historical past and very recent decisions.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Political Science, Other
Law
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Indigenous, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: Religious Liberty, Establishment, First Amendment, Supreme Court
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Elaine Peña (The George Washington University) answers the question “What are your thoughts on the sanctification of space at the 2021 U.S. presidential inauguration?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 4, January 21, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: inauguration, space, sanctification
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module will focus on the measurements available to measure religiosity. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Region/Urban/Rural, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords: science, religion, sociology, measurement
Paul FisherAuthor
Other Resource Type
2010 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government
Keywords: separation of church and state, religious freedom
Kevin DoughertyAuthor
Baylor UniversityInstitution
2013 Date Published
Description:
Congregations, denominations, religious schools, religious hospitals, and a wide assortment of other organizations with religious ties operate in contemporary society. The organizational forms of religion hold particular interest to sociologists. What makes an organization religious? How do religious organizations form? Why do religious organizations succeed or fail? What is success or failure for a religious organization? Soc 6332 is a graduate seminar devoted to such questions. The seminar explores organizational aspects of religion, including organizational forms, prominent theories, and common methodologies.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics:
Keywords: religion, sociology, graduate, theory, institutions, economies, management, systems, organizations
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. A different look into religious organizations, particularly secularism in the broad context. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, New Religious Movements
Topics: Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: secularism, secular, United States, religion, sociology, research
David WalkerAuthor
University of California, Santa BarbaraInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
This seminar explores the complicated relationship between magic and religion in modernity. By analyzing the cultural history of specific magic tricks – including the mechanics and aesthetics of their performance, the public and private lives of associated magicians, and the ways in which different audience members responded to them – we seek to understand better how magic shows worked simultaneously to mimic, satirize, and regulate various religious traditions. Along the way we will see also how different classes of “magicians” – including those who claim supernatural power, those who claim only to be acting, and those who seek academically to understand them both – have worked jointly and often ironically to ensure the vitality of magic and religion in modernity.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions, Other Traditions
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: Magic, theory of religion
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Kristina Horn Sheeler (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) discusses “What are your thoughts on the signing of executive orders ceremony?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 3, December 17, 2020.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: politics, election, ceremony
Katherine D. MoranAuthor
St. Louis University Institution
Syllabus Resource Type
2016 Date Published
Description:
What does it mean to be a global citizen? To pursue social justice abroad? To bring religious faith and commitment to the task of building a better world? These questions have motivated American women and men for generations, and they continue to do so today. This class invites students to explore the U.S. history of faith, transnational activism, and non-governmental organizations from the nineteenth century to the present. We will examine the aims, experiences, and ideas of American missionaries, reformers, and relief workers: examples include U.S. Christian missionary women in China in the early twentieth century, Jewish relief programs in World-War-I Europe, American adoption agencies in Korea during the Cold War, and current debates about global feminist advocacy.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords:
Gerardo MartiAuthor
Davidson CollegeInstitution
2017 Date Published
Description:
Overall, the course is intended to encourage and stimulate critical thinking beyond “common sense,” knee-jerk opinions and interpretations. Throughout the class, we will read on a number of topics including the broader and complex processes of identity and race, politics and nationalism, faith and community, economics and financial pressures, citizenship and public life, prejudice and discrimination, media and technology, as well as celebrity and symbolic leadership. The tone of this course will be analytical with a conscientious use of sociological concepts with an eye toward discerning patterns of macro-change. For example, race-ethnicity is not a biological, physiological, or genetic characteristic; it is a social characteristic, one that always involves particular religious beliefs and practices and an international network of people who continually reproduce religious frameworks and religious structures. And religion is not merely a set of dogmatic beliefs or static church membership but also a set of “lived practices” that touch on nonreligious activity in unanticipated ways. The development of our knowledge of the relations between race-ethnicity and religious faith and practice in relation to politics and economics will be Page 2 historically informed and empirically grounded. Your questions and interests are welcome as they emerge.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: race, religion, politics, trump, sociology, nationalism, inequality, plutocracy, economics
Hillary KaellAuthor
Concordia UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2015 Date Published
Description:
North American Christianity has been coloured by encounters and exchanges, shifts in understanding and missionary sensibilities. American Christians have left home and brought their form of religion with them; immigrants have arrived with new forms of Christianity too. With globalization, people, ideas, and ministries cross borders with increasing facility – through televangelism and the internet, by way of missions and NGOs, because of wars or economics. Intent on crafting a cohesive national story, scholars have not always been as attentive to these flows as they might be. This course builds on 398: Introduction to North American Christianity to explore this topic in depth. We will look at a variety of disciplinary perspectives and time periods in order to ask how American Christians confront and encounter “the World.” Our task is to complicate the geographic boundaries of “American Christianity” in order to reimagine our subject in new ways.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Topics: Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Immigration/Refugees, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords:
Joseph Kip KosekAuthor
George Washington UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2011 Date Published
Description:
This course considers how religion and politics have influenced each other in the United States, as well as the ways that Americans have understood those influences. Our major questions include: Is the United States a Christian nation, a secular nation, or something else entirely? When has religion promoted, or prevented, bigotry, conflict, and violence? What exactly do we mean by “separation of church and state”? In what ways has religion shaped the politics of gender and race? How have Americans dealt with the nation’s bewildering religious diversity? Why have faith and science been so often in conflict (or have they)? How have religious people sought to reform American politics and society? What is the relationship of religion to American democracy?
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Indigenous, Judaism, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords:
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions.This module will focus on geography as it pertains to congregations and will explore comparing smaller to larger areas around the same congregations. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.0
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Class/Power, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: geography, religion, congregations, sociology
Christopher EvansAuthor
Colgate Rochester Divinity SchoolInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
1999 Date Published
Description:
The United Methodist Church represents many distinctive historical and theological currents. This course will trace United Methodism’s historical and theological growth from the Wesleys to the late 20th century. Attention will be paid in the course to United Methodism’s roots in the theology of John Wesley. However, the course will also focus on the denomination’s growth from a series of predominantly American movements into a global church.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Seminary
Class Type: Graduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, History
Religious Traditions: Protestant
Methodism
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
Jeremy LukeAuthor
Other Resource Type
2022 Date Published
Description:
Institution Type: K-12
Class Type:
Discipline:
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction
Keywords: education. experimental
Robert E. BrownAuthor
Bucknell UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2004 Date Published
Description:
Evangelical Protestantism has played a vital role in shaping American history, culture and religion. It is estimated that some 25-35% of the American population (c. 70-100million) today identifies with this movement. Far from being a monolithic entity,however, the religious, ideological, and social allegiances of evangelicalism are quite diverse. In addition, evangelicals maintain a somewhat paradoxical relationship with American society, functioning simultaneously as a politically powerful interest group (insiders) and as cultural antagonists (outsiders). This course is designed to introduce students to the history of evangelicalism, its characteristic religious patterns, and its ongoing negotiations with contemporary American culture
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Seminar
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords: modernity, religious leaders
John Lardas ModernAuthor
Franklin and Marshall CollegeInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
This course will entertain the ironic possibility that secularism possesses a religious history of its own. This course will also interrogate the commonplace definition of secularism as everything that religion is not by dwelling within a series of philosophical and historical spaces—spaces in which secularism emerged as both an extension of, and alternative to, religious beliefs, practices, and categories. Throughout the semester we will explore how versions of the secular have defined and authorized such things as the meaning of the human subject, the structure of the political collective, the proper code of ethics, the nature of history, experiences of space and time, standards of cruelty and health, the ways and means of the sense perception, as well as sexual and racial differences. The goal of this course is not simply to point out that the ideals of secularism have failed to materialize but, on the contrary, to explore the degree to which its definitional categories and attitudes regarding “religion” have.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, History, Philosophy
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Protestant
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Science/Technology/Environment
Keywords:
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores the Vatican II and the way in which it voted according to geographic region. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: catholic, religion, geography, Vatican
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module will explore the public opinion of their religious authorities. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Class/Power
Keywords: religious authorities, religion, United States, sociology
Melissa M. WilcoxAuthor
University of California, RiversideInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2005 Date Published
Description:
When teaching about bias against new religious movements, I often find that students struggle to engage the issue personally. Either they can’t get past “cult” stereotypes, or they blame the bias on “other” biased people. I developed this simulation around 2005 to help my liberal arts college students understand that, given the same information and widespread cultural stereotypes, they too might make similar decisions. When I moved to a mid-size public university, I adapted the simulation from a class of 30 to a class of 300 by using the discussion sections. I have NEVER had this simulation end peacefully, save for one class that refused the time limit and insisted on not finishing the simulation because they could see it was headed for violence. That evening or the next class day, I screen Waco: The Rules of Engagement (William Gazecki, 2003) – this is how students learn that the “game” they played in class was an actual event, and it ended the same way they ended it, and people died. It’s been an extremely effective teaching tool. I recommend casting your most impulsive students as the HRT, and your most insightful as the Tribe of Jesse.
Institution Type: Public College or University, Private College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Religious Intolerance
Keywords: Waco, Branch Davidians, David Koresh, NRM, cults, religious intolerance, Anti-cult movement, ACM
Alexis Wells-OghoghomehAuthor
Vanderbilt UniversityInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
More than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery—its histories and legacies—remains the subject of heated debate among the institution’s descendants and the millions of others who live in its wake. As a global institution predicated upon the exchange of human bodies, slavery helped to forge political and economic empires, divided nations, and crystallized racialized caste hierarchies that persist into the present. Yet, the politically and emotionally charged nature of conversations about slavery has obscured the lives of the women, men, and children who bore the legal status of “slave.” This course explores the meanings of enslavement from the perspectives of those who experienced it, and in doing so, interrogates broader questions of the relationship between slavery and the construction of racialized group identities. Using autobiographical narratives, eyewitness accounts, slaveholder diaries, images, and archeological evidence from the United States, we examine the religious, philosophical, and experiential orientations that grounded the enslaved psyche and found expression in bondpeople’s music, movement, foodways, dress, and institutions. 0
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course, Graduate Course, Online
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: Black religion, slave religion, religion in the American South
R&AC Author
IUPUIInstitution
Video Resource Type
2003 Date Published
Description:
Video from the “Ask an Expert” series responding to the question “What does “orthodox” mean?”Produced by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: Othodox
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Kate Bowler (Duke Divinity School) answers the question “What has the last year (2020-2021) taught us about teaching?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 8, May 20, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: teaching, pedagogy, learning
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Gerardo Marti (Davidson College) answers the question “What has the last year (2020-2021) taught us about teaching?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 8, May 20, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: teaching, pedagogy, learning
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Philip Goff (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) answers the question “What has the last year (2020-2021) taught us about teaching?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 8, May 20, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology, Other
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: teaching, pedagogy, learning
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Corey Miles (Morgan State University) answers the question “What are we talking about when we use the term Afrofuturism?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 5, February 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: afrofuturism, Black studies, race
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Melanie L. Harris (Texas Christian University) answers the question “What are we talking about when we use the term Afrofuturism?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 5, February 18, 2021.
Institution Type: K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity
Keywords: afrofuturism, Black studies, race
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
Dr. Nichole R. Phillips (Emory University) answers the question “What is inherent to American civil religion?” This clip was taken from “Religion &” Episode 4, January 21, 2021.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science
Religious Traditions: Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant
Topics: Politics/Law/Government, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion
Keywords: civil religion, American, Nichole Phillips
R&AC Author
IUPUIInstitution
Video Resource Type
2003 Date Published
Description:
Video from the “Ask an Expert” series responding to the question “What is Ramadan?”Produced by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions: Islam
Topics:
Keywords: Ramadan
R&AC Author
IUPUIInstitution
Video Resource Type
2003 Date Published
Description:
Video from the “Ask an Expert” series responding to the question “What’s the point of having so many churches in America?”Produced by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies
Religious Traditions:
Topics:
Keywords: Churches
The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureAuthor
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
The Trump presidency, culminating in the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, brought into sharp relief the importance of white Christian nationalism as an animating force in American civil society. Millions of Americans believe that the United States should be distinctively “Christian” in its public policies, sacred symbols, and national identity. These beliefs are inextricably tied to notions of whiteness as central to American identity. As the insurrection made clear, the implications of white Christian nationalism are very real. This online mini-conference brings together the leading scholars, authors, journalists, policy experts, and public theologians in order to discuss white Christian nationalism from a variety of perspectives making it a truly unique opportunity to explore these issues. This first panel—“White Christian Nationalism Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”—revolves around the study of white Christian nationalism from a cross-disciplinary perspective, including history, social science, and law. You can watch the second session at the following link: https://youtu.be/8hzFamNEAX4
Host: Andrew Whitehead
Panelists: Anthea Butler, Caroline Mala Corbin, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Samuel Perry
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: nationalism, Christianity, politics
The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureAuthor
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
Video Resource Type
2021 Date Published
Description:
The Trump presidency, culminating in the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, brought into sharp relief the importance of white Christian nationalism as an animating force in American civil society. Millions of Americans believe that the United States should be distinctively “Christian” in its public policies, sacred symbols, and national identity. These beliefs are inextricably tied to notions of whiteness as central to American identity. As the insurrection made clear, the implications of white Christian nationalism are very real. This online mini-conference brings together the leading scholars, authors, journalists, policy experts, and public theologians in order to discuss white Christian nationalism from a variety of perspectives making it a truly unique opportunity to explore these issues. The topic of the second panel is “Engaging White Christian Nationalism in Public Spaces.” This panel moves beyond the first session’s study of white Christian nationalism to include perspectives from journalists, clergy, policy experts, and public theologians on how they engage it in their various spheres of influence.
You can watch the first session at the following link: https://youtu.be/F4R_m02ri6U
Host: Amanda Tyler
Panelists: Angela Denker, Jack Jenkins, Jemar Tisby, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, History, Political Science, Sociology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics:
Keywords: nationalism, Christianity, politics
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions.This module explores the continuing diversification of pastors within the United States and how that translates to diversity in the country. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.0
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements, Other Christianities
Topics: Class/Power
Keywords: pastors, demography, sociology, religion, United States
Katharine GerbnerAuthor
University of MinnesotaInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2019 Date Published
Description:
This course poses a series of questions. What is the historian’s task? How do historians know what they know? What methods and skills do historians use? This course introduces history majors (and non-majors) to the methods and practices of historical knowledge production and to the philosophy/theory of history. Put slightly differently, the course will introduce students to the work/craft of history as thought and methodology. It will also encourage students to think about history (as discipline, method) critically, to address questions such as: What is history for and what does the student of history/the historian do in research (as the detective and the archivist), in writing (as the storyteller and the analyst), and in (critical) thought (as the teacher and the philosopher)? What does it mean to teach/study history in a time of struggle? What are the possibilities and limits of history?
This course examines the history of witchcraft and its relationship to religion, crime, and law. Who was deemed a “witch” in different historical contexts, and why? How did perceptions about witchcraft change over time? We will begin our inquiry in the early modern period, with the “witch crisis” in early modern Europe and the rise of European colonialism and the Atlantic slave trade. We will then do a close analysis of the Salem witch trials, reading original documents and examining the role of law, colonialism, slavery, and capitalism in the witch “outbreak” of 1692. The final section of the course will think about religion, law, and crime comparatively, examining concepts such as “voodoo” and “obeah.” Throughout the course, we will focus on how history is done –including close readings of primary documents, synthesis of historiographical arguments, and theorization of important concepts, such as “superstition,” “religion,” “magic,” and “law.”
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Area Studies, History
Religious Traditions:
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Politics/Law/Government, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords:
Kathleen Sprows CummingsAuthor
University of Notre DameInstitution
Syllabus Resource Type
2006 Date Published
Description:
This course is a history of American Catholic women from the colonial period to the present. We will explore the following themes: the role of religious belief and practice in shaping Catholics’ understanding of gender differences; the experience of women in religious communities and in family life; women’s involvement in education and social reform; ethnic and racial diversity among Catholic women; devotional life; the development of feminist theology, and the emergence of the “new feminism” as articulated by Pope John Paul II. We will seek to understand how Catholic women, both lay and religious, contributed to the development of Church and nation, and examine how encounters with the broader American society have shaped Catholic women’s relationship to the institutional church over the last three centuries.
This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, American Studies, Theology, Women's Studies
Religious Traditions: Catholic
Topics: Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Race/Ethnicity, Theology/Liturgy
Keywords:
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions.As the title suggests, this module compares the differences of roles by women and men in the Catholic Church. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.0
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Catholic, New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Region/Urban/Rural
Keywords: women, men, religion, catholic, sociology
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology, Women's Studies
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality
Keywords: family, religion, cultural, sociology, women
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores the question of women’s religiosity as it compares to men in the United States. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality
Keywords: women, religion, United States
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores the differences in men and women in attending seminaries. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Gender/Women/ Sexuality
Keywords: women, seminary, men, comparative
Elfriede WedamAuthor
Loyola University ChicagoInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2013 Date Published
Description:
Read chapter 14 in Religion Matters, “Do We Need God to Do Good?” and the article “Lunging, Flailing, Mispunching” by Terry Eagleton to prepare for listening to this debate. We will watch the debate in class. Take notes as you listen. Write a 3-4 page essay following these guidelines.
a) Who had the most persuasive argument? (Not who you happen to agree with, but who won the debate?) Explain why.
b) Identify one important idea that you learned while listening to this debate.
c) Why do you believe that this idea is important?
d) Identify and explain at least one point made in chapter 14 or in the article by Eagleton that challenged one of the debaters (or vice-versa).
e) What questions(s) has this debate raised for you? What are you wondering about?
Institution Type: Private College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Theology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics:
Keywords: paper, religion, debate, response
Brooks HullAuthor
University of Michigan-DearbornInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2013 Date Published
Description:
This honors course consists of 3 exercises throughout the course. The first of which is a topic paper that is one page describing the topic and key points that will be made. The second exercise is the literature review, consisting of 4 pages and the final exercise in a paper incorporating previous work and using proper references.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Other
Economics
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: response papers, honors, economics, religion
Brooks HullAuthor
University of Michigan-DearbornInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2012 Date Published
Description:
This course revolves around the discussion between religion, crime, and marriage and their larger effects on economics as a whole. Students will be required to complete 4 total exercises. The first of which is a 1 page paper consisting of the topic chosen and the key points that will be made. Following that paper, the second of which will be 1-2 pages consisting of the literature review of the topic. The third exercise will involve the presentation of the paper to the class or group. Finally, the last exercise is the completed paper that has incorporated the previous work done in the class.
Institution Type: Public College or University
Class Type: Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Political Science, Other
Economics
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Business/Capitalism/Labor, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars
Keywords: crime, religion, economics, marriage, exercises, papers
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module explores how young adults spend their time volunteering for religious and non-religious organizations. This assignment was created by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: New Religious Movements
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports
Keywords: volunteering, young adults, religion, comparative
The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
The ARDA Lesson Plans integrate content from the ARDA and other sources into teachable units. Each lesson has specific learning objectives, a host of relevant readings from which to choose, learning activities to utilize in class, and assessment tools to gauge students learning on the topic. Lesson plans contain links to the ARDA learning resources to make it easy for educators to use the ARDA in their teaching. The lessons are designed for courses in a wide range of disciplines, including history, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. This assignment was created for the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Sociology
Religious Traditions: General Comparative Traditions
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality
Keywords: gender, religion, sociology, comparative, research, theory
Association of Religion Data ArchivesAuthor
IUPUIInstitution
Assignment Resource Type
2020 Date Published
Description:
Learning modules allow you to interactively explore the best data and information sources on religion. This “Core Module” offers a broad overview of topics and provides detailed directions. This module looks at the religiosity of both young men and young women in the United States.
Institution Type: Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary
Class Type: Intro, Undergraduate Course
Discipline: Religious Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology, Theology
Religious Traditions: Buddhism, Catholic, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Protestant
Topics: Class/Power, Family/Children/Reproduction
Keywords: religion, adults, young adults, United States, religiosity