Religion in America (RELS 250.01)

TR 4:00-5:15PM (ECTR 219)

CONTACT INFORMATION

Professor:Dr. Matthew J. Cressler

Office:4C Glebe Street, Room 105

Hours:MW 1:00PM-300PM

Email:

Phone:843.953.1026

DESCRIPTION

Some people call the United States of America a “Christian nation” while others consider it the most religiously diverse nation in the world. What is the history of religion in America? What does American religious life look like today? And what does it mean to call something an “American religion” in the first place? Students will engage each of these questions as they are introduced to religion in the American past and present. Students will explore topics ranging from encounters between Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans in the colonial Americas to the rise of American evangelicalism to Islam and Atheism in the post-9/11 United States. Special attention will be paid religion in “the Holy City,” with trips to significant sites around Charleston.

OBJECTIVES

1)Introduce you to the history of religion in America

2)Acquaint you with the ways religion has been lived in America

3)Provide you with the tools to interrogate the category of “American religion”

4)Hone your critical reading and thinking skills through disciplined engagement with texts and constructive conversation with classmates

5)Develop your ability to craft an argument by articulating a coherent thesis and defending that thesis with evidence and analysis

RELIGIOUS STUDIES STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (RELS-SLO)

This course satisfies two Religious Studies departmental Learning Outcomes:

  • RELS-SLO #2:Students understand, interpret, and contextualize primary texts from one or more religious traditions.
  • RELS-SLO #3:Students will demonstrate effective writing skills with the ability to craft an argument in defense of a coherent thesis statement using and analyzing supporting evidence from primary andsecondarysources.

GENERAL STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course also fulfills General Education Student Learning Outcomes (SLO):

  • Students analyze how ideas are represented, interpreted and valued in various expressions of human culture
  • Students examine relevant primary source materials as understood by the discipline and interpret the material in writing assignments

These two SLO will be assessed in the first Reflection Paper (10%)

ASSIGNMENTS

10% Attendance

  • I will take roll daily.
  • There are 26 classes and thus 26 possible attendance points.
  • Your 5th and 6th absences will result in a lower overall course grade.
  • Your 7th absence will result in your being dropped from the course (and receiving a failing grade).
  • An absence may be excused with proper medical documentation, but please note: CofC Health Services memos do not automatically qualify as ‘excused absences.’ Final determination lies with the professor.

10%Reading Cards (3x5 Index Cards, each worth 1%)

  • You are responsible for short weekly reflections on the readings.
  • They are due in each class marked *** RC # Due *** in the syllabus.
  • Instructions are posted on OAKS.

20%Participation

  • You earn points for contributing to conversation.
  • You earn points for taking notes and participating in class activities.
  • Quality counts more than quantity, but you must speak to contribute.

20% Two Quizzes (each worth 10%)

  • Quiz #1 will be in class on February 16
  • Quiz #2 will be in class on March 29

20%Two Reflection Papers (3-4 page papers, each worth 10%)

  • Reflection Paper #1 due March 3
  • Reflection Paper #2 due April 19
  • Instructions will be posted on OAKS

20% Final Exam: Thursday, April 28: 12:00-3:00PM

REQUIRED TEXTS

Since our collective success in this class depends on careful and critical reading of all assigned materials, it is imperative that you have your own physical copies of all texts. I expect you to actively engage the texts (underline arguments, star key points, write exasperated comments in the margins, et al.) while reading outside of class and to bring them with you to class to facilitate discussion

There are three required books and one required course reader. The books are all available at the CofC bookstore. They can also be found online. If you buy the book online, make sure you are buying the correct edition. The course reader is a single PDF file currently posted our OAKS site (under Content). Please print this reader and place it in a binder. (I will remove it from OAKS by the end of next week.) This reader is equivalent to a required book.

You will receive a 0 for attendance and participation if you fail to bring your required book/s on any given class day. Digital copies are prohibited without express permission of professor (see Technology policy below). Books are on reserve in the library, but to actively engage library copies you will need to photocopy them. If cost is a concern, please email me ().

  • Jon Butler, Grant Wacker, Randall Balmer, Religion in American Life: A Short History, Second Edition (Oxford, 2011) – listedbelow as “BWB, Chapter/s”
  • R. Marie Griffith, American Religions: A Documentary Reader(Oxford, 2007) – listed as “GRIF, Page/s”
  • James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time (Vintage International, 1991)
  • Course READER

TECHNOLOGY

Students are expected to have a CofC email address linked to OAKS that they check regularly. Email is my most frequent and effective means of communication.

Please turn your cellphones on silent when you enter the classroom. Use of cellphones is strictly prohibited. Use of cellphones to access readings will result in a 0 for attendance and participation. Use of tablets and laptops to access readings is prohibited and will also result in a 0 (without express permission of the professor).

I prefer that you use paper and pen/cil as your note-taking devices (crayons and markers also acceptable). If you prefer to take notes on a laptop or tablet, I ask that you sign an agreement with me for responsible use and that you sit in the rear of the classroom, so as not to distract your classmates. If your use of devices disrupts our class, I reserve the right to embarrass you and/or ask you to leave. (Please see me if and when you wish to sign an agreement.)

EXPECTATIONS

For Me:

  • To be passionate and prepared for class each day
  • To help you understand and assess the ideas in our required reading
  • To be clear and fair in communicating how your learning will be evaluated
  • To be accessible to answer your questions and hear to your concerns
  • To be committed to facilitating and fostering space for difficult discussions
  • To be open to questions about the role my identity plays in my teaching

For You:

  • To complete all assignments
  • To be on time and in attendance in class sessions
  • To bring all relevant materials with you to class
  • To prepare for class by reading critically and carefully
  • To participate in civil and constructive conversations with classmates

ATTENDANCE AND LATE POLICIES

  • You can only participate in our class if you are physically present, so attendance is essential to success. I will take attendance daily. If you miss more than six classes you will be dropped from the class.
  • Class begins promptly at 4:00PM on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I expect you to be seated and prepared for class when my iPhonestrikes4. Points will be deductedif you arrive late or if you leave before the end of our scheduled class time (5:15PM).
  • Assignments are due at the time specified on the assignment itself. Any assignment turned in after the designated deadline is considered late. You will be penalized one letter grade (10 points) for each day that your assignment is late. Days are calculated by 24-hour periods that begin with the original due date and time.
  • No one is more sympathetic to the busyness of our curricular and co-curricular schedules than I am (I have a wife, two daughters, a dog, after all). Nevertheless, it is crucial that we all learn to plan ahead and balance our respective responsibilities. Deadlines for other classes and other prior commitments are not acceptable excuses for missed class or late work.
  • The same goes for technological problems. We are increasingly dependent on our devices and other technologies. However, as I know you know, technology can fail us. Computers crash, iPads break, servers are sometimes down, etc. Again, though I am sympathetic, technical difficulties are not acceptable excuses for late assignments or missed class. I expect you to complete assignments well enough in advance to factor in these variables and remember, always (ALWAYS!) back up your documents!!!

HONOR CODE

The College of Charleston honor code will be strictly enforced in this course. Learning to read critically, think independently, and speak and write effectively in your own voice is at the heart of a liberal arts education. I encourage you to continue class conversations outside the classroom, to discuss readings with your fellow classmates, and even to study together. However, you should not collaborate with another student on any assignment that you hand in for credit, whether it is an in-class quiz or an out-of-class paper. You should never use words or make arguments that are not your own without proper attribution, regardless of whether they are the words or arguments of fellow classmates, books, articles, blog posts, et al.

All instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the College. If you are caught taking credit for work that is not your own or cheating in any other way, you will receive a failing grade for the assignment and I will file an Honor Code Report with the College.The honor code and the consequences for academic dishonesty can be viewed at:

DISABILITY ACCOMODATION

If you have, or think you may have, a documented disability (physical, learning, psychiatric, visual, hearing, etc.) please visit the Center for Disability Services. The Center can provide you with the information and documentation necessary to arrange accommodations you may require. The Center for Disability Services / Students Needing Access Parity (SNAP) can be accessed via:

COURSE SCHEDULE (subject to change with advance notice)

What Do We Mean By “Religion” and “America”?

Week 1 – How to Use This Course

Thursday, January 7

Week 2 – What Does “American Religion” Even Mean?

Tuesday, January 12

BWB, “Preface”

Catherin Albanese, “An Elephant in the Dark”– READER

Thursday, January

Thomas A. Tweed, “Narrating U.S. Religious History” – READER

*** RC #1 Due ***

Religion in Colonial America

Week 3 – Worlds Collide Amidst Colonialism

Tuesday, January 19

BWB, 1-2

Thursday, January 21

Joel Martin, “Indians, Contact, and

Colonialism in the Deep South”

– READER

GRIF, “Sublimus Deus,” 2-3

*** RC #2 Due ***

Week 4 – Puritans, Pilgrims, and Outcasts

Tuesday, January 26

BWB, 3-4

Thursday ,January 28

GRIF, “Spirituall Milk for Boston Babes

in Either England,” 10-15

GRIF, “The Examination of Mrs. Anne

Hutchinson,” 38-63

*** RC #3 Due ***

Week 5 – Pluralism in a Slaveholding Society

Tuesday, February 2

BWB, 5-6

Thursday, February 4

Wills, “American Religious History:

Pluralism, Puritanism, and the Encounter of Black and White”

– READER

*** RC #4 Due ***

*** Extra Credit: Lectures on Science and Religion (February 8 and 9) ***

Week 6 –Revolutions and the Making of “Religion”

Tuesday, February 9

BWB, 7-8

Thursday, February 11

GRIF, “A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom,” 150-52

GRIF, “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments,” 152-56

*** RC #5 Due ***

Religion in Nineteenth-Century America

Week 7–Awakenings and Visionaries

Tuesday, February 16

*** QUIZ #1 ***

Thursday, February 18

BWB, 9-10

Week 8–Israelites, New and Old (Or, Making an “American Religion”)

Tuesday, February 23

BWB, 11-12

Thursday, February 25

GRIF, “The Articles of Faith” and “Revelation,” 164-72

*** RC #6 Due ***

*** MCLEOD PLANTATION TRIP ***

Saturday, February 28: 10:00AM-2:00PM

Baptist, “Breath” in The Half Has Never Been Told– READER

Week 9 – Slavery, Abolition, and the Wrath of God

Tuesday, March 1

BWB, 13

Thursday, March 3

Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” – READER

Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address” – READER

*** REFLECTION PAPER #1 ***

*** SPRING BREAK – MARCH 6-13 ***

Week 10 – Catholics and America(nization)

Tuesday, March 15 – *** NO CLASS ***

Thursday, March 17

BWB, 14

“John Hughes Condemns the New York Public School Society” – READER

“Instruction of the Propoganda Fide Concerning Catholic Children in

American Public Schools” – READER

*** RC #7 Due ***

Week 11 – Innovators and Adventurers

Tuesday, March 22

BWB, 15-17

Thursday, March 24

Ann Braude, “Women’s History Is American Religious History”– READER

*** RC #8 Due ***

Religion in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century America

Week 12 – Pentecost and Holocaust

Tuesday, March 29

*** QUIZ #2 ***

Thursday, March 31

BWB, 18-19

Week 13 – BlackProphetic Fire

Tuesday, April 5

BWB, 20-21

Thursday, April 7

BALDWIN, The Fire Next Time

*** RC #9 Due ***

Week 14 – A Christian Nation?

Tuesday, April 12

BWB, 22-23

Thursday, April 14

GRIF, “From Stranger at the Gate,” 587-602

GRIF, “From The Name and a Response from

the Council on American-Islamic

Relations” 602-06

*** RC #10 Due ***

Week 15 – The Most Religiously Diverse Nation in the World?

Tuesday, April 19

BWB, 24-25, Epilogue

*** Reflection Paper #2 Due ***

*** Final Exam ***

Thursday, April 28: 12:00-3:00PM

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