How the State Does Religion

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Scholar of Black religious studies, J. Kameron Carter, poignantly argues that “the modern invention of religion works in close connection with the emergence of capitalist commerce and exchange and the idea of the state...” This advanced undergraduate seminar seeks to unsettle what we think we know about the category of “religion” and its relation to “the state.” It raises questions about the concepts such as “the human,” “the political” and “antiblackness.” Rooted in Black Studies, this course spans multiple centuries, geographies, and themes. Students will write a major research paper on one aspect of religion and the state, drawing on archival, primary, and secondary sources.