Religion and Politics in America

3 units

This class approaches the subject of “U.S. Religious History” thematically. Loosely chronological—though often stretching beyond the boundaries of strictly defined timeframes—the course structure focuses on clusters of ideas that have informed organizations and articulations of religious life in the United States from the 16th century through the present. During the term, the class will examine “religion” as an unstable and ever-changing category that exerts significant influence within American social and political life. Through an engagement with primary sources as well as scholarship from historians and religious studies scholars, students will explore how a close attention to religious communities, ideologies, and practices can help to complicate simplistic narratives of progress and homogeneity that too often underwrite dominant understandings of US history. By the end of this course, students will be able to articulate multiple “stories” of US religious history, each offering fragmentary insights into religion as it is understood and practiced in the US today.