Alexander Rocklin

This course includes brief introductions to four or five major religious traditions while exploring concepts and categories used in the study of religion, such as sacredness, myth, ritual, religious experience and social dimensions of religion. Traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism and Native American traditions may be presented through important texts and practices. This counts toward the 100-level introduction to religious studies course requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every semester.

This course explores the religious history of the United States, with an emphasis on the relationship between religious beliefs/values and broader social and political processes. We first examine the attempt of European immigrants to establish church-state compacts in New England and Virginia, while the middle colonies adopted a more pluralistic approach. Next, we survey the period between the American Revolution and the Civil War, looking at the separation of church and state, the growth of religious pluralism and the continued existence of the "Peculiar Institution." We then look at how various social forces shaped religion in the United States from the Civil War to World War II: immigration: urbanization: prejudice and the Social Gospel; expansionism and missions; and modernism and fundamentalism. Finally, we examine the shaping of the American religious landscape from World War II to the present through such forces as religious revitalization, activism for personal and civil rights, new waves of immigration and new communication media. This counts toward the religions of distinct geographic regions requirement as American. No prerequisite. Offered every other fall.

This course seeks to combine a survey of the history of African American religious experiences with an exploration of various themes emerging from that history. Special attention falls on the social forces shaping such experiences; the influence of African American religious commitments on their cultural, social and political activities; and the diversity of religious experiences and expressions among African Americans. The survey encompasses African religious heritage and its relevance in America; the religious life of slaves on the plantations and rise of independent African American churches in both the North and the South; the role of African American churches during Reconstruction and Jim Crow; the emergence of diverse African-American religious traditions and movements in the first half of the 20th Century; African American religion in the civil rights era; and current trends and issues in African American religion and spirituality. Some of the themes that occupy our attention include religion and resistance; religion and cultural formation; African American Christian missions; the Back-to-Africa Movement; the aesthetics of worship in African American churches; class, gender and social mobility; and religion and political activism. We employ a combination of primary and secondary readings along with audiovisual materials in exploring the development of and the issues in African American religious experiences. This counts toward the religions of distinct geographic regions requirement as American.. No prerequisite. Offered every other fall.