COURSE SUMMARY:
How has America's religious experience been shaped by denominational competition? How has your own religious experience been shaped by your (or your family's) religious denomination or tradition, including traditions of irreligion?
What is America's civil religion?

TEXTS All are available in the bookstore; most are also on reserve in the library:
Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, The Churching of America, 1776 - 1990
Christian Smith, American Evangelicalism: Embattled and Thriving
Albert Raboteau, Canaan Land: A Religious History of African Americans
Andrew Greeley, The Catholic Myth
Samuel Heilman, Portrait of American Jews
Richard and Joan Ostling, Mormon America
Diana Eck, A New Religious America

WORK (and grading):
Quizzes (25): Pop quizzes on the principal facts and main point of the readings due for that day, and/or points covered in previous classes. I will drop the lowest quiz grade.

Final Examination (20%)

Denominational Paper (25). You will write an 8 - 10 page paper on your denominational experience. This should include the basic historical, theological, and sociological facts of your particular denomination and its place in its denominational "family." You should also analyze how the American religious marketplace affects you in relation to your denomination.

Civil Religion Field Paper (20). You will write a 5 – 7 page paper based on field research about some aspect of civil religion. You will also present a poster in the penultimate class meeting.

Participation (10): This has two parts:
1) Your contribution to class discussion; and
2) A journal. The journal should cover responses to all the material of this course, and accounts of at least three visits to religious services. I will collect them every other week (see schedule below). You should average at least a page every other day for a regular entry. The service visit accounts should be longer (about 3 pages). Go to services of several denominations besides your own – the more unfamiliar, the better. I will help you set them up, so that you have someone in the congregation to talk to about the experience. I urge you to go with at least one other person from our class. The account should tell something about the denomination, describe the service itself, and describe and analyze at least one intelligent question you asked, and got answered, by your native informant.
These will be graded on a "minus; check; plus" scale, "check" being the norm.

SCHEDULE
9/8 Introduction: What is the Sociology of Religion?
9/10 All the religions of the world from Adam and Eve to the present, AND American religion as the competition of denominations (a pretty big day, don't you think?)
Finke and Stark, ch. 1 (about 20 pages)
9/12 From Columbus to the Civil War: Making the Protestant Establishment.
Finke and Stark, chs. 2 & 3 (80)

9/15 From the Great Immigration to the Great War: Catholics, Jews, and Remaking the Protestant Establishment. Finke and Stark, chs. 4 & 5 (90)
9/17 The Triple Melting Pot. Finke and Stark, ch. 6 (40)
9/19 From Cultural Revolution to the New Religious Market. Finke and Stark, ch. 7 (40)
[Fractional] Fun Friday: Your Denomination

9/22 Evangelical Protestantism as Engaged Orthodoxy. Smith chs. 1 & 2 (70)
In class:(selection)
Journals due, A – M surnames. First entry should be your three-generation religious family tree.
9/24 FILM: "Holy Ghost People" (Bijou)
9/26 Drawing the Boundaries around Evangelicalism. Smith chs. 4 & 5 (65)

9/29 Less Than Conquerors: Limits of Evangelical Competitiveness. Smith ch. 7 (40)
Journals due, N - Z surnames. First entry should be your three-generation religious family tree.
10/1 Wonderful Wednesday: Talking about the evolutionary cycle of denominations
10/3 Catholics: The Benchmark Denomination. Greeley, chs. 1 & 2 (35)

10/6 Catholic Imagination. Greeley, chs. 3 & 4 (55)
Journals due, A – M
10/8 Catholic Institutions. Greeley, chs. 5 – 8 (75)
10/10 Catholics: The Next Generation. Greeley, chs. 9, 12, 14 (50)

10/13 Manic Monday: Columbus Day and Catholic Assimilation
Journals due, N - Z
10/15 Negro Religion to the Civil War. Raboteau, chs. 1 – 3 (60)
10/17 Colored Churches in Caste Separation. Raboteau, chs. 4 & 5 (45)

10/20 Black Faiths in Competition. Raboteau, chs. 6 & 7 (35)
Journals due, A – M
10/22 Wonderful Wednesday. Talking about your denominational experience.
Denominational papers due in class.
10/24 FALL BREAK

10/27 Jewish Caste. Heilman, ch. 1 (40)
Journals due, N - Z
10/29 Choosing to be Jews. Heilman, chs. 2 & 3(90)
10/31 FILM: "The Glory and the Power: Fundamentalisms Observed, Part 3 - This is Our Land [Israel]" (Classroom)

11/3 Mormons and Other American Originals. Ostling and Ostling, chs. 1, 4, 9, 10, 11 (75) [chs. 2 & 3 are also very interesting history]
Journals due, A – M
11/5 Mormon Word and Way. Ostling and Ostling, chs. 13, 16, 17 (50)
11/7 Mormons and Christian America. Ostling and Ostling, chs. 18, 19, 22 (55)

11/10 New Religious America. Eck, chs. 1 & 2 (80)
Journals due, N - Z
11/12 Hindus, Here. Eck, ch. 3 (60)
11/14 Buddhist Bake Sales. Eck, ch. 4 (80)

11/17 American Muslims. Eck, ch. 5 (70)
Journals due, A – M
11/19 Fighting, Talking, Competing. Eck, chs. 6 & 7 (90)
11/21 Fun Friday: Talking about how the American religious market can handle this diversity.

11/24 Civil Religion in America. Bellah, "Civil Religion in America" [handout; also on reserve in Bellah, Beyond Belief]
Journals due, N - Z
11/26 THANKSGIVING BREAK
11/28 THANKSGIVING BREAK

12/1 Civil Religion Scripture: Declaration of Independence; First Amendment to the Constitution; Gettysburg Address; Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address; The Four Freedoms; "I Have a Dream" Speech; Kennedy's Inaugural Address; "The New Colossus" [Statue of Liberty]; The Pledge of Allegiance. [handout]
NOTE: In each of the civil religion sessions, we will discuss whether these lists are correct and complete.
12/3 Civil Religion Hymns: "The Star-Spangled Banner," "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "America the Beautiful," "Lift Every Voice and Sing," "God Bless America." [handout]
12/5 Civil Religion Icons: Liberty Bell; Independence Hall; Star-Spangled Banner; White House; U.S. Capitol; Washington Monument; Lincoln Memorial; Statue of Liberty; Mount Rushmore; Ellis Island; Gateway Arch; Golden Gate Bridge; Twin Towers.

12/8 Civil Religion Holidays: We will generate the list in class.
Final Journals due, all students
12/10 Summary discussion: American Denominational Religion
12/11 Thursday afternoon, 4 - 6 Civil Religion field project poster session [Crounse Basement]
Civil Religion paper due.
12/12 NO CLASS

12/17 FINAL EXAM 1:30 – 4:30