Writing Course Review Form (12/1/08)
I. General Education Review – Writing Course
Dept/Program
Course # (i.e. ENEX
African American
AAS/HIST/RELS 450
Subject
200)
Studies
Course Title
Prayer and Civil Rights
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office.
Please type / print name Signature
Date
Instructor
Tobin Miller
Shearer
Phone / Email
406-24346225/tobin.shearer@u
montana.edu
Program Chair
Tobin Miller Shearer
III Overview of the Course Purpose/ Description: Provides an introduction to the subject
matter and explains course content and learning goals.
This course explores the meaning of public prayer in the Civil Rights Movement. Built around the
question, “Does religion help or hinder the pursuit of social change?” this class combines historical and
religious studies inquiry to trace changes in civil rights activists’ efforts to make use of religion. By
focusing on a particular religious practice – in this case prayer within the Christian community – in a
specific, but limited period of time, this course challenges students to consider how meaning is formed
through historical action and study the social significance of religious practice. This course complicates
prevailing ideas about the normalcy of African-American religious practitioners’ prayer, invites students
to examine their assumptions about the nature of prayer, and traces how religion spilled out of
sanctuaries into the streets during the civil rights era.
IV Learning Outcomes: Explain how each of the following learning outcomes will be achieved.
Students will analyze a provided set of primary
Student learning outcomes :
documents on the practice of prayer to examine
Use writing to learn and synthesize new
how religious resources affect social change
concepts
movements in a series of blogs, essays, and a
research paper.
Through the written exercises described above
Formulate and express opinions and ideas in
students will develop their ideas about prayer
writing
practices in the civil rights movement.
Through two in-class writing workshops, students
Compose written documents that are
will first receive instruction on writing for
appropriate for a given audience or purpose
specific audiences and then practice by writing
blogs addressed to their classmates, essays
addressed to general audiences, and a research
paper addressed to the scholarly community.
Students will write a minimum of two drafts of
Revise written work based on constructive
their research paper based on peer and instructor
feedback
feedback.
Find, evaluate, and use information effectively Students will be given instructor support about
(see http://www.lib.umt.edu/informationliteracy/) research strategies to identify secondary
bibliographic sources in addition to the provided
primary source base.
Begin to use discipline-specific writing
conventions
Demonstrate appropriate English language
usage
Through feedback and class instruction the
students will receive guidance on the primary
conventions of African American Studies with a
particular focus on analysis of primary sources
(history) and logical argumentation (English).
Through in class instruction and paper feedback
students will evaluate how to properly use the
English language.
V. Writing Course Requirements Check list
Is enrollment capped at 25 students?
If not, list maximum course enrollment.
Explain how outcomes will be adequately met
for this number of students. Justify the request
for variance.
Are outcomes listed in the course syllabus? If
not, how will students be informed of course
expectations?
X Yes † No
X Yes † No
† Yes X No
Students will be informed of information literacy
expectations during the first class session.
Students need to have basic familiarity with the
difference between primary and secondary
sources, use of web-based subject resources, and
use of library databases. For students lacking this
literacy, a tutorial with a librarian faculty member
will be arranged.
Are detailed requirements for all written
X Yes † No
assignments included in the course syllabus? If not In addition to the requirements listed in the
how and when will students be informed of written syllabus, students will receive a detailed rubric
for each writing assignment.
assignments?
What instructional methods will be used to teach
Students will write for classmates in a blog form,
for general audiences in two essays, and for the
students to write for specific audiences, purposes,
scholarly community in a research paper.
and genres?
Will written assignments include an opportunity for X Yes † No The first three sets of assignments
revision? If not, then explain how students will
(blogs and two essays) will be submitted without
revision but will receive peer and instructor
receive and use feedback to improve their writing
feedback. The final research paper will be written
ability.
in a minimum of two drafts.
VI. Writing Assignments: Please describe course assignments. Students should be required to
individually compose at least 16 pages of writing for assessment. At least 50% of the course grade
should be based on students’ performance on writing assignments. Clear expression, quality, and
accuracy of content are considered an integral part of the grade on any writing assignment.
To encourage focused engagement with the texts,
Formal Graded Assignments
students will write five blog entries on the course
website and submit two five-page essays. Each
student will complete the course by writing a
fifteen-page research paper that analyzes one text
from a set of primary sources including video
footage of prayers by grassroots civil rights
Are expectations for Information Literacy listed in
the course syllabus? If not, how will students be
informed of course expectations?
activists, written prayers, and sound recordings of
civil rights activists giving public prayers.
Written rubrics will be provided for each
individual assignment.
In the course of normal class sessions, students
Informal Ungraded Assignments
are frequently asked to write five-minute
response essays, develop paragraph-length
analyses of primary documents, and evaluate their
peers’ written work.
VII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form. ⇓ The syllabus
should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus preparation
see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html
Paste syllabus here.
AAS 450 Prayer and Civil Rights
Tobin Miller Shearer
With knees bent and heads bowed, a group of fervent African-American activists prepared to
pray on the sidewalks of Albany, Georgia, in 1963. A few minutes later, dour-faced police
officers arrested the young people and removed them from the sidewalk to a local jail. This
course explores the meaning of such pious action. Built around the question, “Does religion help
or hinder the pursuit of social change?” this class combines historical and religious studies
inquiry to trace changes in civil rights activists’ efforts to make use of religion. By focusing on a
particular religious practice – in this case prayer – in a specific, but limited period of time, this
course challenges students to examine African-American history and religion from two primary
perspectives. First, students will consider how meaning is formed through historical action, in
this case through the public recitation of appeals to divine authority. Secondly, students will
study the social significance of religious practice by examining how African-American religious
actors in the Christian community articulated a rationale for change, appealed to commonly held
ethical values, and evoked the assurance of divine support. This course thus complicates
prevailing ideas about the normalcy of African-American religious practitioners’ prayer, invites
students to examine their assumptions about the nature of prayer, and traces how religion spilled
out of sanctuaries into the streets.
Objectives: students will be able to –
- ask purposeful questions about religious practice and answer them creatively;
- differentiate among and explain the major characteristics of the ritualistic, rhetorical, and
political aspects of Christian prayers;
- identify significant shifts in the Civil Rights Movement between 1950 and 1970 and describe
where, when, and how civil rights actors used prayer in public;
- use resources from the disciplines of African-American history and religious studies to
analyze primary source documents;
- develop, revise and defend written arguments explaining the meaning of a specific instance
of public prayer.
Assignments:
Each week’s classes will include input on religious theory and African American history,
opportunities for student discussion, topical readings, and regular writing assignments. In all
classroom activities, students will draw on readings from both religious studies theory and
African-American civil rights history. To encourage focused engagement with the texts, students
will also write five blog entries on the course website and submit two five-page papers. Each
student will complete the course by writing a fifteen-page research paper that analyzes one text
from a set of primary sources including video footage of prayers by grassroots civil rights
activists, written prayers, and sound recordings of civil rights activists giving public prayers.
Grading:
Participation – 20%
Blog entries – 10%
Essay 1 – 20%
Essay 2 – 20%
Research paper – 30%
Grade scale:
A+ 98-100 A 93-97
C+ 77-79 C 73-76
A- 90-92
C- 70-72
B+ 87-89 B 83-86 B- 80-82
D+ 67-69 D 63-66 D- 60-62 F ≤59
Class size:
Enrollment is limited to 25 students.
Classroom etiquette:
In a wired world gone casual, a few words on etiquette in the classroom will prove helpful.
During lectures, I will give you my complete attention. I ask the favor of the same from my
students. To this end, during class time it is considered inappropriate to communicate via techsavvy means (i.e. texting, writing e-mails, surfing the web, instant-messaging, etc.) or in a more
quaintly Luddite fashion (whispering, passing notes, having conversations, etc.). Your
cooperation is greatly appreciated in this matter. Please turn off all cell phones and use laptops
only for note taking during lectures and class discussion. Acting contrary to these basic standards
of etiquette will not only be considered rude but will likewise negatively impact participation
grades.
Instructor contact:
I maintain regular office hours that I will post on the course website. You are also welcome to
contact me by e-mail. My goal is to respond within 24 hours. In case of emergency, you may
contact me by phone as listed on the course website.
Missed deadlines:
My goal is always to encourage your best work in the midst of multiple classroom demands and
real life emergencies. Limited deadline extensions can be arranged if the student makes advance
contact. Late papers or projects will be marked down a 1/3 grade/day. Make-up exams will not
be offered unless they are arranged along with appropriate documentation from medical, athletic
or administrative officials.
Academic honesty:
Stealing someone else’s ideas is the same as stealing someone’s property. Cite others’ ideas in
standard footnote or endnote format (in written work and all projects). Paraphrase whenever
possible. In general, a paraphrase uses no more than three of the same words in a sentence as the
original source. See: http://ordway.umt.edu/SA/VPSA/index.cfm/name/StudentConductCode for
a full review of the University of Montana’s student conduct code.
Accessibility:
Students with documented disabilities as per University policy (see:
http://www.umt.edu/dss/current/expect_access/ldver.html for more information) will be
appropriately accommodated in accordance with counsel from University of Montana Disability
Services for Students (DSS).
Readings:
Chapman, Mark L. Christianity on Trial: African-American Religious Thought before and after
Black Power. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1996.
Marsh, Charles. God's Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1997.
Payne, Charles M. I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi
Freedom Struggle. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
Wilmore, Gayraud S., and James H. Cone. Black Theology: A Documentary History, 19661979. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1979.
Wuthnow, Robert. After Heaven: Spirituality in America since the 1950s. Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1998.
Course pack:
Alexander, Bobby Chris. “Correcting Misinterpretations of Turner’s Theory: An AfricanAmerican Pentecostal Illustration.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 30 (1991):
26-44.
Balmer, Randall. “Mississippi Missions.” In Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the
Evangelical Subculture in America, expanded ed., 176-192. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1993.
Bell, Catherine M. “Constructing Ritual.” In Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice, 19-29. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1992.
---------. “Constructing Meaning.” In Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice, 30-46. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1992.
Costen, Melva Wilson. “Worship in the Invisible Institution.” In African American Christian
Worship, 2nd. ed., 36-49. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2007.
Findlay, James. “Churches Join the Movement.” In The Civil Rights Movement, edited by Paul
A. Winters, 141-49. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000.
---------. “Religion and Politics in the Sixties: The Churches and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
The Journal of American History 77, no. 1 (1990): 66-92.
Garrow, David J. “Religious Resources and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.” Criterion 34
(1995): 2-9.
James, William. “The Reality of the Unseen.” In The Varieties of Religious Experience: A
Study in Human Nature, 53-76. New York: Random House, 1902.
---------. “Mysticism.” In The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature,
370-420. New York: Random House, 1902.
Krause, Neal, and Linda M. Chatters. “Exploring Race Differences in a Multidimensional
Battery of Prayer Measures among Older Adults.” Sociology of Religion 66, no. 1 (2005):
23-43.
Livingston, James C. “Sacred Ritual.” Anatomy of the Sacred: An Introduction to Religion, 80103. New York: Macmillan, 1989.
Moore, R. Laurence. “The African Future of Christianity.” In Touchdown Jesus: The Mixing of
Sacred and Secular in American History, 89-108. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster
John Knox Press, 2003.
Orsi, Robert A. “Everyday Miracles: The Study of Lived Religion.” In Lived Religion in
America: Toward a History of Practice, edited by David D. Hall, 3-21. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1997.
Smart, Ninian. “Introduction.” Dimensions of the Sacred: An Anatomy of the World's Beliefs,
1-26. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
Zaleski, Philip, and Carol Zaleski. “The Ecstatic.” In Prayer: A History, 158-194. New York:
Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005.
---------. “Prayer and the Public Square.” In Prayer: A History, 294-310. New York: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 2005.
Schedule:
Week 1: Course introduction, religion introduction, civil rights movement introduction
Zaleski and Zaleski. “Prayer and the Public Square.”
Week 2: In-class intensive writing workshops
Blogs 1 and 2 due. Topics: Introduced in class.
Week 3: Religious Theory 1 – What is religion?
James. “The Reality of the Unseen.”
Smart.
Blog 3 due. Topic: What is religion?
Week 4: Religious Theory 2 – What is ritual?
Alexander.
Bell.
Livingston.
Blog 4 due. Topic: What is ritual?
Week 5: Religious Theory 3 – What is prayer?
Bell. “Constructing Meaning.”
James. “Mysticism.”
Zaleski and Zaleski. “The Ecstatic.”
Essay 1 due. Topic: What is prayer?
Week 6: The Broad American Religious Context
Wuthnow.
Week 7: African American Religious Context
Costen.
Krause.
Moore.
Week 8: Civil Rights Movement 1 – 1940-1955
Garrow.
Essay 2 due. Topic: What defines American religion?
Week 9: Civil Rights Movement 2 – 1955-1963
Findlay. “Churches Join the Movement.”
Research paper topic due.
Week 10: Civil Rights Movement 3 – 1963-1974
Balmer.
Findlay. “Religion and Politics in the Sixties.”
Blog 5 due. Topic: What defines American religion?
Week 11: In class intensive workshops on primary source analysis
Orsi.
Research paper bibliography due.
Week 12: Reading Prayer into Civil Rights Movement History
Marsh.
Research paper outline due.
Week 13: Reading Prayer out of Civil Rights Movement History
Payne.
Week 14: Thinking Faith into African-American Religion
Wilmore and Cone.
Research paper draft one due.
Week 15: Thinking Faith out of African-American Religion
Chapman.
Finals week:
Research paper draft two due at end of finals week.