THE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE (REL 160)
Fall Semester 2009
Centenary College of Louisiana
Dr. Huff
Smith 121 B
Office Hours: W & Th 2:00-3:00 and by appt. (except Fri.)
869-5049
phuff@centenary.edu
Nature of the Course
In this course we will encounter an unusual assembly of people drawn from the history of
America's rich religious experience. Our purpose is to understand the role of religion in shaping
American culture and to assess the influence of the American experience on the formation of
distinctive styles of religious belief and practice. The course follows the stories of individuals
and groups in the United States who have been religious, describing the ways in which they have
expressed their manifold faiths. Embracing a span of more than five hundred years, the course
charts the development of religious life and thought within the pluralistic American scene. We
will examine the career of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish traditions, as well as new and
alternative religious traditions outside the cultural mainstream. The course focuses in depth on
the life and thought of four luminous figures: Jonathan Edwards, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mary
Baker Eddy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Goals of the Course
To introduce the student to the academic study of religions in American culture.
To acquaint the student with the main figures, groups, movements, periods, texts, ideas,
practices, and themes of the American religious experience.
To stimulate critical analysis of the role of religion in American history.
To foster the student's appreciation of the varieties of religion in American culture.
To assist the student in the improvement of his or her skills in critical thinking, reading, and
writing.
Required Textbooks
Mary Baker Eddy, Collected Shorter Writings
Ralph Waldo Emerson (L. Ziff, ed.), Nature and Selected Essays
Martin Luther King, Strength to Love
Harold Simonson, ed., Selected Writings of Jonathan Edwards, 2nd ed.
Course Requirements
1. Faithful Attendance and Informed Participation (5%). In the case of illness or other unusual
circumstances, it is your responsibility to secure class notes and relevant assignments from a
fellow student. Tardy students may not be counted as present. A crucial dimension of the course
is your critical engagement with primary and secondary texts. Read materials that are assigned
for each unit and be prepared to discuss them. You are responsible for all assigned readings,
even those not discussed in class.
2. Three Short Essays (first: 15%; second and third: 20% each). Each paper should be typed
(double-spaced), no longer than 2 pages (Times New Roman, 12 pt.), and should include
appropriate documentation (when necessary). Topics will be assigned. Electronic submissions
will not be accepted. Late papers will result in a substantial penalty on the grade (a letter grade
per day late, including weekends).
3. Final Examination (15%). The final exam day and time cannot be changed.
4. Field observation paper (20%). Attend the services of two religious groups in the ShreveportBossier area—two organizations different from your own faith community. Please avoid
“independent” and “non-denominational” churches. Prior to each visit, research the history,
beliefs, and practices of the group using one or more of the following print resources in the
Reference area of the Library: Dictionary of Christian Denominations (Ref BR 157.D35 2003),
Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience, 3 vols. (Ref BL2525.E53 1988),
Encyclopedia of American Religions, 2 vols. (Ref BL2530.U6M443 1978), and Handbook of
Denominations in the United States (Ref BL2525.M425 1995). The final product will be a firstperson descriptive/analytic paper. It should (1) describe the events of the services for an
audience unfamiliar with the traditions you’ve observed and (2) offer a critical reflection on your
observations and experiences in light of your study of American religion. The paper should be
typed (double-spaced), no longer than 5 pages (Times New Roman, 12 pt.), and should include
appropriate documentation and a formal bibliography of at least two print reference resources—
at least one for each religious tradition. Internet sources (such as a denomination’s official
website) may be used in addition to the print reference resources. The paper must conform to the
standards of academic writing as set forth in an accepted handbook of style. The paper is due at
the beginning of class on 12/4. Electronic submissions will not be accepted. Late papers will
result in a substantial penalty on the grade (a letter grade for every day late, including weekends).
Failure to submit a field observation paper will result in an “F” for the entire course.
5. Reading Log (5%). Read a minimum of 200 pages in addition to the assigned unit readings.
Keep a log of the titles and pages that you read. Submit the complete reading log on the final day
of the course. Read articles, books, and/or book portions by one or more of the following
authors:
Sydney Ahlstrom
Catherine Albanese
R. Scott Appleby
Leonard Arrington
Randall Balmer
Philip Barlow
Robert Bellah
Peter Berger
Joseph Blau
Harold Bloom
Jerald Brauer
Joseph Epes Brown
Richard Bushman
Jon Butler
Patrick Carey
Conrad Cherry
William Clebsch
James Cone
Paul Conkin
Harvey Cox
Cyprian Davis
Donald Dayton
Vine Deloria
Jay Dolan
Diana Eck
John Tracy Ellis
Robert Ellwood
Rick Fields
James T. Fisher
Edwin Gaustad
Sam Gill
Philip Gleason
Stephen Gottschalk
Andrew Greeley
R. Marie Griffith
David D. Hall
Robert Handy
Nathan Hatch
James Hennesey
Will Herberg
Samuel S. Hill
Winthrop Hudson
William Hutchison
Belden Lane
Bill J. Leonard
C. Eric Lincoln
Charles Lippy
Paula Kane
Rosemary Skinner Keller
Colleen McDonnell
William McLoughlin
Laurie Maffly-Kipp
George Marsden
Martin Marty
Mark Massa
Henry May
Sidney Mead
Albert G. Miller
Perry Miller
Timothy Miller
R. Lawrence Moore
Edmund Morgan
Jacob Needleman
Jacob Neusner
H. Richard Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr
Mark Noll
Ronald Numbers
Robert Orsi
Amanda Porterfield
Charles Prebish
Stephen Prothero
Albert Raboteau
Russell E. Richey
Rosemary Radford Ruether
Ernest Sandeen
Philip Schaff
Richard Hughes Seager
Milton C. Sernett
William Shea
Jan Shipps
Stephen Stein
Harry S. Stout
William Warren Sweet
Ann Taves
Thomas Tweed
Grant Wacker
Mary Jo Weaver
Timothy P. Weber
Peter W. Williams
Charles Reagan Wilson
Robert Wuthnow
8/24
Introduction to the Course
8/26
Native American Traditions
Read Selected Writings of Jonathan Edwards (pp. 17-31, 49-65,
77-89, 123-130)
8/28
Columbus and the New World
8/31
American Catholic Genesis
9/2
Protestant America’s European Background
9/4
Protestants in Colonial America
9/7
No Class
9/9
New England Puritanism
9/11
Alternative Religions in Colonial America
9/14
Catholics in Colonial America
9/16
The Great Awakening
9/18
The Enlightenment
9/21
Jonathan Edwards and Evangelicalism
9/23
Discuss Selected Writings of Jonathan Edwards
9/25
Discuss Selected Writings of Jonathan Edwards
9/28
No Class
9/30
Church and State in America
10/2
Religions of the Slaves
First Essay due
10/5
The Second Great Awakening
Read Emerson, Nature and Selected Essays (“An Address
Delivered Before the Senior Class in Divinity College,” “SelfReliance,” “The Over-Soul,” “The Transcendentalist”)
10/7
Richard Allen and Black Denominationalism
10/9
The Growth of Liberal Religion
10/12
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Transcendentalism
10/14
Discuss Emerson, Nature and Selected Essays
10/16
Fall Break
10/19
Discuss Emerson, Nature and Selected Essays
10/21
Catholics in Protestant America
10/23
Jews in Christian America
Second Essay due
10/26
Ann Lee and the Shakers
Read Mary Baker Eddy, Collected Shorter Writings
(“Retrospection and Introspection,” “No and Yes,” “Christian
Science versus Pantheism,” “Christian Healing,” “The People’s
Idea of God”)
10/28
Film: “The Shakers”
10/30
Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints
11/2
Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science
11/4
Film: “Soul of a Woman: Mary Baker Eddy”
11/6
Discuss Mary Baker Eddy, Collected Shorter Writings
11/9
Discuss Mary Baker Eddy, Collected Shorter Writings
11/11
Pentecostals and the Spirit
11/13
Fundamentalists and the Word
11/16
Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Apocalypse
11/18
America’s Alternative Altars
11/20
Social Gospels in the City
Third Essay due
11/23-27
Thanksgiving Break
11/30
Martin Luther King and Public Protestantism
Read Martin Luther King, Strength to Love
12/2
Malcolm X and American Islam
12/4
Field Observation Paper due
12/7
Discuss King, Strength to Love
12/9
Discuss King, Strength to Love
12/11
American Religious Experience Today
Final Exam