Upper-division Writing Requirement Review Form (2/11)
I. General Education Review – Upper-division Writing Requirement
Dept/Program
Course # (i.e. ANTH
History/AAS
AAS/HSTA 417
Subject
455) or sequence
Course(s) Title
Prayer and Civil Rights
Description of the requirement if it is not a single course.
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office.
Please type / print name Signature
Instructor
Tobin Miller Shearer
Phone / Email
Program Chair
Date
2013/08/26
x6225
Robert Greene
Tobin Miller Shearer
Dean
Chris Comer
III. Type of request
New
One-time Only
Reason for new course, change or deletion
Change
Remove
None. Submitting for periodic review.
IV Overview of the Course Purpose/ Description
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. Such
pious action deserves careful scrutiny. Built around the question, “Does religion help or hinder
the pursuit of social change?” this class combines historical and religious studies methods 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 historical action forms meaning, 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 Christians
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.
V Learning Outcomes: Explain how each of the following learning outcomes will be achieved.
Student learning outcomes :
Identify and pursue sophisticated questions for
academic inquiry
The course carries three specific objectives
that invite students to engage with rigorous
academic questions:
- 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 1948 and
1976 and describe where, when, and how
civil rights actors used prayer in public;
Find, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize
information effectively and ethically from
diverse sources (see
The course also invites students to evaluate,
analyze and synthesize primary historical
sources as per the following objective:
- use resources from the disciplines of
African-American history and religious
studies to analyze primary source
documents;
http://www.lib.umt.edu/informationliteracy/)
Manage multiple perspectives as appropriate
Recognize the purposes and needs of
discipline-specific audiences and adopt the
academic voice necessary for the chosen
discipline
Use multiple drafts, revision, and editing in
conducting inquiry and preparing written work
Follow the conventions of citation,
documentation, and formal presentation
appropriate to that discipline
Develop competence in information
technology and digital literacy (link)
VI. Writing Course Requirements
The class requires students to examine both
religious studies perspectives and those
emerging from the study of civil rights
movement and the class is built up around
providing 1/3 of the class on religious studies
theory of prayer, 1/3 on civil rights
movement historiography, and 1/3 on the
craft of writing.
In the course of two weeks of writing
intensive workshops, students are introduced
to the means and assumptions of the craft of
writing history.
Students submit three drafts of a 20-page
research paper with each draft substantively
revised in argument, prose, and mechanics.
Students receive significant input during
writing workshops on appropriate citation
and documentation through the 7-step
footnoting process that the instructor has
developed.
Faculty from the Mansfield library presents a
full class focusing on information technology
and digital literacy and the linked course
website.
Enrollment is 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.
Yes. Course is capped at 25.
Briefly explain how students are provided with
tools and strategies for effective writing and editing
in the major.
As mentioned above, the students experience
two weeks of writing intensive workshops in
which we examine issues of grammar,
mechanics, style, and argumentation.
Students actively engage in re-writes of prose
in class, do exercises to flag grammatical
improvements, and edit each other’s work.
Which written assignment(s) includes revision in
The 20-page research paper is submitted in
response to instructor’s feedback?
three drafts and each receives substantive
instructor feedback.
VII. Writing Assignments: Please describe course assignments. Students should be required to
individually compose at least 20 pages of writing for assessment. At least 50% of the course grade
should be based on students’ performance on writing assignments. Quality of content and writing
are integral parts of the grade on any writing assignment.
Formal Graded Assignments
See attached rubric and assignment
description for the 20-page research paper
which accounts for 60% of the course grade.
Informal Ungraded Assignments
Students engage with three separate in class
writing assignments in which they respond to
writing prompts on the topic of the day’s
class discussion.
VIII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form.  For assistance
on syllabus preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html
The syllabus must include the following:
1. Writing outcomes
2. Information literacy expectations
3. Detailed requirements for all writing assignments or append writing assignment instructions
Paste syllabus here.
AAS/HSTA 417 Prayer and Civil Rights
Autumn 2012 Tobin Miller Shearer
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:40-2:00 p.m., GBB L11
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. Such pious action deserves careful scrutiny. Built around the
question, “Does religion help or hinder the pursuit of social change?” this class combines
historical and religious studies methods 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 historical action forms meaning, 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 Christians 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 1948 and 1976 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. This course is designed to support each student
in writing a 20-page primary source-based research paper that analyzes 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. The research
paper will be submitted once as a research topic, once as an outline, once as an initial
draft, once as a second draft, and once as a final draft with the expectation that each draft
will improve upon the previous one. In order to receive full credit for the paper, each
draft must be submitted in full. This course fills the “W” writing requirement or the
History department Upper Division Writing requirement.
Grading:
Participation – 40%
Research paper – 60%
Each day you earn points for your participation. If you attend, show evidence of having
read the assigned reading, and contribute to the class discussion, you will receive four
points for that day. You can earn up to 108 points in the course of the semester out of a
100-point scale (which gives you two days of unexcused absence if you need them or a
chance to improve your overall grade by attending every day and doing the readings).
Points will be posted each class day on the course Moodle site. If you are absent for an
excused reason, you will need to write a one-page, single-spaced reflection on the week’s
reading for each day missed due one week after the excused absence.
Each research paper is worth 200 points. You can earn those points in the following
manner:
1) turn in a clearly focused research topic by the assigned date = 15 points
2) turn in a paper outline:
a. on time = 5 points
b. meets minimum length requirement = 5 points
c. identifies the ten secondary sources that will be used = 10 points
3) turn in draft one of a research paper:
a. on time = 5 points
b. meets minimum length requirement (19 ½ pages) = 10 points
c. is written with complete sentences in standard paragraph form = 5 points
d. includes two student-identified primary sources plus those provided in
class = 5 points
4) turn in draft two of a research paper:
a. on time = 5 points
b. meets minimum length requirement (19 ½ pages) = 10 points
c. is written with complete sentences in standard paragraph form = 5 points
d. includes two student-identified primary sources plus those provided in
class = 5 points
e. demonstrated clear improvement on previous draft = 5 points
5) turn in final draft of research paper
a. on time = 10 points
b. meets all criteria of the research paper rubric = 100 points (pro-rated
according to grade scale below)
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:
I expect that all students will join me in creating a supportive and focused learning
environment by:
- turning off all cell phones (and thus doing no texting, e-mailing or instant
messaging);
- using laptops only for note taking;
- not doing crosswords, reading newspapers, or other recreational activities;
- not talking or whispering with fellow classmates unless instructed to do so.
During lectures, I will give you my complete attention. I ask the favor of the same from
my students. Should a student’s behavior interrupt our learning environment, he or she
will first be given a private verbal warning. Upon second infraction, the student will
receive a public warning. Should disruptive behaviors continue following two warnings,
the student will be issued a warning in writing. Any subsequent disruptive behaviors will
be turned over to the University’s disciplinary committee.
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 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:
The University of Montana assures equal access to instruction through collaboration
between students with disabilities, instructors, and Disability Services for Students
(DSS). If you think you may have a disability adversely affecting your academic
performance, and you have not already registered with DSS, please contact DSS in
Lommasson 154 or visit their website http://www.umt.edu/disability. I will work with
you and DSS to provide an appropriate accommodation.
Readings:
Chapman, Mark L. Christianity on Trial: African-American Religious Thought before
and after Black Power. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996.
Marsh, Charles. God's Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights. Princeton, NJ:
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.
Wuthnow, Robert. After Heaven: Spirituality in America since the 1950s. Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1998.
Course pack (available on course website):
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., 25-37. Nashville, TN: 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, 379-429. 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, 80-103. 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, KY:
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, NJ: 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 - August 28 & 30: Introduction to course, religion, civil rights movement
Reading due Thursday: Zaleski and Zaleski. “Prayer and the Public Square.”
Week 2 – September 4 & 6: In-class intensive writing workshops
Research Paper topic due by Wednesday at midnight.
Week 3 - September 11 & 13 : Religious Theory 1 – What is religion?
Readings due Thursday, James, “The Reality of the Unseen”; Smart.
Week 4 – September 18 & 20: Religious Theory 2 – What is ritual? Input on library
research resources.
Readings due Thursday, Alexander; Bell, “Constructing Ritual”; Livingston.
Week 5 – September 25 & 27: Religious Theory 3 – What is prayer?
Readings due Thursday, Bell, “Constructing Meaning;” James, “Mysticism”;
Zaleski and Zaleski, “The Ecstatic.”
Week 6 – October 2 & 4: The Broad American Religious Context
Reading due Thursday, Wuthnow.
Research Paper Outline due by Wednesday at midnight.
Week 7 – October 9 & 11: African-American Religious Context
Readings due Thursday, Costen; Krause and Chatters; Moore.
Week 8 – October 16 & 18: Civil Rights Movement 1 – 1940-1955
Reading due Thursday, Garrow.
Week 9 – October 23 & 25: Civil Rights Movement 2 – 1956-1963
Reading due Tuesday, Findlay. “Churches Join the Movement.”
No class on Thursday, attend one session of Day of Dialogue and sign in
instead.
Week 10 – October 30 & November 1: Civil Rights Movement 3 – 1964-1974
Readings due Thursday, Balmer; Findlay. “Religion and Politics in the Sixties.”
Research Paper Draft 1 due by Wednesday at midnight.
Week 11 – November 8: Major themes in Civil Rights Movement historiography
No class on Tuesday, election day. Exercise your right to vote!
Reading due Thursday, Orsi.
Week 12 – November 13 & 15: Reading Prayer into Civil Rights Movement History
Reading due Thursday, Marsh.
Research Paper Draft 2 due by Wednesday at midnight.
Week 13 – November 20 & 22: No classes. Writing and revision week and Thanksgiving
break.
Week 14: November 27 & 29: Reading Prayer out of Civil Rights Movement History
Reading due Thursday, Payne.
Week 15 – December 4 & 6: Thinking Faith into African-American Religion
Reading due Thursday, Chapman.
Research Paper Final Draft due by Wednesday at midnight.
Research Paper: Analysis of a Civil Rights Movement prayer event
AAS/HSTA 417 Prayer and Civil Rights
Tobin Miller Shearer
Assignment
Write a 20-page research paper that explains the significance of a public prayer event (or
events) during the civil rights movement between 1948 and 1976.
Thesis
The paper must defend a thesis that explains why the prayer(s) mattered arising from
analysis of how the civil rights activists prayed, the historical, cultural and social forces
that shaped their prayers, and the historical significance of their prayers.
Evidence
The thesis must be based on analysis of
 primary evidence about the prayer event (i.e. newspaper accounts, photographs,
video footage, audio recordings, oral histories, etc.);
 each paper needs to reference a minimum of two new primary sources of prayer
in civil rights settings (in addition to those provided by the course instructor);
 a minimum of ten secondary sources (ex.: only peer-reviewed academic journals,
books, and book chapters allowed – no Wikipedia, encyclopedia entries, or
magazines allowed). Students may include up to three secondary sources from
assigned readings as part of the ten minimum secondary sources.
Organization
The paper should be presented with clear and appropriate ordering of information,
analysis, and narrative.
Prose
The paper should be written in clear, well-structured prose.
Grammar and mechanics
The paper should employ correct grammar and punctuation.
Citation
The paper should document research findings according to the Chicago Manual of Style
and/or the Seven-step Footnoting Process handout.
Formatting
The paper should
 use double space, 12 point font, and be twenty pages in length (with a half-page
allowance over or under the assigned length) with numbered pages and one inch
margins all around. No additional spaces should be added between paragraphs;
 include an unnumbered cover page with student’s name and title of paper.
Submission
The paper must be uploaded to the class website as a Microsoft Word “.doc” or “.docx”
file by the announced due date(s) and time(s) and saved with the following name form:
student lastname–research.doc. See the class syllabus for a description of the points
awarded at each draft stage.
Research paper rubric: Analysis of a Civil Rights Movement prayer event
AAS/HSTA 417 Prayer and Civil Rights
Tobin Miller Shearer
An A paper will:
- present a clearly articulated, creative, interpretive thesis arising from rigorous
analysis of a civil rights movement prayer event between 1948 and 1976. An A
level thesis will explain not just that the prayer event succeed or failed but will
instead make an argument arising from study of how the civil rights activists
prayed, the historical, cultural and social forces that shaped their prayers, and/or
the significance of their prayers. In short, an excellent thesis explains why the
prayer(s) mattered;
- defend the thesis by drawing on primary evidence about the prayer event (i.e.
newspaper accounts, photographs, video footage, audio recordings, oral histories,
etc.). Students need a minimum of two new primary instances of prayer in civil
rights settings (in addition to those provided by the course instructor) and a
minimum of ten secondary sources (ex.: only peer-reviewed academic journals,
books, and book chapters allowed – no Wikipedia, encyclopedia entries, or
magazines allowed). Students may include up to three sources from assigned
readings as part of the ten minimum secondary sources;
- present the argument in a logically organized fashion;
- use Chicago Manual of Style footnoting form without a bibliography;
- contain no errors in standard edited English grammar, punctuation, spelling, or
paragraph form;
- use double space, 12 point font, and be twenty pages in length (with a half-page
allowance over or under the assigned length) with numbered pages and one inch
margins all around. No additional spaces should be added between paragraphs;
- include an unnumbered cover page with student’s name and title of paper;
- be uploaded to the class website as a Microsoft Word “.doc” or “.docx” file by the
announced due date and time and saved with the following name form: student
lastname–research.doc
A B paper will:
- include but fail to develop a clearly articulated central thesis;
- fail to defend the thesis with sufficient primary and secondary evidence as
described above;
- lack a coherent and logical structure;
- include inaccurate or inconsistent use of Chicago Manual of Style footnote form;
- contain several errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, or paragraph form;
- be over the maximum or under the minimum page assignment by more than half a
page.
- fail to meet the announced deadline.
A C paper will:
- lack a clearly discernable thesis;
- contain only scant evidence from primary and secondary sources;
-
provide insufficient or inaccurate analysis;
contain significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, or paragraph form.
A D paper will:
- fail to include central elements of thesis, evidence, argument, and conclusion;
- be disorganized;
- contain poor and inexcusable use of grammar, punctuation, spelling, or paragraph
form.
A F paper will:
- fail to take the assignment seriously and display no evidence of work or attention
to the assignment.