Courses

History 4790/6790: American Religions

Surveys the major faiths found in the United States - Protestantism, Catholicism, Native American traditions, Judaism - and examines their relationship to American culture. Focuses on the period between 1870 and the present.

History 6200: Religion in the Modern World

The impact of religion on the development of modern society cannot be overestimated. A cursory glance at the news raises questions about the role of religion in warfare, national identity, immigration, community life, and individual psychology. This graduate seminar explores the various ways that religion influence political and cultural development across the globe. Particular focus will be on how diverse religious communities interact with one another (Catholic/Jew; Protestant/Catholic); with secular ideologies (Nazism, romanticism, capitalism); and cross national borders (Haiti/US; Tibet/US; Mexico/US). Feature films and documentaries as well as popular non-fiction will broaden our study and raise methodological questions about how we learn about religion in the modern world.

History 3910: Film and Religion

Religion is a complex and vibrant phenomenon that influences every aspect of society and culture. This advanced undergraduate seminar focuses on the interactions between religion and American popular culture. Specifically it asks, how do commercial filmmakers (collectively called "Hollywood") understand religion? How does Hollywood call on religion to articulate various social, aesthetic, and economic concerns? Which social and cultural changes make an impact on the movies?

This course will also consider how movies both create and maintain our culturally shared notions of what religion "is." How do the movies define "good" religion and "bad" religion? We will discuss how Hollywood presents religious people (nuns, preachers, prophets), places (synagogues, the frontier, rural churches), and practices (revival meetings, prayer, charity work). Most importantly, we will examine how that presentation changes over time. To what extent do movies (rather than, say, Sunday School) teach us about what is really religious - what religious people are supposed to do.