CHS 5369 / REL 5369/ SOC 5369/ AMS 5369

(AMERICAN) CIVIL RELIGION

 

 

Class Objectives:

Religious systems have always provided cultural unity in the face of social diversity. In America, "civil religion" is recognized to be such a system, competing with but also blending with more traditional religions to provide a set of transcendent ideals by which society is integrated and judged. This course will examine the theory, history, development, organization, and rituals of civil religion, primarily as practiced in the United States.

 

 

Required (Core) Texts:

Bellah, Robert N. The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in a Time of Trial. 2d ed.

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.

Richey, Russell E. and Donald C. Jones (eds.), American Civil Religion. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1974.

All other readings (with the exception of those taken from the Journal of Church and State which is available in the Research Center) will be placed on reserve but it will be the student's responsibility to secure them.


Lecture notes for the course available here

 

Class Requirements:

 

Research Project: 25%

Final Examination: 25%

Class Presentation: 25%

Active Class Participation and Preparation: 25%

Class Presentation: Each student in the course of the class shall present a short summary of the readings, highlighting salient points and issues and presenting questions and themes for class discussion.

Research Project: Each student shall produce a research paper due on the last day class meets, of no less than 20 pages (excluding bibliography) for master's candidates and no less than 25 pages (excluding bibliography) for doctoral candidates, on a theme selected by the student and approved by the instructor. Some suggested topics include:

Selecting a major figure in the American pantheon (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, etc.) and discussing the official 'cult' which surrounds this figure, including the 'official' biography, rituals, hero-worship, etc.

Discuss whether American civil religion is fundamentally Christian or pagan in origin.

Answer the question as to whether there is a single American civil religion or a number of competing sects, and if so, whether these various sects can be reconciled or unified.

 

Class Format:

 

The class will be structured in the following manner: A) student presentation on the readings for the week B) prepared lecture by the instructor C) discussion of items arising out of the presentation and lecture D) short break E) structured discussion on the themes raised in the readings moderated by the instructor

 

Class Topics:

  1. Introduction

READINGS (will be provided in class for that day):

Stephen Scott, "Symbols of a Civil Religion are Plentiful," Tallahassee Democrat, December 1, 2001 (at http://web.tallahasseedemocrat.com/content/tallahassee/2001/12/01/religion/1201.rel.civilreligion.htm)

  1. Civil Religion: Theory

 

READINGS:

 

  1. Civil Religions outside the US: The Cases of Russia, China, and Israel

READINGS:

 

  1. Civil Religion in the US: Framing the Question

READINGS

BACKGROUND READING:

George M. Marsden, Religion and American Culture (1990), pp. 29-46.

 
  1. Civil Religion and the Challenge of American Pluralism

 

READINGS:

 

 

  1. "Genesis" and "Exodus" as Paradigms in American Civil Religion

READINGS:

 

  1. "The Nation with the Soul of a Church": The Organization of the "American Church"

 

  1. The President as Pontifex Maximus

 

READINGS:

 

 

  1. Presidential Crusades

READINGS:

 

  1. Preachers, Teachers, Saints and Martyrs

 

READINGS:

 

  1. The Calendar/Death and Memorialization

 

READINGS:

COMPARISON: Civil Religious Rituals in Japan and Britain

 

  1. Membership, Hymns and Rituals

READINGS:

 

  1. The American Dream/Pursuit of Wealth

 

READINGS:
  1. Sectarians and Heretics

READINGS:

 

  1. Evaluation

READINGS:

RESEARCH PAPERS DUE.

PRESENTATION OF STUDENT RESEARCH

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