Religions in America

Please bring your Course Reader, and the Beal book if you have it, and/or a laptop. We will be reviewing material from the last half of the class and discussing the format and content of the take-home final exam, which will be opened up on Dec 15, due back by 3:30 pm on Dec 18.

We will also view a 2011 KET television documentary about Furnace Mountain Zen Center, one of the subjects of Beal’s final chapter. Lastly, students will complete a course evaluation.

Your research paper is due tonight by 11:59 pm, uploaded to Blackboard under Content –> Unit 3

For Friday’s in-class (but closed-note) exam, be prepared to:

Define these terms: Pluralism, relativism, exclusivism, inclusivism, synthesis, civil religion, ecclesial v. popular/lived religion, theology, the 4 c’s (creed, code, cultus, community)

Discuss or identify the documents from this unit (author, time period, basic circumstances) and explain why each is significant as an example of American religious history. Be able to characterize what the author is saying and what it means for the nation as a whole. This might take the form of comparing 2 documents from different time periods.

Identify and/or explain the two religion clauses of the First Amendment.

Explain Ann Braude’s argument that Women’s History is American Religious History.