We offer a broad and diverse undergraduate curriculum focusing on the intertwined relationship between religion and politics across U.S. history, from the colonial era to the present. We also support early career scholars with fellowships that offer teaching and research opportunities at the Center.
Courses
Our courses range widely in topics, but all focus on the cultivation of research and interpretive skills necessary for analyzing and responding to issues that shape society and culture in the United States.
Gateway Courses
Gateway courses are required for the minor in religion and politics and serve as an introduction to the field of study.
This course traces how conceptions of “religion” and “the state” changed in the United States from the turn of the twentieth century to the dawn of a new millennium.
This course investigates the intersections of the law and the social history of religious freedom in America. It examines issues such as constitutional principles of religious freedom and the rights of religious groups to dissent, from America’s founding to the present.
Please check back soon for a gateway course offering!
Please check below for our other course offerings this semester. Read more about gateway courses and the undergraduate minor in religion and politics here.
Our courses cover a wide spectrum of topics related to the intersection of American religion and politics both historically and in the present. Select a semester to see our most recent course offerings or scroll to the bottom to view past courses.
This course explores the sexual abuse crisis in North American Christianity, both as it has emerged in the media and as church leaders and laypeople have responded to it. We’ll pay particular attention to the power dynamics of abuse, the impact upon the Christian body writ large, and the relation between the crisis and U.S. politics.
This seminar examines the role of interpersonal relationships in recent religious, ethical, and political thought, with particular attention to the way they bring gender and sexual desire more centrally into view.
This course examines their personal biographies, speeches, writings, representations, FBI Files, and legacies as a way to better understand how the intersections of religion, race, and politics came to bare upon the freedom struggles of people of color in the U.S. and abroad.
Exploring a variety of religious holidays and civic rituals in American history and culture, this class ranges from public conflicts over Christmas through the evangelical invention of Halloween Hell Houses to ongoing struggles over the Civil War's memorialization.
How do your relationships of love and friendship shape your life? Do they make you a better person? A better citizen? A better neighbor? This seminar examines the way love and friendship have been understood to define—or undermine—our pursuits of the good life.
