In the Classroom
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.
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L57 RelPol 201
Religion and American Society
This course explores religious life in the United States.
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Professor
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L57 RelPol 210
The Good Life between Religion and Politics
This course considers the way religious and political thought has shaped considerations of the classical ethical question of how we should live.
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Assistant Professor
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L57 RelPol 225
Religion and Politics in American History
This course surveys the complex entanglements of religion and public life from the colonial era through the contemporary landscape.
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Postdoctoral Fellow
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L57 RelPol 320
Religious Freedom in America
This course examines the intersection of law and American society as part of the Beyond Boundaries program.
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Professor
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Professor
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Courses
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.
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L57 RelPol 201
Religion and American Society
This course explores religious life in the United States.
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Professor
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L57 RelPol 209
Scriptures and Cultural Traditions: Texts & Traditions
This course will work to define the concept of "Scriptures" and their treatment in U.S. society and culture.
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Professor
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Professor
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L57 RelPol 210
The Good Life between Religion and Politics
This course considers the way religious and political thought has shaped considerations of the classical ethical question of how we should live.
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Assistant Professor
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L57 RelPol 244
Religion and Music in American Culture
Students will examine public discourse on popular music as a way of understanding questions of religious identity and community formation.
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L57 RelPol 248
Religion, Race, and Health in Modern America
This course examines the intersections of religion, race, and medicine in the United States.
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L57 RelPol 280
African-American Religions
This course is an introduction to African-American religions.
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Postdoctoral Fellow
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L57 RelPol 288
Muslims in the Media and Popular Culture
This course explores a selection of recent media projects created by Muslim writers, actors, musicians, and comedians.
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Assistant Professor
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L57 RelPol 305
Between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.: Race, Religion, and the Politics of Freedom
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.
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Associate Professor
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Assistant Professor
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L57 RelPol 314
Global Circuits: Religion, Race, Empire
This seminar explores how American entanglements of race and religion shape and are part of larger global processes.
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L57 RelPol 321
American Religion, Gender, and Sexuality
This course explores the centrality of sex to religion and politics in the U.S.
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Director
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L57 RelPol 358
Conscience and Religion in American Politics
By considering what conscience means and what vision of politics it implies, we will reflect on what it means to be American.
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L57 RelPol 370
Religion and the Origins of Capitalism
This course explores the economic, cultural, and social history of the origins of Anglo-American capitalism from 1500 to 1800.
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Professor
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L57 RelPol 425
Law, Religion, and Politics
This course will explore the role of religious argument in politics and law through the work of legal scholars, theologians, and political theorists.
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Professor
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L57 RelPol 430
Spiritual But Not Religious: The Politics of American Spirituality
This seminar focuses on the formation of “spirituality” in American culture from the Transcendentalist world of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman on through more recent expressions of the “spiritual-but-not-religious” sensibility.
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Professor
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