History of Religion in the United States

March 28, 2023

This course explores the religious history of the United States from the colonial period up through the modern period (1776-present), including the post-9/11 era. Although religious histories of the United States tend to focus on the Pilgrims and Puritans and the development of religious freedom in the First Amendment of the Constitution, this course takes a wider view of the roots of religious and cultural diversity. By focusing on how religion formed a common meeting ground for various expressions of Western European Protestantism, Roman and Orthodox Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, South/East Asian, African, and Indigenous traditions, this course explores how different religious traditions coexist, intersect, and provide historical and theoretical opportunities and challenges in understanding the history of religion in the United States.