RELI385 - Religion and the Social Construction of Race

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Academic Year 2001/2002

Religion and the Social Construction of Race
RELI 385 SP

Crosslistings:
AFAM 280

Clusters:

Christian Studies

This course will examine aspects of the interactions between race and religion in a number of historical and social contexts. We will place at the center of our discussions the question of how race functions as a prism through which people come to both understand and experience their own religious life and that of others. In examining race, we will privilege interpretations that emphasize the construction of race as a process in which power plays a pivotal role and means through which communities form collective identities. We will read a wide range of historical analysis and primary source materials from the U.S. and the Caribbean. We will examine pro-slavery documents, Native American missionary works, analyses of anti-Semitism, and works on Father Divine, the Nation of Islam, Rastafari, Haitian Vodou, Jonestown, and Christian right supremacist groups like Aryan Nation.

MAJOR READINGS

Michael Barkun, RELIGION AND THE RACIST RIGHT: THE ORIGINS OF THE CHRISTIAN IDENTITY MOVEMENT
Leonard Barrett, THE RASTAFARIANS
David Chidester, SALVATION AND SUICIDE
Jill Watts, GOD, HARLEM U.S.A., THE FATHER DIVINE STORY
Ronald Takaki, STRANGERS FROM A DIFFERENT SHORE: A HISTORY OF ASIAN AMERICANS
Sander Gilman, THE JEW'S BODY

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Attendance, weekly response papers, three critical essays.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

This course fulfills a "Religion in Society" requirement for the department major.

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS RELI Grading Mode: Graded

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): McAlister,Elizabeth

Times: .M.W... 11:00AM-12:20PM; Location: PAC107

Reserved Seats: (Total Limit: 18)

SR. major: 5 Jr. major: 5

SR. non-major: 2 Jr. non-major: 3 SO: 3 FR:

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal: Writing

Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2002