Religions in America: Resources

Courses:

Rel 240

How to read a book This advice will help you keep up with and absorb what you are reading

Study questions for Religion in American Life: A Short History
Look for answers to these questions as you read each chapter. Bring your answers to class to compare them with those your classmates come up with. Exams will be based on the reading so having answers to these questions for study will go a long way to doing well on exams:

Chapter outlines: Try to write your own outline of each chapter. If you have trouble with this, you can reference my own outlines. But don't feel you need to take mine as "gospel truth." You can start with mine and fill in details as you read. Bring your outlines with you to class to compare them with what your classmates come up with:

Statistics on Religion in America (summary of 2002 survey discussed in video)

Audio/Video

Websites:

Supplemental readings and materials:

God in America from PBS (aired October, 2010): A look at the tumultuous 400-year history of the intersection of religion and public life in America -- from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and FRONTLINE. Watch episodes online (includes a study guide, transcripts and other valuable resources)
Divining America: Religion and the National Culture (from National Humanities Center: NHC) Essays on Religion in American from colonial times through the 20th century
Religion and the Founding of the American Republic (from Library of Congress: LoC) explores the role religion played in the founding of the American colonies, in the shaping of early American life and politics, and in forming the American Republic. Features over 200 related object images (with captions) including early American books, manuscripts, letters, prints, paintings, artifacts.
Life in the USA: Religion in America offers a brief overview of major religious groups in America at the beginning of the 20^th century.
A Reader's Guide to American History (Relgion) from Cengage Learning Online Study Center. Includes pages on select religious groups in America and issues related to religion in American history.
Series of lectures on Religion in America from professor Terry Matthews, Wake Forest University. You may find some of these helpful in your research for your paper.
Americans and Religious Diversity (a worksheet) The United States is perhaps the most religiously diverse nation in the world. What do Americans think about religious diversity? Do they see it as a problem or as a virtue? Using the Religion and Diversity Survey, this learning module examines some empirical data on Americans' attitudes toward religious diversity and toward growing numbers of non-Christian Americans.

Resources for Research:

Virtual Religion Index: American Studies resources for online research regarding religions in America. Provides links to websites on a variety of topics related to religion in America. (A potentially valuable resource for researching your term paper or exploring more in-depth on quite a number of topics you will read about from your reading.)
The Pluralism Project at Harvard University. "Our mission is to help Americans engage with the realities of religious diversity through research, outreach, and the active dissemination of resources." Provides directory and profiles of religious centers, news, statistics and many other resources on over a dozen major religious traditions that have a presence in America.
Religious Movements contains profiles of over two hundred small, little known, often misunderstood religious movements, including many newer groups (don’t call them "cults"!). Includes information on history, beliefs and practices of the groups as well as some controversial issues related to various groups.
Overview Of World Religions (Some pages still under construction) offers an overview of each of 11 major religions (excludes Baha'i - covered under Shia Islam). Provides a family tree-like diagram of the historical development and divisions of each religion. Clicking on these divisions gives an overview of each: Doctrines, history, symbols. Also provides regional timelines for development of various religions in any given area of the world (links from the timelines take one to the historical development diagrams).

Statistics and Surveys on Religion in America:

The Association of Religion Data Archive: provides USA and state maps ("maps & reports") with distribution in numbers of members, congregations, and rate per 1000 members. Also provides access to hundreds of social surveys (in their "data archive") with ability to analyze response rates of specific questions (breakdown includes religious affiliation and attendance rates of respondents)
History of American Religion: Timeline 1600 - 2004 a chronology of American Religious History: 1600 - 2004 by Austin Cline, Regional Director for the Council for Secular Humanism (2007 About, Inc.)
Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance: population for various faith groups in US
Adherents.com statistics on the largest religious groups in US
American Ethnic Geography provides colorful maps indicating populations by county for various religions in America
Teaching About Religion: Worldview Education also provides demographics on the distributions of major religions in America (state-by-state comparisons). Exercise: Your Perception of US Religious Demographics
Religion and Diversity Survey This survey includes questions about the public's views about religious diversity, such as attitudes toward and contact with Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. The survey was designed by Robert Wuthnow at Princeton University in conjunction with the Responding to Diversity Project sponsored by the Lilly Endowment (conducted Sept. 2002 - Feb. 2003).
American Piety in the 21st Century (pdf) Selected findings from the Baylor Religion Survey (Sept. 2006). Reviews current trends in religious affiliation and beliefs among Americans. (from the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
U.S. Religious Landscape Survey (2007) (interactive tools) Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, this extensive survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details the religious affiliation of the American public. Learn about the survey View the full report
View & explore an interactive map of religious diversity and distribution in the USA (based on this 2007 survey)
Muslim Americans: A National Portrait (2008) A Gallup survey of over 300,000 Americans, including almost 1000 Muslims. Did you know that Muslim Americans are more racially diverse and, on a whole, significantly younger than any other religious group in American? Learn about these and other interesting facts. View the full report (including PDF, PowerPoint of key findings and video of press conference from March 2, 2009)

On specific religions in America:

The Jewish Americans from PBS (aired January, 2008): explores 350 years of Jewish American history. Explore themes regarding Jewish Life in America, including video clips from this six hour documentary.
The Mormons From PBS Frontline: watch the entire four hour documentary reviewing Mormon history, beliefs and practices. Companion website provides FAQs, interactive pages on Mormon history, themes, discussion and resources (reading and online) to learn more about this unique American born religion.

On Religion and Politics in the US:

Religion and our Founding Fathers
God and Country From PBS Flashpoints series (aired Jan. 2004)
One Nation: Religion & Politics A Religion & Ethics Newsweekly blog on various issues concerning religion and American politics. View videos, read and leave comments.
Mitt Romney Delivers Speech on Faith (NPR, Dec. 6, 2007): Links here provide access to transcripts and audio recordings of the entire speech. Also provided are links to JFK's speech regarding the place of his Catholic religion in his bid for president. (JFK's speech has both audio and video available)
"Souled Out" (NPR/Diane Rehm, Feb. 12, 2008): Award-winning journalist E.J. Dionne explains why he believes the era of dominance by the Religious Right in American politics is coming to an end. He also forecasts the role of faith in politics after George W. Bush leaves the White House.

On teaching evolution vs. creationism in the public schools (a webquest)

On the First Amendment to the US Constitution (a webquest)

Created by: Laura Ellen Shulman

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Last updated: September 07, 2011