American Civil Religion

About this course:

In 1967, an American sociologist named Robert Bellah published an article claiming that—alongside churches, synagogues, mosques and temples—there also existed “an elaborate and well-institutionalized civil religion in America.” He observed that Americans embrace a common civil religion with certain fundamental beliefs, values, holidays and rituals in parallel to, or independent of, their chosen religion. Since his time, the term and its study has flourished; American civil religion is today an academic tool in understanding what was and is the United States of America. In this course, we explore the historical roots of American civil religion, beginning with its origins in Europe and its development in the new world. As with any religion, we deal with the religious archetypes and structures—cosmogonic myths, creation myths, prophets, martyrs, holidays, sacred land, sacred texts and more. Given recent fluctuations in American policies domestically and globally, civil religion continues to flourish in both original and classical practices. This course uses the Hybrid format which allows students to participate remotely and/or in the classroom. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.