MORMONISM IN THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

Transcription

1 MORMONISM IN THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Religious Studies 366R Summer, 2013 INSTRUCTORS: Brian Birch, Blair Van Dyke, and Boyd Petersen OFFICE LOCATION: BA211c CLASS WEBSITE: OFFICE HOURS: by appointment Boyd Petersen (801) Blair Van Dyke (801) Brian Birch (801) COURSE DESCRIPTION This course will examine the experience of Mormonism within the context of American cultural history and religious thought. The curriculum will focus on distinctly American themes and explore how Mormonism developed against the backdrop of broad social movements and trends. These include, covenant theology, communitarian economics, evangelism, Christian primitivism, neo-orthodoxy, popular culture, democratic discourse, and constitutional law. Course Objectives To situate the development of Mormonism within the context of American history and culture To explore the dynamic development of America s largest home grown religion To model a variety of perspectives and methodologies in the academic study of religion TEXTS 1. Jan Shipps, Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition (University of Illinois Press, 1987) 2. Claudia Lauper Bushman & Richard Lyman Bushman, Building the Kingdom: A History of Mormons in America (Oxford University Press, 1999) 3. individual readings (available on class website) COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING 1. Regular class attendance is vital to success in this course and will factor into final grades. 2. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the assigned reading. The success of this class depends upon significant student contribution. 3. Students are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty as outlined in the student handbook. Policies regarding cheating and plagiarism are outlined in the Student Rights and Responsibilities section of the Utah Valley University catalog. 4. In addition to the above requirements, grades for this course depend upon the following elements: a. Participation Your participation grade will be based upon the following: 1. Preparation, regular attendance, and contribution to class discussion. 2. Reading Quizzes - Short reading quizzes may be administered periodically throughout the semester on the assigned readings of the day.

2 b. Examinations Two examinations will be administered consisting of questions requiring essay style responses. Students are encouraged to form study groups to collaborate and exchange information in preparation for each exam. All questions will be made available prior to each exam. c. Term Paper Students are required to submit a term paper of no less than 3500 words and no more than 5000 words. The paper is designed to give students an opportunity to explore a specific issue related to the curriculum of the class. A handout will be made available with more specific instructions regarding this assignment. GRADING BREAKDOWN Exam #1: 100 points = A = C Exam #2: 100 points = A = C- Paper: 100 points = B = D+ Part.: 100 points = B = D Total: 400 points = B = D = C = E Week One (June 25 th, 27 th ) Mormonism and the Academic Study of Religion Quincy Newell, Creating and Crossing Boundaries in Mormonism and Mormon Studies, in New Perspectives in Mormon Studies (University of Oklahoma Press, 2013) Brian Birch, What is Mormon Studies? forthcoming in the Mormon Studies Review (Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship) John Gee Wither Mormon Studies? Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture Blair Van Dyke, How Wide the Divide? The Absence of Conversation Between Mormon Studies and the Mormon Mainstream Claremont Graduate University Richard Bushman, The Commencement of Mormon Studies in Mormonism and Mormon Studies, in New Perspectives in Mormon Studies (University of Oklahoma Press, 2013) Historical Precursors & Nineteenth Century American Christianity I Jon Butler, Religion in England s First Colonies from Religion in American Life (Oxford University Press, 2007) Mark Noll, Evangelical Mobilization from A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada (Eerdmans, 1992) Jan Shipps, Reformation and Restoration Mormonism Nathan Hatch, Introduction and Thundering Legions from The Democratization of American Christianity (Yale University Press, 1991) Grant Underwood, Mormons as Millenarians from The Millenarian World of Early Mormonism (University of Illinois Press, 1999) Brooks Holifield, Restoration from Theology in America (Yale University Press, 2005) Richard T. Hughes, Two Restoration Traditions: Mormons and the Churches of Christ in the Nineteenth Century from The Mormon History Association s Tanner Lectures: The First Twenty Years (University of Illinois Press, 2006) Week Two (July 2 nd, no class July 4 th ) Nineteenth Century American Christianity II D. Michael Quinn, Divining Rods, Treasure Digging, and Seer Stones from Early Mormonism and the Magic Worldview (Signature Books, 1998) Stephen Fleming, TBA Richard Bushman, Translation in Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (Knopf, 2005)

3 Mormon Beginnings and Its Reception Jan Shipps, In the Beginning in Mormonism Richard Bushman, The Church of Christ in Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism (University of Illinois Press, 1984) J. Spencer Fluhman, Imposter: The Mormon Prophet in A Peculiar People: Anti-Mormonism and the Making of Religion in Nineteenth Century America (University of North Carolina Press, 2012) Terryl Givens, Ground in the Presbyterian Smut Machine : The Popular Press, Fiction, and Moral Crusading from Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy (Oxford University Press, 1997) Week Three (July 9 th, 11 th ) The Development of Mormonism and the Challenge of American Pluralism Jan Shipps, From Satyr to Saint: Nineteenth Century Perceptions of the Mormons, from Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years Among the Mormons (University of Illinois Press, 2006) Marvin Hill, Establishing a Theocratic Government in Quest for Refuge: The Mormon Flight from American Pluralism (Signature Books, 1989) Benjamin Park, Early Mormon Patriarchy and the Paradoxes of Democratic Religiosity in Jacksonian America in American Nineteenth Century History, 2013 Sarah Barringer Gordon, The Twin Relic of Barbarism from The Mormon Question: Polygamy and Constitutional Conflict in Nineteenth Century American (University of North Carolina Press, 2002) Patrick Mason, The Mormon Monster in The Mormon Menace: Violence and Anti-Mormonism in the Postbellum South (Oxford University Press, 2011) John Turner, A New Era of Things in Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet (Harvard University Press, 2012) Kathleen Flake, The American Idea of a Church from The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle (University of North Carolina Press, 2004) Week Four (July 16 th, 18 th ) Twentieth Century Mormonism: Accommodation, Neo-Orthodoxy, and the Social Gospel Barry Hankin, The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy in Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism: A Documentary Reader (New York University Press, 2008) Thomas Alexander, Definition and Explication of Church Doctrine from Mormonism in Transition: A History of the Latter-day Saints, (University of Illinois Press, 1986) Armand Mauss, Mormon Fundamentalism: The Institutional Matrix from The Angel and the Beehive: The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation (University of Illinois Press, 1994) Philip Barlow, The Mormon Response to Higher Criticism in Mormons and the Bible (Oxford University Press, 2013) Matt Bowman, The Crisis of Mormon Cristology: History, Progress, and Protestantism (Fides et Historia 40:2, 2008) Bushman & Bushman, Mormons in the Nation, in Building the Kingdom

4 Week Five (July 23 rd, 25 th ) Race and Gender Armand Mauss, The Curse of African Lineage in Mormon History from All Abraham s Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage (University of Illinois Press, 2003) Darron Smith, Unpacking Whiteness in Zion: Some Personal Reflections in Black and Mormon (University of Illinois Press, 2006) Boyd Petersen, One Soul Shall Not be Lost: The War in Heaven in Mormon Thought (Journal of Mormon History, 2012) The Genesis of a Church s Stand on Race Washington Post, 2012 LDS Newsroom, Race and the Church: All Are Alike Unto God LDS Newsroom Church Statement Regarding 'Washington Post' Article on Race and the Church LDS Newsroom, The Divine Institution of Marriage The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Proclamation to the World on the Family The Mormon Concept of a Mother in Heaven in Sisters in Spirit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective (University of Illinois Press, 1992) Claudia Bushman, Gender and Sexual Orientation in Contemporary Mormonism: Latter-day Saints in Modern America (Praeger, 2006) Joanna Brooks Protect Marriage from Book of Mormon Girl (Free Press, 2012) Week Six (July 30 th, August 1 st ) Mormonism in Contemporary Christian Culture Michael Otterson, Are Mormons Christians? from Newsweek Magazine David Van Biema, What is Mormonism: A Baptist Answer from Time Magazine Is Mormonism Christian? Bruce Porter & Gerald McDermott in First Things Brian Birch, A Peculiar People: Mormonism on the Margins of American Christianity Royal Academy of Belgium, 2013 Richard Mouw, The Possibility of Joseph Smith: Some Evangelical Probings from Joseph Smith, Jr.: Reappraisals After Two Centuries (Oxford University Press, 2008) Stephen Prothero, Mormon Elder Brother from American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2004) Colleen McDannell & Bernard Lang, Heaven in Contemporary Christianity from Heaven: A History (Yale University Press, 1988) Week Seven (August 6 th, 8 th ) Mormonism in Contemporary Political Culture Noah Feldman, What is it About the Mormons? from the New York Times Magazine Fred Gedicks, Truth and Consequences Alabama Law Review Jan Shipps, What Made Romney s Big Speech So Mormon? from the Christian Science Monitor Damon Linker, The Big Test, from the New Republic Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Mormonism and Politics: Are They Compatible? Harold Bloom, Will This Election be the Mormon Breakthrough New York Times, 2011 Alan Wolfe, Mormons and money: Mitt Romney, his church, and the culture of prosperity, from The New Republic Laurie Maffly-Kipp, A Mormon President? The Christian Century John Richard Neuhaus, A Mormon in the White House in First Things Mormonism and American Politics conference, Columbia University, 2012 Matthew Holland, Contextualizing the Mormon Moment UVU Symposium, 2013

5 Mormonism and Contemporary Media The Mormons (PBS Frontline and American Experience) Big Love (Home Box Office) Michael Austin, Four Consenting Adults in the Privacy of Their Own Suburb: Big Love and the Cultural Significance of Mormon Polygamy in Peculiar Portrayals: Mormons on the Page, Stage, and Screen (Utah State University Press, 2010) All About the Mormons (South Park Comedy Central) I m a Mormon (Mormon.org) Angels in America (Home Box Office) Christine Hutchison-Jones, Center and Periphery: Mormons and American Culture in Tony Kushner s Angels in America in Peculiar Portrayals: Mormons on the Page, Stage, and Screen (Utah State University Press, 2010) The Book of Mormon Musical (Eugene O Neill Theatre, New York) Blair Van Dyke, The Mormon University on the Mount of Olives: A Case Study in LDS Public Relations, forthcoming in the Journal of Media and Religion Colleen McDannell, Obsessed with History: Mormons and the Heritage Industry (presented in class)