AAAS 230: History of African American Religious Experiences

Survey of central historical events, people, and faith perspectives that have shaped African American (or “Black”) religious experiences in the United States. This course will pay particular attention to 1) the prominent roles that African American women and men of faith have played in the communal survival and wellbeing of Black folk and 2) the role of Black faith as a catalyst for the social, political and cultural transformation of American society. General historical terrain covered in the course includes the Middle Passage and “New World” Slavery; The Great Awakening and later revivals; Emancipation; Reconstruction; migration and urbanization; Jim/Jane Crow; Civil Rights; and Black Nationalism/Black Power. In addition to surveying the religious experiences of African Americans within major Protestant denominations, some attention will be paid to African American Catholicism, Pentecostalism, “sects” and “cults,” Judaism, Caribbean religion(s) in the U.S., Islam, and Black humanism.