Religion and American Culture : A Reader

Today the study of American religion continues to move away from an older, European American, male, middle-class, northeastern, Protestant narrative concerned primarily with churches and theology and toward a multicultural tale of Native Americans, African Americans, Catholics, Jews and other groups. Many of these new studies cut across boundaries of gender, class, and region, and pay particular attention to popular religion. Most current textbooks remain wed to the older Protestant narrative. The purpose of this reader is to expose students to a broad overview of the work emerging from this rapidly changing field This second edition includes ten new articles that have appeared since the publication of the first edition in 1995. Three are in the area of gender, two concern Native Americans, two consider new immigrants while others advance the study of African-Americans, popular culture, and the sociology of religion. The intention of all of the readings is neither to provide a new narrative nor simplyassemble a random assortment of readings; rather, through a loose chronology, attention to recurrent themes, and brief introductions to each selection, this reader offers a selection of the new and diverse work being done in the field of American religious history.