American Christianity from Colonial Times to the Culture Wars

A Distinguished Scholar Seminar Featuring Molly Worthen

February 12-13, 2016

Over the past four hundred years, American Christians have both transformed and sustained Old World traditions in order to meet the New World’s challenges and opportunities. This seminar will examine four controversial Christian groups that have helped to shape American culture.  How did early Puritans define their religious and political beliefs, and how did Mormons create a new religious narrative in the nineteenth century?  How have apocalyptic ideas influenced American public life and why has the Christian Right played such an important role in modern American society? We’ll explore these and other contentious questions with the guidance and expertise of Professor Molly Worthen, whose scholarship and teaching focuses on the history of North American religions. She also writes about religion and politics for the New York Times, where her articles regularly connect contemporary events with long-developing historical patterns.

Topics

Puritans: The New England Experiment

Mormons: A Faith Made in America

Apocalypse Soon: Theories of the End Times

Culture War: The Rise of the Christian Right

Speaker

Molly Worthen is an Assistant Professor of History and the author of numerous articles and books on the history and contemporary practices of American religion. Her most recent book is Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelism. She is a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times.

Time & Cost

4:30 p.m. Friday, February 12 through 12:00 p.m. Saturday, February 13, 2016. The tuition is $125 ($110 by February 2). Tuition for teachers is $62.50 ($55 by February 2). Teachers can also receive a $75 stipend after attending (click here for more information) and 10 contact hours for 1 unit of renewal credit. The optional dinner is $20.00.

For information about lodging click here.

Co-Sponsored by the General Alumni Association.

For information about GAA discounts and other scholarships available to Humanities Program participants, click here.

Register for this seminar.