Syllabus- American Catholicism Fall '02

RS 231A/HI 231A: American Catholicism

Syllabus- Fall 2002
MW 2:30-3:45 pm
SCI 111

Instructor:	Raymond A. Patterson
Office:	JE 148
Phone:	ex. 2427
E-mail:	rpatterson@smcvt.edu
Web Page:	http://academics.smcvt.edu/rpatterson
Office Hours:	M Tu Th	4-5 pm 10-11 am 10-11 am and by appointment

Course Description:

RS 231A: American Catholicism is an historical overview of the Roman Catholic experience in the United States, divided into four major periods:

1)	The Catholic presence in the New World during the age of exploration and colonial America
2)	The struggles of an immigrant Roman Catholic Church in the period leading up to the Civil War
3)	The challenges to Catholics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century
4)	The American Catholic experience since the Second Vatican Council

Required Texts:

The text for the class, available at the bookstore, is:

Dolan, Jay. The American Catholic Experience. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992.

Other readings will be made available on Reserve. Students should search the library catalog for the reserve readings, which are organized under my name listed by the title of the articles. Select the title to see the folder number of the article. Please do not mark the Reserve readings when taking notes.

Class Requirements:

Regular attendance is expected of all students. If a student is unable to attend class, he or she should notify the instructor. More than one absence without the instructor’s permission will negatively impact the final grade. Frequent absences will result in a failing grade.

Students should be on time for class. Arriving late or leaving during the class period can be disruptive for the instructor and other members of the class. Excessive tardiness will be reflected in a lower grade for class attendance.

Students will be evaluated on the following course work:

Mid-term Exam	25%
Final Exam	25%
Term Paper	35%
Class Participation/Attendance/Papers	15%

Academic Integrity:

Students are expected to adhere to the Academic Integrity Policy established by St. Michael’s College and distributed to all students.

Class Schedule

(The instructor reserves the right to change the schedule. Students will be notified in class of any changes.)

September 4	Class Requirements Introduction-Christian Cosmology Late Medieval Roman Catholic Church (ca. 1500)
September 9	Spanish Missions Dolan, pp. 15-68.
September 11	French Missions Marie of the Incarnation, "Letters," pp. 221-224; 229-231; 237-258; 262-275. (on reserve) Film: Black Robe
September 16	English Reformation Maryland and the English Colonies Dolan, pp. 69-97 Related documents: Act of Supremacy, 1559 Act Against Papists, 1593 Toleration Act, 1689 New England Primer, or New England Primer Descriptions of "Pope Day"	Religion and the Founding of the American Republic
September 18	Catholics and the American Revolution Ellis, Documents I, pp. 128-141. (on reserve)
September 23	John Carroll and the Origins of the American Church Dolan, pp. 101-124. American Mission- Jesuits and John Carroll
September 25	Mission in America Ellis, Documents II, pp. 202-220, 233-236. (on reserve) DeTocqueville
September 30	Immigrant Church: Irish and German Dolan 158-169.
October 2	Nativism and the Know-Nothings Morris, pp. 54-67. TBA (on reserve)
October 7	Frontier Missions Abolition Questions TBA (on reserve)
October 9	Civil War TBA (on reserve)
October 16	Issac Hecker and Orestes Brownson Selections from Hecker and Brownson (on reserve)
October 21	Mid-Term Exam
October 23	Syllabus of Errors and Vatican I TBA
October 28	Industrial Immigration Catholic Ethos Dolan 170-194, 204-240.
October 30	Schools Question Dolan, pp. 262-293. Schools: The Story of American Public Education
November 4	Americanist Controversy Modernism Dolan, pp. 294-320
November 6	Social Gospel Fr. D'Agostino and the Winooski Mills Dolan, pp. 321-346.
November 11	World War I Nativism Revisited: Klu Klux Klan and Al Smith Ellis, Documents III (on reserve- PAT FO59)
November 13	Between the Wars Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Dolan, 384-417. Dorothy Day, From Union Square to Rome, Ch 1, "Why" and Ch 12, "Wheat and Cockle" Film: Entertaining Angels: the Dorothy Day Story Charles Coughlin Catholic Worker website
November 18	Catholics and the Media: Legion of Decency, Fulton Sheen, and Thomas Merton Morris, "On Top of the World," pp. 196-209, 221-227.
November 20	Political Catholics: Anti-Communists and JFK Vatican II: John Courtney Murray and Religious Freedom Carey, "Cold War Catholicism," 93-114.
November 25	AAR Convention (No class today!)
December 2	Catholic Activism: Peace Movement and Civil Rights African-American Catholics TBA Term Paper Due
December 4	Asian and Hispanic Catholics TBA
December 9	Profile of American Catholics- 2002 TBA
December 11	American Catholics and the Magisterium Ex Corde Ecclesia and Catholic Higher Education TBA
December 20 (Friday)	Final Exam- 1:00-3:30 pm