AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORY

Catalog description

Since their first settlement in American Catholics have attempted to understand the complex and dynamic relationship between their religion and their country. American Catholic thought and practice from the early seventeenth century until today have led to divergent and often controversial conclusions about the compatibilities and complementarities, or incongruities and contradictions, between American principles, ideals, and institutions on the one hand, and Catholic faith, teaching, and practice on the other. This course will investigate the breadth and depth of these debates – intellectual, political, ecclesiological, cultural, social, and economic – through a combination of primary documents and scholarly interpretations, all of which illustrate the debates of the past that continue to inform those of the present. Prerequisites: HIST 101 and HIST 102.