Church, State and Politics in Latin America

Catalog description

This course aims to provide students with (1) an understanding of the evolving role of religion in Latin American politics, with an emphasis on the period of the Second Vatican Council until today, and (2) an opportunity to reflect on the formative questions of how religious beliefs and religious institutions should affect politics and of how different political systems and state policies should affect the practice of religion The major themes include the institutional relationship between the Catholic Church and the state, the different political expression of Catholicism (including those inspired by Liberation Theology), the persecution of the Church under certain authoritarian regimes and the Catholic response, the rise of religious and political pluralism, and the role of religion in contemporary politics and public policy. This course will count as a Signature Three Core Course.