African American Religions in the Twentieth Century. Transformations in the role and place of religion in African American life from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. Inquiry into the impact of the processes of secularization and urbanization on the religious experience in black America. Focus includes the newly emerging sects and cults of the period and the impact of mass movements. The following courses study in depth a topic of limited scope but major importance, such as one or two individuals, a movement, type, concept, problem, historical period, or theme.
Topics change from time to time.
Courses may be repeated for credit with the contents changed. Religion 390 is required for majors, and normally presupposes that four of eight required courses have been taken. Most forms of Gnosticism are now extinct, but were related to Judaism and Christianity, posing alternative views of the supreme divinity in those traditions. The course places the Gnostic phenomenon in its religious-cultural context and highlights Gnostic mythologies, rituals, and ethics. Texts drawn from Nag Hammadi, the Christian Church Fathers, Mandaeism, and Manichaeism.