What role does religion play in society?  How can we understand
variations in individuals’ religious participation and beliefs?  How
do the many religious institutions in our society differ, and what
common qualities do they share?  These questions will be the central
motivating questions for the semester.  The course will begin with
an introduction to current theories in the sociology of religion.
We will then aply and critique those theories as we learn more about
the histories, members, practices and beliefs of the six major
religious groups in the US today: 1.) Conservative, Fundamentalists
and Evangelical Protestantism, 2.) Mainline Protestantism, 3.) Roman
Catholicism, 4.) Judaism, 5.) Islam, and 6.) Smaller religious sects
or “Cults.”