The Pluralism Project at Harvard UniversitySyllabus: World Religions in America
An NEH Summer Seminar at Harvard University
June 26–August 4, 2000
The seminar will meet in the Kresge Room of the Barker Center for the Humanities at Harvard University. We will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 to 12:30, with a half-hour mid-morning break. This will leave your afternoons free to work on your own projects and explore the Boston area. On your arrival in Cambridge, we will give you a "World Religions in America Reader" consisting of articles and documents for our discussions and a copy of World Religions in Boston. The CD-ROM, On Common Ground: World Religions in America has been ordered for purchase ($50.00). [Depending upon your interests, many additional books have been ordered at the Harvard Coop and put on reserve in the Lamont Library. See Bibliography.]
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION
Monday, June 26
9:00 Getting Started (To ID Office on the 3rd floor of Holyoke Center, then Betsy Brown's NEH Office in the basement of the Barker Center, and finally Study of Religion Office on the Third Floor of the Barker Center for your Seminar Materials and to purchase a CD-ROM.)
1:00 Library Introduction and Tour
4:00 Gathering of the Seminar
This opening gathering will be at Lowell House Masters' Residence, 50 Holyoke Street, the home of Diana L. Eck. After introductions, we will have an informal Wine and Cheese reception in the garden, adjourning by 6:30 in time for dinner, either in Annenberg or the Square.
Tuesday, June 27: The Religious Dimensions of America's Multiculturalism
9:00 Multicultural/Multireligious America
What are the changing religious demographics of the U.S.? What are the ways in which difference is designated in the U.S.? What are the contestations, the controversies, the problems, and the opportunities of a more complex religious pattern in the U.S.? What difference does it make that the United States is now a "multireligious" nation? What are the ways in which the new religious diversity of the U.S. poses questions or challenges in your own work or in your own community?
Reading for Discussion: Diana L. Eck, "The Mosque Next Door: Neighboring Faiths," Harvard Magazine.
11:00 On Common Ground: World Religions in America, An Orientation Workshop
Resources: On Common Ground: World Religions in America. Explore "A New Religious Landscape" by selecting one city or region to investigate, and explore "America's Many Religions" by selecting a religious tradition you know little about and investigating the range of information contained in the CD-ROM. We will adjourn in time to visit the Lamont Library language laboratory across the street, where computers and CDs are available for your use.
Wednesday, June 28: Academic Resources at Harvard
9:00 Session at the Pluralism Project Office
Ellie Pierce will host this visit, acquainting you with Pluralism Project files and the seminar room library resources. You can explore reference materials available at the Pluralism Project Office: student papers, profiles of religious centers, publications, news articles, and videos. Discussion of website resources. Discussion of field visits: What are the basics of arranging a field trip? What guidelines should one consider when visiting a mosque? A gurdwara? A Hindu temple? A Buddhist meditation center? Discussion of Guidelines on Observation.
This session will be followed by a walking tour of this part of Harvard, including several of the libraries.
Thursday, June 29: Immigration and Pluralism
9:00 Immigration: A Multireligious History (A)
What encounters with religious difference have shaped the history of the United States? Native peoples and Christian settlers. Early encounters of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. The early history of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Muslim America. What are some of the ways in which diversity and unity, pluribus and unum, have been approached in the making of America? What have been some of America's strategies for defining and dealing with difference?
Resources: On Common Ground: Look at "Encountering Religious Diversity," especially the Historical Perspectives sections. We will focus our discussion on documents from the sections on Native Americans and Christians, Catholics and Jews, Asians and Asian Exclusion, the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions, God's Melting Pot, The Right to be Different.
11:00 Immigration: A Multireligious History (B)
What were the effects of the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act, closing the door to immigration? What did Will Herberg mean by the "triple melting pot?" or when he called of the 1950s a "three-religion country?" How did John Courtney Murray address the question of Catholic participation in the American pluralist project?
Resources: On Common Ground: Look at "Encountering Religious Diversity," especially the Historical Perspectives sections. We will focus our discussion on documents from the sections on Xenophobia: Closing the Door and A Three Religion Country.
Friday, June 30: Field Trip. Visit to the Sri Lakshmi Temple for the Abhisheka of Lakshmi (10:00 a.m.) and the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland for Friday prayers (1:00 p.m.).
Resources: Introduction, World Religions in Boston; Stuart M. Matlins, How to Be a Perfect Stranger
WEEK 2: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND THE CONTEXT OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
Tuesday is the Fourth of July and Boston is a great place to be. The day begins with the reading of the Declaration of Independence from the Old Statehouse on Boston Common and culminates in the Fireworks on the Esplanade with the Boston Pops playing the 1812 Overture. Our seminar session will meet on Wednesday this week.
Wednesday, July 5: Questions of Religious Freedom
9:00 Foundational Documents: Non-Establishment and Free Exercise.
America's distinctive constitutional framework for thinking about issues of religious diversity. How does the public commitment to religious freedom and religious diversity look to the framers of the Constitution? How does it look today?
Resources: "Encountering Religious Diversity," Historical Perspectives Section of On Common Ground, with focus on documents from sections on Establishment or Tolerance and Free Exercise.
11:00 Religious Freedom in the Courts
How has the issue of religious freedom been raised by America's Native Peoples? By Sikhs? By Santeria Practitioners? By Pagans?
Resources: "Encountering Religious Diversity," Sections on Establishment or Tolerance (Documents); The Free Exercise of Religion; "Encountering Religious Diversity," Today's Challenges, Section on Encounter in the Courts. Specific Documents to be discussed: The Majority and Minority Opinions in the Smith Case; Documents on the Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. and Ernesto Pichardov. City of Hialeah, Florida.
Thursday, July 6: America's Public Schools: A Special Arena of Encounter
9:00 AM Introduction: The Public Schools and Immigration History
How were questions of diversity first addressed with the coming of large Catholic and Jewish immigrant populations? How have these questions continued in American life?
Marcia Beauchamp from the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center will talk about her work in addressing curricular and legal questions in the teaching and practice of religion in the school context.
11:00 AM Discussion of issues as they arise in the School context
Marcia Beauchamp from the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center will be with us today and talk about her work in addressing curricular and legal questions in the teaching and practice of religion in the school context.
Resources: On Common Ground: "Encountering Religious Diversity" Historical Perspectives sections on Catholic and Jewish Immigrants (Documents). "Encountering Religious Diversity: Today's Challenges" Three sections on the Public Schools. Finding Common Ground: A First Amendment Guide to Religion and Public Education.
Evening: Dinner and further discussion with Marcia Beauchamp (Lowell House)
Suggested Weekend Field Visits, July 9: Ganesh Trinidadian Hindu Temple in Dorchester (Sunday at 9:00); Thousand Buddha Temple in Quincy (Sunday at 10:00); Temple Vietnam in Roslindale (Sunday at 11:00); Triratanaram Buddhist Temple in Lowell. Some of you might wish to visit the Buddhist Peace Pagoda in Leverett, about a two hour drive. See World Religions in Boston or Pluralism Project website.
WEEK 3: BUDDHISM IN AMERICA
Tuesday, July 11: A History of Asian Buddhism in America
9:00 Buddhism in America: The Immigrant Traditions
A look at the Shin Buddhist tradition (the Buddhist Churches of America); the Chinese Fo Kuang Buddhist Movement; other forms of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Buddhism. The ways in which these communities differ from the Southeast Asian communities, especially the refugee communities from Vietnam and Cambodia.
11:00 Los Angeles: The World's Most Complex Buddhist City
A screening and discussion of the film "Becoming the Buddha in LA," a documentary on the Buddhist tradition as seen through the lens of the various Buddhist communities of Los Angeles. [We will also have two other films available for screening this week: "Blue Collar and Buddha" about a Lao Buddhist community in Rockford, Illinois, and "Rebuilding the Temple" about the Cambodian Buddhist communities in the U.S.]
Resources: On Common Ground: "America's Many Religions" Section on Buddhism.
Additional Reading: Charles Prebish, Luminous Passage; Richard Seager, Buddhism in America, Charles Prebish and Kenneth Tanaka, eds. The Faces of Buddhism in America, Duncan Williams and Christopher Queen, eds., American Buddhism: Methods and Findings in Recent Scholarship. Each of these books provides an overview of the Buddhist landscape of the U.S., both immigrant and indigenous. Ronald Takaki, Strangers from a Different Shore provides an historical context of Asian American history. Thomas Tweed and Stephen Prothero. eds. Asian Religions in America is a reader of historical and contemporary documents.
Thursday, July 13: Reshaping Buddhism in America
9:00 The Traditions of "New Buddhists" in the United States
What forms and streams of Buddhism have been adopted and adapted by Euro-Americans? A look at Tibetan, Vipassana, and Zen practice and teachers in the U.S. context.
11:00 Buddhist Practice and American Pragmatism
What has been and continues to be the distinctive appeal of Buddhism to Americans not born as Buddhists? What aspects of the Buddhist tradition have become central? A look at the reshaping of Buddhism as it becomes an American religion.
Resources: On Common Ground: "America's Many Religions" Section on Buddhism.
Additional Reading: In addition to the books listed above, Rick Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America is a wonderful and very readable account focusing primarily on American meditation movements. Christopher Queen, ed. Engaged Buddhism in the West and Stephanie Kaza and Kenneth Kraft, eds., Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism, provide insight into Buddhist activism. Don't forget to explore the web for the rich variety of Buddhist web pages.
Suggested Sites for Field Visits During this Week: Independent visits to a session at one of the Buddhist meditation centers in Cambridge. There is a Monday night sitting at the Dzogchen Foundation; a Monday night meditation instruction and a Thursday night talk at the Cambridge Zen Center; a Tuesday night beginners drop-in group and a Wednesday night Dharma talk at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Society. See World Religions in Boston and the websites of these and other centers.
Sunday evening, July 16: Buffet Dinner and Discussion (Lowell House: 50 Holyoke St.)
WEEK 4: THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA IN AMERICA
Tuesday, July 18: A History of Hinduism in America
9:00 Vivekananda, Yoga, and Krishna Consciousness
What forms of Hinduism were first introduced in the U.S. and how have they shaped American ideas about the Hindu tradition? How have Hindus of the "new immigration" responded to these earlier forms of Hindu presence in the U.S.?
11:00 Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains in the United States
What are the forms of religious life being transplanted in the U.S. from South Asia? What new questions do Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs have to face in the American environment? What "adaptive strategies" do these communities use? How important is "religion?" "culture?" "ethnicity?"
Resources: On Common Ground: "America's Many Religions" Sections on Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism.
Additional Reading: Raymond Williams, Religions of Immigrants from India: New Threads in the American Tapestry; Carl Jackson, Vedanta for the West: The Ramakrishna Movement in America; E. Burke Rochford, Hare Krishna in America,
Joan M. Jensen, Passage from India: Asian Indians in North America; Wendell Thomas, Hinduism Invades America.
Thursday, July 20: Reshaping Hinduism in America
9:00 Constructing Temples, Negotiating Identities
What are the kinds of temples and religious institutions being built by Hindus in America? What kinds of traditions do they reflect? How does the process of temple building create new forms of Hindu identity in the U.S. ? What are the challenges of Hindu continuity in America?
11:00 Hinduism in America: The Problematic of Pluralism
How do Hindus define themselves in the American context? Does the Hindu tradition of multiple gods and ways of religious life make positive and reinforcing contribution to the ideal of American pluralism?
Resources: On Common Ground: Sections on Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism
Additional Reading: Diana L. Eck, "Negotiating Hindu Identities in America" from Harold Coward, John Hinnells, Raymond Williams, eds. The South Asian Religious Diaspora in Britain, the United States, and Canada; Raymond Williams, Religions of Immigrants from India: New Threads in the American Tapestry, Diana L. Eck, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, 3rd edition, final chapter on "Darsan in America," Joanne Punzo Waghorne, "Hindu Gods in a Split Level World," in Robert Orsi, ed., Gods of the City.
Suggested Sites for Field Visits: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness in downtown Boston (Sundays 4:15 and Wednesday 6:30 p.m.); a return visit to the Sri Lakshmi Temple in Ashland; the Swaminarayan Temple in Lowell. Also note that Monday, July 17 from 9:30 am to 7:30 p.m. Mata Amritananda Mayi will be giving teachings and darshan at a conference center in Andover.
Sunday evening, July 23: Buffet Dinner and Discussion (Lowell House)
WEEK 5: ISLAM IN AMERICA
Tuesday, July 25: A History of Islam in America
9:00 Understanding Islam: Introduction to America's Islamic History
Islam comes to America, the spectrum of Muslim traditions. What are the major periods in the growth of African American Islam? What are its major streams today? What has been the strong appeal of Islam to African Americans?
Resources: On Common Ground: "America's Many Religions" Section on the Islamic Tradition; "Encountering Religious Diversity" Historical Perspectives Section on African Religion in America; Accounts of two African Muslims, Salih Bilali and Omar Ibn Said.
Additional Reading: Allan Austin, African Americans in Antebellum America; Richard Brent Turner, Islam in the African American Experience; Aminah Beverly McCloud, African American Islam; Sylviane Diouf, Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the America; Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
11:00 Immigration and Contemporary Issues
When and from what parts of the world have Muslim immigrants come to the U.S.? What concerns have shaped the American Muslim community through the decades? In what ways have Muslims encountered stereotypes about Islam?
Resources: On Common Ground: "America's Many Religions" Section on the Islamic Tradition.
Additional Reading: Yvonne Haddad, ed. The Muslims of America; Jane I. Smith, Islam in America; Raymond Williams, Religions of Immigrants from India and Pakistan; Sulayman S. Nyang, Islam in the United States of America; Barbara Metcalf, Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe.
Thursday, July 27: Reshaping Islam in America
9:00 The Five Pillars of Islam in the American Context.
Screening and discussion of the film, "Islam in America."
11:00 Islam in America: Democracy and Participation
How do Muslims understand their role as engaged participants in a pluralist society? What are some of the forms of Muslim political and civic participation today?
Resources: On Common Ground: "America's Many Religions" Section on the Islamic Tradition, special attention to Profiles section and the various Muslim organizations. In preparation for this session, explore the websites to study the contemporary concerns of the Council on American Islamic Relations, the American Muslim Council, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, or the Islamic Society of North America.
Additional Reading: Yvonne Haddad, The Muslims of America; Jane I. Smith, Islam in America; Raymond Williams, Religions of Immigrants from India and Pakistan; Sulayman S. Nyang, Islam in the United States of America; Barbara Metcalf, Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe.
July 28: Suggested Sites for Friday Field Visits: Islamic Society of Greater Boston in Cambridge; Islamic Society of New England in Sharon; Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland; Masjid al-Qur'an in Dorchester. See World Religions in Boston or Pluralism Project website.
WEEK 6: PERSPECTIVES ON MULTIRELIGIOUS AMERICA
Tuesday, August 1: Pluralism in America
9:00 Multiculturalism and Religious Pluralism: Sites of Contestation Today
A look at some of the specific sites of contestation and controversy: zoning boards, hospitals, public schools, the workplace. A discussion of case studies.
Resources: On Common Ground: "Encountering Religious Diversity" Today's Challenges: Selected Documents in sections on Stereotypes and Prejudice; Not in this Neighborhood; Vandalism and Violence; Encounter in the Public Square. Additional documents on issues in the Workplace.
11:00 Interfaith America: Distinctive Issues of Religious Pluralism
How has the "interfaith" movement developed the United States? What are the public, private, and theological implications of the burgeoning of interfaith activities?
Resources: On Common Ground: "Encountering Religious Diversity" Today's Challenges: Documents from Sections on From Diversity to Pluralism; Parliament of Religions, 1993; Cooperation at the Grassroots; The Interfaith Movement; Common Cause in Social Action; Worship and Spirituality
Thursday, August 3: Forum on Religion in Multicultural America
9:00 to 5:00: Presentations by seminar participants and discussion. Conference-style format with discussion.
Friday, August 4: Farewell Reception and Buffet Dinner at Lowell House, 50 Holyoke Street
Course Resources
- On Common Ground: World Religions in America. Our primary resource for the course is this CD-ROM edited by Diana L. Eck and published by Columbia University Press, 1997. You can use the CD-ROM in your room, the Adams House computer room, the Lamont Library computer and/or the audio-visuals lab, the Science Center computer lab. All of Harvard's libraries and buildings also have computer rooms where you can log on to the FAS system or use the CD-ROM.
- World Religions in Boston. A copy of the most recent version will be given to you. It is also accessible on the web at http://www.pluralism.org/wrb/.
- World Religions in America Reader. A reader of all the documents from part III of On Common Ground, "Encountering Religious Diversity."
- Additional Readings.
An extensive bibliography is provided on the CD-ROM. A smaller selection of books has been put on reserve for you to read at Andover, Lamont, and Hilles Libraries. A smaller selection of additional readings have been ordered in limited quantities for purchase at the Harvard Coop Bookstore. Those of you especially interested in one topic or another will want to purchase some of the books on this list. Those stocked at the Coop are listed with an asterisk (*).
Weeks 1, 2, and 5
*Bellah, Robert. The Broken Covenant. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992).
*Glazer, Nathan. American Judaism. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989).
*Glazer, Nathan, We are All Multiculturalists Now. (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1997).
*Handy, Robert T. A. Christian America: Protestant Hopes and Historical Realities. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971).
*Herberg, Will. Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, reprinted 1983).
*Marty, Martin. The One and the Many. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997).
Matlins, Stuart M. How to Be a Perfect Stranger: A Guide to Etiquette in Other People's Religious Ceremonies. (2 vol. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1997).
*Orsi, Robert, ed. Gods of the City. (Bloomington: Indiana Press, 1999).
*Rosenberg, Rosie.The Jewish Guide to Boston and New England. (Boston: The Jewish Advocate, 1995).
*Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr. The Disuniting of America. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1998).
*Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror. (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1993).
*Vescey, Christopher, ed. Handbook of American Indian Religious Freedom. (New York: Crossroad, 1991).
Walzer, Michael. What it Means to be an American. (New York: Marsilio, 1992).
Buddhism in America
*Fields, Rick. How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America. (Boston: Shambhala, 1992).
*Prebish, Charles. Luminous Passage. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999).
*Prebish, Charles S. and Kenneth K. Tanaka, eds. The Faces of Buddhism in America. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998).
*Seager, Richard. Buddhism in America. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999).
*Takaki, Ronald. Strangers from a Different Shore: History of Asian American. (New York: Penguin, 1989).
*Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror. (Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1993).
*Tweed, Thomas A. and Stephen Prothero, eds. Asian Religions in America. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism in America
*Eck, Diana L. Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, 3rd edition. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998).
Jackson, Carl. Vedanta for the West: The Ramakrishna Movement in the United States. (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1994).
Jensen, Joan M. Passage from India: Asian Indians in North America. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988).
Thomas, Wendell Marshall. Hinduism Invades America. (New York: Beacon Press, 1930).
*Williams, Raymond. Religions of Immigrants from India and Pakistan: New Threads in the American Tapestry. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988).
Rochford, E. Burke. Hare Krishna in America. (New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1985).
Islam in America
*Austin, Allan. African Muslims in Antebellum America. (New York: Garland, 1984).
*Haddad, Yvonne. The Muslims of America. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).
*Metcalf, Barbara. Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996).
McCloud, Aminah Beverly. African American Islam. (New York: Routledge, 1993).
*Smith, Jane. Islam in America. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999).
*Turner, Richard Brent. Islam in the African American Experience. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977).