American Religious Experience
Orientation week Sept. 9, 2018
Class sessions: Sept. 14 – Nov. 29, 2018
This course has been restructured and is using new material. It is now a 10 week course, the equivalent of 3 credits.
Textbook: The Religious History of America by Gaustad and Schmidt. Click here to order.
The facilitator for this course is Dr. Russell Vardell. Dr. Vardell has a strong background in theology, history, and online learning. He is dean of the Parish Lay Ministry Academy for the Northern Texas, Northern Louisiana Synod, ELCA and is pastor at First United Lutheran Church, Dallas TX.
Access to the class site and orientation information will be given about a few days before the orientation week.
This course explores America’s religious story from its first people and early, displaced Europeans and Africans into the changes and challenges of the twenty-first century. We will encounter and seek to understand the numerous and diverse institutions, movements, leaders, and participants that have contributed to the religious vitality which continues to shape the identity of the United States of America. Resources for this journey include the DVD series The American Protestant Experience, the textbook by Gaustad and Schmidt, The Religious History of America, and resources available on the Internet, as well as the reflections, shared experiences, and insights of the participants.
The online course full package includes the lectures on DVD as well as registration.
