Amazing Grace: U.S. Religious Thought and Practices, 1780-1850 and 2013

REVISED

Spring 2013 quarter

Faculty

Marla Elliott performance, voice, community studies , Joli Sandoz academic and creative writing, U.S. literature, research methods in the humanities

Fields of Study

community studies, history, literature, music and religious studies

Preparatory for studies or careers in

education, music, religious studies, American studies

Description

Music, history, and thinking about God and the human condition will center this 12-credit, one-quarter program exploring interweavings of experience and thought. Our focus will be the Second Great Awakening in the U.S. (1780-1850), a religious revival movement that helped energize the shift as the U.S. turned from political, economic, and intellectual dependence on Europe to becoming a country in its own right. We’ll also consider how religious trends begun before 1850 continue to shape our lives in the 21st century.

Program lenses will include the founding of shape note singing (a uniquely American form of Christian sacred music), spiritual experiences as reported in art and autobiographical writings, camp meetings, and Christian theology presented through sermons and church rituals. Possible additional topics include relevant fiction from the time, and the founding and continuation of one or more of the churches begun or settled in the U.S. after 1770 (African Methodist Episcopal Church, Shakers, Seventh Day Adventist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and others).

Participants will attend a shape note All-Day Singing as well as a workshop and concert of traditional music from the republic of Georgia and will work together to organize and host the Fourth Annual Olympia All-Day Singing. Three additional visits to places of worship will be required. Reading, writing, singing and collaborative work will be important sites of instruction and attention as we draw from history, music, psychology, literature, and theology to inform our explorations. Credit may be awarded in music, history, literature, and religious studies.

Advertised Schedule

6-9:30p Mon/Wed plus the following weekend classes: Fri, Apr. 12 Georgian music workshop and performance; Sat, Apr. 20 Gregorian Chant and Contemplation Workshop; Sat., May 4 All-Day Singing in Portland; Sat. Jun.1 Olympia All-Day Singing; several weekend visits to places of worship may be required

Location

Olympia

Online Learning

Enhanced Online Learning

Books

Greener Store

Required Fees

$78 for workshop registration, concert tickets, and workbook materials

Offered During

Evening and Weekend

Program Revisions