American Catholicism – Jeffery M. Burns – Fall 2009

AMERICAN CATHOLICISM Jeffrey M. Burns

ST/d-236 Fall 2009

sfarchiv@concentric.net 328-6502

Archives M-W-F

The purpose of the course is to provide a survey of the major themes and developments in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States. Special attention will be paid to the role of immigrant communities in building the Church.

Goals

Students will obtain and develop a broad understanding of the Church in the United States, with special emphasis on the multi-cultural quality of the US Church.

Students will conduct an interview with an elder Catholic that will give them a deeper understanding of the local church

Student Requirements

Each student will carefully read the assigned readings from the texts, Jay P. Dolan, The American Catholic Experience, and Jeffrey Burns et al, Keeping Faith. Students should have the appropriate chapter read before the topic is discussed in class.

The student must conduct one oral history interview with a person assigned by the professor. The student will turn in 5-6 page summary of the interview. Further instructions will be provided the second week of class. The tapes will also be turned in to become part of the Archives’ oral history collection. Standard size cassettes should be used. (No MINIS please!) If a digital recorder is used a disk must be turned in.

GRADES

Grades will be determined in the following manner:

40%:  Weekly readings and participation.

60%: Oral history assignment.

Week Topic

I 9/2 An American Church?

II 9/9 California Missions

Reading: Dolan, I-III

III 9/16 The Church and the Early Republic

Reading: Dolan,IV;    KF #1-3

IV9/23 Immigrant Church 1

Reading: Dolan,V, VI;   KF: General Introduction, xxi-xxx

Introductions Part I and Part III,

Documents 5, 6, 8, 11, 14-16, 19, 25-27, 55, 59, 63-65,                   71, 75, 81

V 9/30 Americanism and Modernism

Reading: Dolan, XI

KF: Documents 28-32, 67-68

VI 10/14 American Catholic Spirituality

Reading: Dolan, VII,VIII

VII 10/21 American Catholic Women

Reading: KF: Documents 90-95

VIII  10/28 American Catholic Social Thought

Reading: Dolan, XII  

IX 11/11 Preconciliar Catholic Culture       

and Catholic Literary Revival

Reading: Dolan, IX, X

KF: Documents 85-89

X 11/18 Immigrant Church 2

Reading: Dolan, XIII

XI 11/25 Immigrant Church 3

Reading: KF: All of Part V and VI, plus Document 53

XII 12/2 Vatican II and Beyond

Reading: Dolan, XIV,XV

XIII12/9 Maryknoll Missions

12/11 Papers Due

Special Note:

Unexcused absences:

As a seminary faculty, we have determined that presence at assigned tasks is a central value for a future priest and an indispensable attribute for any professional. Accordingly, if a student has two unexcused absences from class, the penalty is failure for the course. If a student has one unexcused absence in this class, the penalty will be loss of one full grade.

Late work:

Late work will not be accepted. If you anticipate that an extraordinary emergency or extenuating circumstances will have an impact on your work, please let me know as soon as possible.