THEO5492 · Theology

Religion(s) and American Public Schools

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

This course examines a controversial but surprisingly unfamiliar topic: religion(s) in American public schools. The class has three objectives: (1) to understand the complex role religions have played in the development of American public schools and the political and educational philosophy that undergirds them; (2) To examine the principled philosophical and theological issues behind contemporary legal cases about religion and public education; and (3) To understand how constitutionally sound approaches to religion in schools can help to modulate or resolve the pedagogical and administrative issues that arise across the curriculum and within school culture.