This course introduces for an in-depth analysis the most important and influential texts written on American and African American religious history over the last half century. These texts have shaped the narrative structures, historical frames, and the theoretical assumptions that have had the most profound impact on the field of religious studies. The aim of the course is to be particularly attuned to the structure of argument and the use of evidence with the understanding that the mastery of these two aspects account for their influence. The aim of the course, then, is to read as much for structure as for content.