I offer the following list to help you define a research topic. These topics are quite general and are intended only as a starting point. As you begin your research, you should be thinking about how to further refine your topic to manageable proportions. At some point, you may want to head off in a direction that isn’t on this list at all. Keep me posted.

Native Religions. What were the traditional belief systems of American Indians, and what impact did European contact have on them?

The Puritans. Were the Puritans repressed traditionalists or radical utopianists? When and why did Puritanism decline? What lasting impact did the Puritans have on American religion, culture, and society?

The Great Awakening and the Enlightenment. What was the relationship between the rationalism of the Enlightenment and the pietistic revivalism that emerged at the same time? What role did religion play in the shaping of the new United States?

Disestablishment. What has been the meaning of separation of church and state in American history? How have American denominations adapted to this system?

Millennialism and civic religion. What has been the relationship between religion and patriotism in American history? In what ways and to what extent has confidence in the great destiny of the U.S. been accompanied by a belief that America would be the scene of the thousand-year reign of Christ prophesied in the Bible? To what extent has reverence for the Founding Fathers and America’s democratic insitutions substituted for an established church and become a kind of nationalistic religion?

Religion and the South. How did the institution of chattel slavery affect southern religion, and vice versa? What was the relationship between the Christianity of European-Americans and the Christianization of African-Americans?

Religion and the West. How did the frontier experience shape American religious expression and institutions, and vice versa? In what ways is the western United States distinctive in its religious forms and expressions?

The Second Great Awakening and the Benevolent Empire. Was the spread of evangelical revivalism in the early 19th century a "top-down" movement to impose social control on the lower classes or a "bottom-up" movement challenging traditional hierarchies?

Women and religion. What roles have women played in American religion? In what ways did religion enforce gender roles? In what ways did it help to liberate women from traditional constraints?

Religion and antebellum reform. What role did religious values and religious leadership play in such reform movements as abolitionism, temperance, nativism, utopianism, and public education?

The Black churches. What role has religion played in the African-American community? In what ways has it preached accomodation to white supremacy? In what ways has it supported resistance to racism and oppression?

The immigrant churches. What roles have the Catholic and Jewish religions played in American life? To what extent have they been champions of cultural diversity and defenders of ethnic traditions? To what extent have they advocated Americanization and contributed to the assimilation of immigrant groups?

The missionary enterprise. Were missionaries "cultural imperialists" who fostered an aggressive, intolerant attitude toward other cultures, or were they a voice of conscience in American relations with weaker groups?

The Social Gospel. How did religious leaders respond to the conflicts and injustices of an industrializing America? How much did Social Gospel leaders depart from previous religious beliefs, and what was the relationship between liberal religion and social reform during the Progressive era?

The fundamentalist-modernist controversy. What were the roots of 20th-century divisions between conservative and liberal religion? What roles were played by theological differences, the impact of science, and social tensions?

Mysticism and the occult. In what ways has American religious life incorporated beliefs normally considered inconsistent with orthodox Christianity? How new is New Age?

The churches and the problem of evil. From the Great Depression through the global struggles against fascism and Communism and the Civil Rights movement, how have American religious leaders and organizations attempted to define and confront enormous problems of evil and injustice?

The Christian Right. What are the roots of the Christian Right, and what accounts for their recent successes? What religious values do they espouse, and what is the connection between those values and their political agenda? Are they traditionalists or innovators?