uncoverage update

Followers of the blog may have read about my attempts to incorporate an “uncoverage” approach to my course in American religious history.  Rather than bull through the material in typical survey style, I’ve structured the course in five chronologically progressing sections, with each section geared toward answering a single question.  The idea was to get my students to learn to think critically, write better, and engage the material in a potentially useful way as democratic citizens. 

I’m not sold on the technique yet, and I’ll give a more complete update once the course is done next week (to give away the ending: two steps forward, one step back). But I did want to present to you the five questions that framed the class.

And I’d also love to hear what questions you think I might have tried instead. Here’s what I’ve got:

1. Was America founded as a Protestant nation? (1492-1789)

2. Was the First Amendment or the Market Revolution responsible for the religious revivals of the early 19th century? (1789-1851)

3. How, if at all, did immigration and the intellectual challenges of the second half of the 19th century (evolution and biblical criticism) challenge the Protestant mainstream? (1851-1924)

4. Has the religious tolerance that exists in America weakened or strengthened religion?

5. Are we a more or less religious nation now than we once were?

What would have been better?

3 thoughts on “uncoverage update

  1. Hi Kevin,
    I have been following your blog for a while now, it is probably time that I submit a comment or two.

    I use essential questions in my social studies classrooms as well. However, I center it around themes. I teach middle school kids, so to the 6th graders I teach geography, 7th has world history, and 8th has US history. Each class has a set of essential questions based on the time period/region we are studying.

    That being said, I do have an overarching question for each class. For Geography, it is, “How does where we live influence how we live.” For World History it is, “How does a civilization survive, thrive, and/or fail?” Finally, for US History it is “How do the patterns of cause and effect manifest themselves in the chronology of US History?”

    While I have only been teaching with these particular themes and essential questions for one school year, I have quite enjoyed the focus it brings to our units of study.

    …and as far a shameless promotion goes, here is a link to my own blog: http://themessyclassroom.blogspot.com/

  2. Hi Becca,

    Thanks for the thoughts. It’s actually quite interesting to think about how teaching spans the ages, how can college teachers relate to middle school teachers, and vice versa. Keep me informed with how you think the students do with the focused approach. And I can’t wait to explore themessyclassroom!

    All best,
    Kevin

  3. one question I typically use in US religious history class is this: did race, gender, class, and sexuality influence religion or did religion influence race, gender, class, and sexuality? Of course, the answers depend on time period, angle, and interest. I like it, though, to get to how intertwined all these forces were and are.

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