Supplemental Reading

Some of you have asked about additional reading for the course to augment our other readings and lectures. For those of you not familiar with either the broad outline of American history or the basic tenets of Catholicism, reading these texts alongside our lectures and readings will help enhance your knowledge.

The best, short introduction to U.S. Catholic history is James T. Fisher's A Communion of Immigrants. There he provides an introduction to basic concepts in Catholic theology alongside the history of the Church in America. The chapter on Catholicism in Catherine Albanese's America: Religions and Religion is also a great short overview of American Catholic history with an extended section on Catholicism's sacramental traditions. Although, Albanese emphasizes the sacralization of space and place, where I'll be emphasizing the importance of the "real presence" in Catholic history and through. Jay Dolan's The American Catholic Experience remains the most comprehensive history of the Church, with an emphasis on the Church's social and ethnic history. Dolan has also written a shorter text on the American Catholic church's complex historical relationship with American identity and culture titled In Search of an American Catholicism. Finally, James O'Toole has recently written a readable narrative history of American Catholicism with the rather weighty title of The Faithful.

These should help those of you who need it. But remember, exams and papers will test the material we use in course, so make sure to read these texts through the information you gain in the course. Happy reading!