Week 1

Let’s start by looking at the religious and spiritual landscape in the United States, both past and present. How has it evolved? How has religion and spirituality played a role in our society and our psychology? How are we even defining religion and spirituality these days?
This week’s readings should push you to begin to think about religion and spirituality holistically, considering all the different touchpoints with every facet of who we are, how we develop, and how we interact in this world. 
Take a look at these readings, and then provide a written response to the following questions (max. 3 pages). Post your write up directly into the forum (no attachments) by Sunday, and then respond to two of your classmates by the following Thursday.

1. There are varying definitions for religion, spirituality, faith, etc.? Which of these presented in the readings makes the most sense to you and why?
2. How do some of the stats offered by Ellison and McFarland match up with those in the Pew research? Do they support or contradict each other?
3. How do either the definitions of R/S or the social context of R/S match up with your own experience? What anecdotal experience do you have that either reinforces or refutes anything that’s presented here? (You can also offer up a perception or opinion based on both the readings and your own experience – we’ll see if that perception or opinion holds true by the end of the course!)

Required Readings (for best experience, read in order!) 

Miller-Perrin, C., and Mancuso, E.K. (2014). Faith from a Positive Psychology Perspective. Dordrecht: Springer. (Chapter 1: Religion, Spirituality and Positive Psychology: History and Definitions)

Ellison, C. G. & McFarland, M.J. (2013). The social context of religion and spirituality in the United States. In K. Pargament, J. Exline, & J. Jones (eds.) APA handbook of psychology, religion, and spirituality (Vol 1): Context, theory, and research. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. DOI:10.1037/14045-002

Harris, K.A., Howell, D.S., & Spurgeon, D.W. (2018). Faith concepts in psychology: Three 30-Year definitional content analyses. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 10(1), 1-29.

Pew Research Center. (2008). U.S. religious landscape survey. Available from www.pewforum.org.

Pew Research Center. (2018). The religious typology. Available from www.pewforum.org