Susanna Morrill
Department Chair; Associate Professor of Religious Studies
On zoom by appointment
Susanna Morrill teaches courses in United States religious history. She received her doctorate in the history of religions from the University of Chicago. Her work in the recent past has focused on how early Mormon women used popular literature in order to argue for the theological importance of their roles in the home, community, and church.
Academic Credentials
PhD 2002, MA 1993 University of Chicago
BA 1989 Bryn Mawr College
Teaching
Fall 2022 Courses:
RELS 201 History and Theory
MWF 12:40 - 1:40 PM
History of the field. Psychological, literary, anthropological, sociological, and historical approaches to the study of religion. Readings by major theorists. Should normally be taken no later than the junior year.
Prerequisites: None.
RELS 254 Religion in Modern America, 1865 to Present
MWF 10:20 - 11:20 AM
Impact of religion in modern America from the end of the Civil War to the present day, emphasizing the interaction between America’s many religions and emerging American modernity. The fate of “traditional” religion in modern America; “alternate” American religious traditions; urbanization, industrialism, and religion; science, technology, and secularism; evangelicalism, modernism, and fundamentalism; religious bigotry; pluralism; new religions and neofundamentalism.
Prerequisites: None.
Research
Professor Morrill teaches courses in United States religious history up to 1865; United States religious history, 1865-present; colonial American history; women in United States religious history; the body and health in United States religious history; and a seminar focusing on American religions. These courses reflect her interests in researching women in United States religions and, specifically, in finding women (and men) in American history by looking at non-traditional, popular sources—the places in American culture that women were able to safely create and inhabit.