At the beginning of the twentieth century, many sociologists had predicted that religion would gradually wane in importance as our world became increasingly scientific, rational and technological. And yet today, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, it would seem that exactly the opposite has happened: new religious movements have proliferated wildly throughout the world in the last hundred years and have become intimately tied to the larger political, economic and cultural forces of globalization.

This course will examine a series of new religious movement that have emerge within the last 150 years, placing them within the larger contexts of globalization and transnationalism. These will include: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Spiritualism, the Shakers, the Nation of Islam, Rastafarianism, Vodou, and various forms of religious terrorism (such as Islamic extremism, Aum Shinrikyo and the Christian Identity movement). In the course of our discussion, we will ask: why has religion not in fact wanted as a global force but instead become even more powerful and relevant in the last century? How are new religious movements related to larger transnational flows of people, goods and information? Why do religious movements often become linked to political violence and terrorism?