Course Credits (3)
This course explores the intersections of religion, spirituality, and the paranormal in American culture, examining historical, sociological, and artistic perspectives. Throughout the course, we will consider phenomena such as ghosts, hauntings, psychic experiences, UFOs, New Age spirituality, and Spiritualism, alongside the ways these beliefs are expressed in visual art, literature, and media. The course emphasizes critical analysis of primary and secondary sources, encourages reflection on cultural and social contexts of paranormal belief, and considers how popular and artistic representations both shape and reflect American understandings of the supernatural. Through readings, discussions, and assessments, students will develop a nuanced understanding of how paranormal and religious ideas influence individual and collective experiences in the United States. This interdisciplinary course brings together methods, theories, and source materials from religious studies, history, sociology, folklore, media studies, and the arts to examine supernatural belief in the United States. Rather than approaching the paranormal as a purely religious, psychological, or cultural phenomenon, the course places these perspectives in conversation, allowing students to understand how paranormal beliefs are shaped by, and in turn shape, American culture.
About Professor Surowitz-Israel
Professor Surowitz-Israel is graduate professor at Rutgers University specializing in Religion in the Americas, Caribbean Religions, Sephardic Jewish History, Atlantic History, and Diaspora Theory. Her published works include Jew in the Americas, 1776-1826.