hist. 21 Research Journal entry #4
you could say this is my first complete research journal entry, because i have finally picked my topic of the analysis of religion in 19th century America and the more global context of the importance of religion for humanity. the initial bibliography is due friday so i am doing serious research now. i started and centralized research for this entry around the books that you recommended in your responding email to my topic and in our meeting. i first looked up William G. McLoughlin's "Revivals, Awakenings, and Reforms" (Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1980) on Alcuin to see if the furman library has it. Although they did, i decided to wait to check it out, but researched the contents in JSTOR to make sure it fits my topic- and looks like it definitely does. it does appear to be quite provocative as you said, which makes me want to look into it even more. i then looked at Marty, Martin's "Pilgrims in their Own Land: 500 years of Religion in America" (New York: Penguin, 1985). it certainly applies to the study of American religion, but might be too broad and not answer the specifics as well as i would like. i then finished this particular session by looking at some of the bibliographies that you recommended on Wikipedia, such as John Winthrop, Roger Williams, Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield. I still haven't completely narrowed my paper down to a specific topic in the 1800s, so i dont yet know who will be more "important" to my research.