R. Laurence Moore 
Howard A. Newman Professor in American Studies
Office: 134 McGraw Hall
Phone: (607) 255-6750
Fax: (607) 255-0469
E-Mail: rlm8@cornell.edu
Office Hours: W 3:30-5:00
Research and Teaching Interests
Most of my recent publications have dealt with religion in the United States as an aspect of cultural history. (For a list of books and articles, see my c.v.) Along with many other scholars I have been trying in my current work to rethink the meaning of secularization theory and to track the way in which sacred and secular are interlocked categories. These emphases has pushed my research interests toward comparative studies of religion's role in nationalistic and transnational movements.. I am nearing the end of my teaching career at Cornell, so I no longer direct the work of graduate students. However, I am teaching in the Fall of 2008 three undergraduate courses: Twentieth-Century American Cultural History; Religion and Politics in American History; Religion and the Secular in American History.
Courses
| Fall 2009: | 3460 |
Modernization of the American Mind Syllabus |
|---|---|---|
4000 |
Honors Proseminar Syllabus | |
| Spring 2010: | On Leave |
Education
Ph.D. Yale University, 1968
M.A. Yale University, 1964
B.A. Rice University, 1962
Recent Publications and Awards
Publications
Edited with Maurizio Vaudagna, The American Century in Europe (Cornell, 2003) Wrote introduction and the article "American Religion as Cultural Imperialism."
With Isaac Kramnick and Glenn Altschuler, The 100 Most Notable Cornellians (Cornell 2003).
Touchdown Jesus. The Mixing of Sacred and Secular in American History. (John Knox, 2003).
"Embracing American Democracy, Catholic-Style," Reviews in American History (December 2003), 580-87.
"Bible Reading and Non-Sectarian Schooling. The Failure of Religious Instruction in Nineteenth-Century Public Education." Journal of American History (March 2000).
Reinventing American Religion - Yet Again," American Literary History, Vol. 12 (Spring/Summer 2000), 318-326.
"What Children Did Not Learn in School: The Intellectual Quickening of Young Americans in the Nineteenth Century," Church History, Vol. 68 (March 1999), 42-61.
"The Baptists, the Bureau, and the Case of the Missing Lines," (with Isaac Kramnick), William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 66 (Oct. 1999), 817-22.
With Issac Kramnick, The Godless Constitution. The Case Against Religious Correctness (W.W. Norton, 1996). Paperback edition 1997. [As a consequence of this book, Kramnick and Moore contributed essays to The Washington Post, Jan. 14, 1996; Liberty Magazine, May-June 1996; The Chronicle for Higher Education, March 29, 1996; The American Prospect, Sept./Oct. 1996; Academe, Nov.-Dec. 1996; "Can the Churches Save the Cities?" American Prospect, Nov./Dec. 1997; "Religious Politics" Dissent (April 2001).]
Awards
Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Award, 2007.
Starr Foundation Fellow, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, Michaelmas Term 2001, Trinity 2002.
Robert and Donna Paul Award for Excellence in Advising 1994.