The tension between sacred themes and secular life in the African American community has defined much of the artistic, political, and social roles of African American Religion in the 20th century. The infiltration of African American Religious themes in musical genres such as the blues, gospel, rap and hip hop music, in film and television depictions of black life, and in literature, has indelibly marked what traditionally describes "the black church". We will survey the historic manifestations of Black religion and popular culture in America and around the world over the 20th century, and learn how those cultural interpretations influenced trends in the lives of both African Americans and other American ethnic groups.

Anthea Butler is Associate Professor of Religious Studies. Her most recent book, Women in the Church of God in Christ, Making A Sanctified World, (University of North Carolina Press, 2007), chronicles the history of African American women's religious lives, and civic engagement in the Church of God in Christ, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Professor Butler's areas of interest and expertise include Pentecostalism, Evangelicalism, African American Religion, Gender and Sexuality, Popular Religion and Culture, and Global Christianity. She also edits the online journal The North Star: A Journal of African American Religion and History, and is a frequent contributor to Religion Dispatches. Her writings also have appeared in The Religious History of American Women: Reimagining the Past, edited by Catherine Brekus; Practicing Protestants: Histories of Christian Life in America: 1630-1965, edited by Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp, Leigh E. Schmidt, and Mark Valeri; and Women And Religion in the African Diaspora, Knowledge, Power, and Performance, edited by R. Marie Griffith and Barbara Dianne Savage. Professor Butler has also been featured in print, internet, and television media, contributing to various outlets including NPR's Morning Edition, Speaking of Faith, News and Notes, BBC, the Today Show, and The History Channel. Her most recent media consultation work is with WGBH on the PBS series American Experience as a consultant for a segment featuring Aimee Semple McPherson, noted Pentecostal evangelist and media personality, and the forthcoming "God in America", a six part series slated to air in late 2010.