Children and Religion in America
Explores how including children's perspectives shifts claims about religious groups and practices by studying children's lives in American religious communities.
Summary
Past student reviews · Susan Ridgely
The course was rated as low difficulty, suggesting manageable demands relative to other classes.
What you’ll be able to do
Describe the variety of theories and methodologies used to try to approach sources from a child-centered perspective.
Use religious studies theories to analyze case studies in Childhood Studies regarding children’s rights for an open future.
Describe the various ways that children and religion have influenced each other in America.
Compare the position of children and religious rights in America to children around the globe.
Analyze scientific theories and religious texts, actions, and practices.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapSophomore standing
- Sophomore standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Sophomore standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
SUSAN RIDGELY is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
No records available.
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Susan Ridgely
Professor Susan Ridgely taught the course in a way that was engaging and thought-provoking, even for students without a background in religious studies.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2019: 3.76 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=17 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.77 GPA, 90.9% A/AB (n=11 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Susan Ridgely
The course was rated as low difficulty, suggesting manageable demands relative to other classes.
Past student reviews · Susan Ridgely
Students found the material super interesting and noted that the instructor was approachable and supportive.
Topics
- Children's lives in American religious communities.
- Childhood Studies and children's rights for an open future.
- Global comparisons of children's religious rights.
- Intersections of scientific theories and religious practices.
Skills
- Describe theories and methodologies for approaching sources from a child-centered perspective.
- Apply religious studies theories to analyze case studies on children's rights for an open future.
- Describe mutual influences between children and religion in America.
- Compare positions of children and religious rights in America versus globally.
- Analyze scientific theories alongside religious texts, actions, and practices.
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Spring 2025
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
[]
Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "443669b6a2be8c7e7ab4ae91c58ec691000fd0a9694305b3df1438874b52262e",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}