This course offers students an introduction to how Catholicism has shaped social identities and cultural practices across global cultures from the early 1500s to the present day. Starting with the Catholic response to the Reformation in 16th Century Europe, the course then traces the complex social and cultural formations generated by an expansive Catholicism in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, and the tension between Catholicism and American culture in the history of the United States. Key topics will include the history of Catholicism and culture, syncretism, ethnicity, race, gender, and social class.