Topic: African American Religion
| Time | Days | Location | Instructor | GER | Credit | OPUS Class Number | Syllabus (Tentative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5:00pm-6:40pm 5:00pm-5:50pm | M W | Candler Library 123 Candler Library 123 | Diakite, Dianne. | HSCW. | 4 | 13178 | TBA. |
Content: This course will engage students in a cross-disciplinary study of African religious cultures in the Americas and the Caribbean. By reading a variety of materials we will interrogate a diverse range of traditions as well as the conceptual frameworks and methodologies scholars employ to explain and interpret the appearance and legacies of African religious cultures in the Western Hemisphere as a result of the transatlantic slave trade and other transnational arrangements over the past five centuries. Traditions and regions covered include: Candomblé (Brazil); Winti (Suriname); Vodun (Haiti & USA); Santería (Cuba & USA); Kumina and Rastafari (Jamaica); Spiritual Baptists (Trinidad & Canada); Obeah/Obia (Jamaica and Suriname); and Conjure (USA). Beyond deriving a foundational understanding of the beliefs and practices associated with each tradition, we will consider some of the enduring themes invigorating the study of ARCs in the African diaspora. The following motifs are most relevant to our exploration:
(1) Theorizing "diasporas," "Africa" and the role of identity politics
(2) African retentions, syncretism and creolisation
(3) Shades of distinction between, and convergence of, religion and culture, the sacred and the secular, and revelation and reason, along with the disciplinary influences upon scholarly documentation and analysis of these complex domains in ARCs
(4) Theorizing the import of material culture in ARCs
(5) Epistemology and agency
(6) Gender construction and performance
(7) Embodiment, aesthetics, and religious expression
Texts:
- Jeffrey E. Anderson, Conjure in African American Society
- George Brandon, Santería from Africa to the New World: The Dead Sell Memories
- Karen McCarthy Brown, Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn
- Carol Duncan, This Spot of Ground: Spiritual Baptists in Toronto
- Rachael Harding, A Refuge in the Storm: Candomblé and Alternative Spaces of Blackness
- Richard Price, Travels with Tooy: History, Memory, and the African American Imagination
- Dianne Stewart, Three Eyes for the Journey: African Dimensions of the Jamaican Religious Experience
Grading
| Assignment/Exam | Details | % of Total Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment: 2 shorter papers that will contribute to a final term paper in line with WR guidelines |
The schedule of courses on O.P.U.S. is the official listing of courses, including days and times they meet and the General Education Requirements they satisfy. Students should use course descriptions as general guidelines. Course requirements, grading details, book lists, and syllabi are subject to change.