Introduction to Black Religions: The North American Experience (262-0-20)
Instructors
Kijan A Bloomfield
Meeting Info
University Hall 121: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
This course introduces you to the variety of Black religions that developed during and after the Atlantic slave trade up to the present in what is now the United States. The historical contexts surrounding the development of Black religions and the lived experiences of Black Americans are the main topics of our course. The course orients us to these traditions as continuities/changes of West African religious cosmologies. We explore the impact of the Atlantic slave trade, the role of politics, the construction of racial identities, and most importantly, the diversity of Black Religion in the United States and locally in Chicago. We will examine the interplay between religion, and race within various forms of Christianity, Islam, and American expressive cultures.
Learning Objectives
• Identify West African cosmological principles that undergird Black religious practices in the United States. • Evaluate scholarly arguments regarding West African continuities and changes in Black religion.
• Assess how the study of religion, colonialism, and race have intersected in American and Western history. • Evaluate how religious ideas and practices allowed Black Americans to critique American racism and argue for social justice.
• Analyze and contextualize primary sources about Black religious history and culture.
• Identify the complex interactions between religious belief and practice and the rich historical, social, political, cultural, economic, and intellectual context in which religious people inhabit and live their religion.
Teaching Method
Class Materials (Required)
• Milton Sernett, ed. African American Religious History: A Documentary Witness (Duke University Press, 1999).
• Albert Raboteau, Fire in the Bones: Reflections on African-American Religious History
• Leonard McKinnis, Jr., The Black Coptic Church
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area
U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity