Religion in the Black Atlantic (315-0-20)
Instructors
Kijan A Bloomfield
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-319: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
Obeah. Santeria. Vodou. These African traditional religions were forged in the political and economic cauldron of the Caribbean, because of the transatlantic slave trade. Going beyond the tropes of reggae and beaches--this course offers a critical introduction to central themes in Caribbean Studies. We will survey the history, culture, and religious traditions of the Caribbean region with attention to the following questions: What are the major themes in studying religious traditions in the Caribbean? What are the cosmological and embodied expressions that characterize religious practices in the Caribbean? How was religion mobilized by enslaved and free Caribbean subjects and to what ends? How have historical and contemporary actors characterized religion and culture in the Caribbean? What kind of insights do we gain by engaging the history, politics, and culture of the Caribbean through the lens of religious studies? We will approach these questions through scholarly texts, film, literature, and music. Themes such as belonging, migration, colonialism, race, gender, and class will guide our understanding of what makes these religious expressions uniquely Caribbean.
Learning Objectives
• Acquire knowledge of historical phenomena (cultural, economic, intellectual, political, and social practices and their interdependent development over time in their local, regional, and/ or global contexts) and become familiar with relevant primary and secondary sources
• Appreciate the impact of historical developments; acquire historical perspective on the present; consider agency and subjectivity in the context of the times; reflect on the varieties of memory and experience
• Express the results of historical investigation effectively and persuasively in written, oral and visual forms, and engage in debate with other narrators and interpreters of history, both past and present
• Appreciate how literature and the arts reveal the differences and diversity, as well as the continuity and unity, of human cultures
• Produce acts of persuasive interpretation, analysis, and commentary on literature and art, both spoken and written
Class Materials (Suggested)
Technology
• Computer with Internet access
Books
• Brown, Karen McCarthy. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010. ISBN-10 : 0520268105
• Castor, N. Fadeke. 2017. Spiritual Citizenship: Transnational Pathways from Black Power to Ifá in Trinidad. Durham: Duke University Press, 2017 ISBN-10 : 9780822368953
• Murphy, Joseph M. Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora. Beacon Press, 1993. ISBN-10 : 0807012203
• Ennis Edmonds and Michelle A. Gonzalez, Caribbean Religious History: An Introduction. NYU Press, 2010 ISBN-10 : 0814722350
• Jacob Olupona, African Religions (A Very Short Introduction) ISBN-10 : 0199790582
• Patrick Taylor, Nation Dance: Religion, Identity, and Cultural Difference in the Caribbean (Indiana UP: 2001) ISBN-10 : 0253214319
• Sidney Mintz & Richard Price, The Birth of African American Culture: An Anthropological Perspective (Beacon Press:1972,1992) ISBN-10 : 0807009172
Class Notes
Previous coursework in Black Studies or Latin American and Caribbean studies preferred. No first years.
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area
Interdisciplinary Distro-rules apply
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Ethics & Values Distro Area