Studies in Religions (471-0-22)

Topic

Magic in Black Atlantic Traditions

Overview of class

In this course we will explore the cosmological, material, and spiritual technologies in Black Atlantic magico-religious traditions in the Caribbean and U.S. South. Our readings will help us interrogate the distinctions between practitioners self-understanding of supernatural technologies and the academic study of these traditions through the ethnographic and anthropological lens. Through theory, case studies, and primary sources we will trace the impact of antiblackness on the criminalization of these magical traditions from the colonial period to the present.

Teaching Method

Class Materials (Required)

Sample books include but not limited to:
Marcell Mauss, A General Theory of Magic
Yvonne Chireau, Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition
Sorcery in the Black Atlantic, Edited by Luis Nicolau Parés and Roger Sansi