Religion-African Religions

An introductory survey course exploring the topic of Africana religions generally -- including the practices of spirituality of black people in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and on the continent of Africa. Particular attention will be paid to the relations between these various locations, the similarities and differences. We will engage music, watch film, read fiction, poetry, sacred texts and works of critical nonfiction.

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions.

This course will survey the central debates of the field of African Philosophy: what counts as "African"? what counts as "philosophy"?, the universality or cultural particularity of rationality, the role of race and racism in modern, Western Philosophy, the role of writing and orality in philosophy, and "African" conceptions of the self, truth, knowledge, gender, ethics, and justice.

Introduces the mythology, ritual, philosophy, and religious art of the traditional religions of sub-Saharan Africa, also African versions of Christianity and African-American religions in the New World.

The Orisa traditions of the Yoruba-speaking peoples of West Africa have survived and thrived across centuries of war, slavery, and colonization, and continue to provide meaning to the lives of millions of people all over the world. This course will survey the various Orisa traditions of West Africa and the Americas, their interactions with other traditions as well as their influence on Black Atlantic art and spirituality.

A survey course which familiarizes students with African-derived religions of the Caribbean and Latin America

This course examines women's religious activities, traditions and spirituality in a number of different African contexts. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, literary, and religious studies scholarship, we will explore a variety of themes and debates that have emerged in the study of gender and religion in Africa. Topics will include gendered images of sacred power; the construction of gender through ritual; sexuality and fertility; and women.

Not only is Nigeria home to uniquely dynamic, diverse, and globally influential religious traditions, but these traditions have profoundly shaped the history, culture, and politics of the nation-state of Nigeria and its diaspora. This course examines the historical development of religious traditions in Nigeria and their interactions.

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions.

An exploration of religious concepts, practices and issues as addressed in African literature and film. We will examine how various African authors and filmmakers weave aspects of Muslim, Christian and/or traditional religious cultures into the stories they tell. Course materials will be drawn from novels, memoirs, short stories, creation myths, poetry, feature-length movies, documentaries and short films.

Historical and topical survey of Christianity in Africa from the second century c.e. to the present. Cross listed with RELC 3890. Prerequisite: A course in African religions or history, Christianity, or instructor permission.

This course will survey the history of Islam and Muslim societies in Africa through their arts. Covering three periods (Precolonial, Colonial, and Post-colonial), and four geographic regions (North, East, West, and Southern Africa), the course will explore the various forms and functions of Islamic arts on the continent. Through these artistic works and traditions we will explore the politics, cultures, and worldviews of African Muslim societies.

An examination of Christian missions in Africa in the 21st Century. Through a variety of disciplinary lenses and approaches, we examine faith-based initiatives in Africa--those launched from abroad, as well as from within the continent. What does it mean to be a missionary in Africa today? How are evangelizing efforts being transformed in response to democratization, globalization and a growing awareness of human rights?

Studies Yoruba traditional religion, ritual art, independent churches, and religious themes in contemporary literature in Africa and the Americas.

Not only is Nigeria home to uniquely dynamic, diverse, and globally influential religious traditions, but these traditions have profoundly shaped the history, culture, and politics of the nation-state of Nigeria and its diaspora. This course examines the historical development of religious traditions in Nigeria and their interactions

This seminar will examine some of the most profound and influential writings about love from the Islamic intellectual and poetic traditions. Perhaps more than any other civilization, the literary and philosophical traditions of Islamic civilization have been "love-centric." In this course we will closely read and discuss various philosophies and theories of love from the mundane to the mystical.

By reading ethnographic accounts of ritual performances in West Africa and its Atlantic diaspora, the seminar considers theories of ritual, discursive and non-discursive forms of remembrance, and the production, malleability and politics of memory amidst the particular challenges that the histories of slavery, colonialism, and collective trauma pose to the development of collective identities in the Afro-Atlantic World.

An introduction to African religions that originated south of the Sahara. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, and religious studies scholarship, we explore indigenous religious systems, institutions, and ways of knowing ¿ including cosmologies, rituals, healing and devotional practices. We assess the impact of colonialism on African religious cultures, consider developments in the postcolonial era, and discuss Islam and Christianity.

The Orisa traditions of the Yoruba-speaking peoples of West Africa have survived and thrived across centuries of war, slavery, and colonization and continue to provide structure and meaning to the lives of millions of people in West Africa, Cuba, Brazil, the United States, and all over the world. This course will survey the ori¿a traditions of West Africa and the Americas, their interactions with each other, Islam, and Christianity, and their influence on Black Atlantic art and spirituality.

This individualized graduate tutorial covers some of the most important authors and developments in decolonial studies, with particular attention to their relevance and intersection with religious studies. The goal of the tutorial is to train graduate students in the emerging canon of work on decoloniality, its methods of exposing, critiquing, and dismantling coloniality in academic disciplines and beyond, and its importance to religious studies.