TEMPLE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS DEPARTMENT OF RELIGION REL 3702:001 AFRICAN RELIGIONS AND NEW WORLD CULTURE

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-10:50 Tuttleman Learning Center 0005B Dr. Terry Rey Associate Professor and Chair of Religion AB 617 trey@temple.edu (215) 204-8755 Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:15-12:45: Please see Dr. Rey during his office hours or by appointment concerning any issue related to this course. He checks email each weekday and usually can respond to your electronic communications within 48 hours. Otherwise, he can generally be reached by phone on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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Course Overview This is an upper-level undergraduate course that critically investigates the history, content, and function of African religions that have greatly influenced American cultures and of African-derived religions in the Americas, such as Candombl, Santera, and Vodou. The African roots of these and other traditions and their adaptations in the New World will be emphasized. In addition, the African spirit in African-American Christianity, the meaning of Africa in Rastafari, and the historical and socio-cultural dimensions of Afro-Atlantic Christianity will be carefully considered. Relatedly, we will also carefully examine the intersections of religion, race, and ethnicity; religion, gender, and sexuality; religion, domination, and resistance; religion and politics; religious syncretism; and religious pluralism. The course assumes the term African American to be inclusive of peoples of African descent from throughout the Americas and not just the United States. Course Objectives/Desired Learning Outcomes By the end of the semester, the successful student in this course will have obtained a critical understanding of the following: traditional African religion, especially among the Ashanti, Fon, Kongo, and Yoruba peoples; the various roles of religion in the transatlantic slave trade and the racism upon which it was based and from which it has issued; the processes of creolization and syncretism in the emergence of African-derived religions in the Americas; the beliefs, rituals, and symbolic systems of several African-derived or African-inspired religious traditions in the Americas, including Candombl, Palo, Vodou, Santera, and Rastafari; the African influence on African-American Christianity; issues related to race, gender, sexuality, oppression, and resistance in African and African-diasporic religion. Additionally, through class discussions, writing assignments, and in-class presentations, students will further develop their critical thinking, communication, and research skills. Required Readings: Books Hurston, Zora Neale. Mules and Men. New York: Harper, 1990 (1935). Available electronically: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/grand-jean/hurston/chapters/siteintroduction.html Murphy, Joseph M. and Mei Mei Sanford. Oshun Across the Waters: A Yoruba Goddess in Africa and the Americas. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2001. Murrell, Nathaniel Samuel. Afro-Caribbean Religions: An Introduction to Their Historical, Cultural, and Sacred Traditions. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2010. Available electronically through the TU library catalog: http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=243732&src=2 Thompson, Robert Farris. Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy. New York: Vintage, 1984.
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Young, Jason R. Rituals of Resistance: African Atlantic Religion in Kongo and the Low Country South in the Slave Era. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007. Articles Besson, Jean. Religion as Resistance in Jamaican Peasant Life: The Baptist Church, Revival Worldview and Rastafari Movement. In Barry Chevannes (ed.), Rastafari and Other Afro-Caribbean Worldviews. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1999, 43-77. Brown, Karen McCarthy. Ezili. In Karen McCarthy Brown, Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991, 220-257. Ephirim-Donor, Anthony. Akom: The Ultimate Mediumship Experience among the Akan. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 76, 1, 2008, 54-81. Lowenthal, Ira P. Ritual Performance and Religious Experience: A Service for the Gods in Southern Haiti. Journal for Anthropological Research 34, 5, 1978, 392-414. Lum, Kenneth Ant. Manifestation in the Spiritual Baptist Faith and Orisha Work: Exegesis and Comparison. In Kenneth Ant Lum, Praising His Name in the Dance: Spirit Possession in the Spiritual Baptist Faith and Orisha Work in Trinidad, West Indies. London, Routledge, 2000, 243-258. Parrinder, Geoffrey, Divine Kingship in West Africa. Numen 3, 1956, 111-121. Rey, Terry. The Spirit(s) of African Religion in Miami. In Robin Poynor and Amanda Carlson (eds.), Africa in Florida. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, forthcoming. Rush, Dana. In Remembrance of Slavery: Tchamba Vodun Arts. African Arts 44, 1, 2011, 40-51. Vertovec, Steven. Ethnic Distance and Religious Convergence: Shango, Spiritual Baptist and Kali Mai Traditions in Trinidad. Social Compass 45, 2, 1998, 247-63. Watt, Diane. Traditional Religious Practices among African-Caribbean Mothers and Community Othermothers. Black Theology: An International Journal, 2, 2, 2004, 195-212. Zahan, Dominique. Some Reflections on African Spirituality. In Jaocb K. Olupna (ed.), African Spirituality: Forms, Meanings and Expressions. New York: Crossroad, 3-25. Attendance Policy Regular attendance and punctuality are expected of all. Up to three absences may go without penalty. Each additional absence beyond that will cause a drop of one rung on the final grading scale; e.g., B+ to B, B to B- and so on. No cell phone usage in class, please. Grading Determinants Participation: Regular attendance and informed, respectful, and inquiring participation are expected of all Participation includes careful readings of all assigned texts; please expect to read a lot for this class and to demonstrate that you have done so in class discussions and on the exams (5% of final grade). Presentation: Each student will deliver a 15-20-minute presentation to the entire class on their term paper topic (10% of the final grade). Response Paper: From the attached bibliography, each student will choose a single book, read it carefully, and write a 3-5 page response paper, stating ones opinion of the book and discussing some aspect or aspects of the reading that s/he found most compelling. In relation, each student will deliver to the class a 2.5 minute oral synopsis of the book to the entire class on October 20 (10% of final grade). [note: it is perfectly fine, if not strongly advised, to use this project as a foundation for the term paper project]. Research Paper: Each student is required to write a research paper on a relevant topic to be chosen in consultation with the professor. This paper is to be roughly 8 to 10 pages (roughly 4000 words) in length (25% of final grade). Midterm Examination: There will a midterm examination that will require composing essays in response to the students choice of any 2 from a list of 4 questions. The questions will be presented and discussed in class one week in advance, and students may bring a single note card carrying relevant notes, an outline, and/or citations from the texts for each question when they sit for the exam on October 4 (25% of final grade).
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Final Examination: There will a final examination that will require composing essays in response to the students choice of any 2 from a list of 4 questions. The questions will be presented and discussed one week in advance, and students may bring a single note card with relevant notes, an outline, and/or citations from the texts for each question when they sit for the exam on December 13. The final will not be cumulative but cover only course material after the midterm (25% of final grade). Each assignment will be graded according to the following scale. Late papers drop one notch for each day tardy: A = Excellent A- = Excellent with only minor flaws B+ = Very Good B = Good B- = Good with only minor flaws C+ = Slightly above average C = Satisfactory though unimpressive C- = Less than satisfactory D+ = Almost unacceptable, but theres something there D = Barely acceptable and reflective of minimal effort D- = The worst possible without outright failure. F = Failure Plagiarism (from the Temple University 2006/2007 Bulletin) Temple University believes strongly in academic honesty and integrity. Plagiarism and academic cheating are, therefore, prohibited. Essential to intellectual growth is the development of independent thought and a respect for the thoughts of others. The prohibition against plagiarism and cheating is intended to foster this independence and respect. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person's labor, another person's ideas, another person's words, another person's assistance. Normally, all work done for courses -- papers, examinations, homework exercises, laboratory reports, oral presentations -- is expected to be the individual effort of the student presenting the work. Any assistance must be reported to the instructor. If the work has entailed consulting other resources -- journals, books, or other media -- these resources must be cited in a manner appropriate to the course. It is the instructor's responsibility to indicate the appropriate manner of citation. Everything used from other sources -- suggestions for organization of ideas, ideas themselves, or actual language -- must be cited. Failure to cite borrowed material constitutes plagiarism. Undocumented use of materials from the World Wide Web is plagiarism. Academic cheating is, generally, the thwarting or breaking of the general rules of academic work or the specific rules of the individual courses. It includes falsifying data; submitting, without the instructor's approval, work in one course which was done for another; helping others to plagiarize or cheat from one's own or another's work; or actually doing the work of another person. The professor reserves the right to refer cases of suspected plagiarism or cheating to the University Disciplinary Committee and/or the right to assign a grade of "F" for any submitted assignments in which plagiarism is evident. Please do not plagiarize! When in doubt as to what constitutes plagiarism, please consult with the professor. Disability Statement: This course is open to all students who meet the academic requirements for participation. Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services at 215-20401280 in 100 Ritter Annex to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Statement on Academic Freedom: Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The University has adopted a policy on Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy # 03.70.02) which can be accessed through the following link: http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02. Guidelines for Internet Research While there is a wealth of sound information at your disposal on the internet, there is also a great deal of dubious material, so please be discerning. Ideally, internet articles should have individual authors; others list institutions as sources. Acceptable authorship includes individual experts, educational institutions (e.g., Institute of Reformation History; Stanford University), publicly supported national or international institutes (e.g., World Health Organization; National Institutes of Health), and other well known institutions with solid reputations (e.g., World Council of Churches; Childrens Defense Fund). When citing from the internet, you should list first the author and title, just like with a book or article, then the entire web address where you found the information, and the date it was accessed. Please do not cite wikipedia.com, though in certain cases you may use this website as a conduit to other sources.

Course Schedule T 8/30: Course overview; Defining Religion; Defining Africa; Defining New World In Class Readings: Rey, Some Definitions of Religion; Introducing the Phenomenology of Religion (handouts to be distributed in class) R 9/1: Introduction to African Spirituality Readings: Murrell, Introduction, Ch. 2; Murphy & Sanford, Ch. 1; Zahan ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 9/6: Fon and Dahomey Beliefs and Practice Readings: Blier; Rush Film: The Divine Horsemen R 9/8: Kongo Cosmology and Funerary Rites Readings: Thompson, Ch. 2; Young, Ch. 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 9/13: Yoruba Spirits and Divination Readings: Murrell, Ch. 1; Thompson Ch. 1; Murphy and Sanford, Ch. 2 (Abiodun) R 9/15: Ashanti Mediumship and Wisdom Readings: Ephirim-Donkor, Parrinder ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 9/20: Origins of Haitian Vodou Readings: Murrell, Chs. 3 & 4 R 9/22: Ritual, Performance, Gender, and Sexuality in Haitian Vodou Readings: Brown; Hurston, 183-225; Lowenthal Film: Des hommes et dieux ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 9/27: Origins of Brazilian Candombl Readings: Murrell, Chs. 8 & 9 R 9/29: Los Orixs: Spirits in Candombl Readings: Murphy and Sanford, Chs. 6 (Vega), 15 (Hale), & 16 (Cypriano) Film: The King Does Not Lie ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 10/4: Midterm Examination R 10/6: Origins of Santera Readings: Murrell, Chs. 5 & 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 10/11: Yoruba Roots of Santera Murphy and Sanford, Chs. 8 (Adepegba); 14 (Ogungbile) Film: Cauri: La Boca del Santo R 10/13: Los Orichas: Spirits in Santera Readings: Murphy and Sanford, Chs. 3 (Castellanos), 7 (Murphy) & 9 (Flores-Pea) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 10/18: Santera in the USA Readings: Murphy and Sanford, Chs. 12 (Brandon) & 13 (Harding); Rey Film: Voices of the Gods R 10/20: Brief Oral Synopses of Supplemental Readings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 10/25: Palo and Abaku in Cuba Murrell, Ch. 7 Film: Nganga Kiyangala: Congo Religion in Cuba R 10/27: Shango Religion in Trinidad Readings: Murrell, Ch. 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 11/1: Syncretism in Spiritual Baptist and Kali Mai Traditions in Trinidad and Tobago Readings: Lum; Vertovec R 11/3: Obeah, Myal, Kumina, and Poco in Jamaica Readings: Murrell, Chs. 11-13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 11/8: Rastafari & Babylon Readings: Murrell, Ch. 14
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R 11/10: Rastafari and Reggae Readings: Besson; Watt Film: The Bob Marley Story ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 11/15: Kongo Religion and the Shaping of US American Worldview Readings: Young, Introduction, Chs.1 & 2 R 11/17: Kongo Influences on African American Christianity and Culture Readings: Young, Ch. 3 and Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 11/22: The African Spirit of New World Culture in the USA Readings: Hurston, Chs. 1-9 Film: This Far by Faith R 11/24: No Class: Give Thanks! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 11/29: Student Presentations R 12/1: Student Presentations ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 12/6: Student Presentations R 12/8: Study Day: No Class ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T 12/13: Final Examination Bibliography for Supplementary Reading Project (others may be suggested but must gain the professors approval in advance)

1. Barrett, Leonard E. The Rastafarians. Boston: Beacon, 1988. 2. Brown, Karen McCarthy. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1992.

3. Chevannes, Barry. Rastafari: Roots and Ideology. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1995. 4. Chireau, Yvonne. Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition. Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 2006.

5. Clark, Mary Ann. Where Men Are Wives and Mothers Rule: Santera Practices and their Gender Implications. Gainesville:
University Press of Florida, 2007

6. Conner, Randy P. Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Particpation in African
Inspired Traditions in the Americas. London and New York: Routledge, 2004.

7. Daniel, Yvonne. Dancing Wisdom: Embodied Knowledge in Haitian Vodou, Cuban Yoruba, and Bahian Candomble.
Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2005.

8. Desmangles, Leslie G. The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1992.

9. Hagedorn, Katherine. Divine Utterances: The Perormance of Afro-Cuban Santera. Washington: Smithsonian Institute Press,
2001.

10. Harding, Rachel. A Refuge in Thunder: Candombl and Alternative Spaces of Blackness. Bloomington and Indianapolis:
Indiana University Press, 2003.

11. Johnson, Paul Christopher. Diaspora Conversions: Black Carib Religion and the Recovery of Africa. Berkeley and Los
Angeles: University of California Press, 2007.

12. Johnson, Paul Christopher. Secrets, Gossip, and Gods: The Tranformation of Brazilian Candombl. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2005.
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13. Lake, Obiagele. Rastafari Women: Subordination in the Midst of Liberation Theology. Durham: Carolina Academic Press,
1998

14. Long, Carolyn Marrow. A New Orleans Vodou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau. Gainesville: University
Press of Florida, 2007.

15. Matory, J. Lorand. Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomb.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.

16. McAlister, Elizabeth. Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and its Diaspora. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University
of California Press, 2002.

17. McNeil, Keith E. Trance and Modernity in the Southern Caribbean: African and Hindu Religions in Trinidad and Tobago.
Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2011.

18. Murphy, Joseph M. Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora. Boston: Beacon, 1995. 19. OBrien, David M. Animal Sacrifice and Religious Freedom: Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah.
Lawrence: University Press of Kansas 2004.

20. Olupona, Jacob and Terry Rey. rs Devotion as World Religion: The Globalization of Yorb Religious Culture. Madison:
The University of Wisconsin Press, 2007.

21. Olupona, Jacob and Regina Gemignani, African Immigrant Religion in America. New York: New York University Press,
2007.

22. Palmi, Stefan. Wizards and Scientists: Explorations in Afro-Cuban Modernity and Tradition. Durham and London: Duke
University Press

23. Raboteau, Albert J. Slave Religion: The Invisible Institution in the Antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press,
2004 (1979).

24. Reis, Joao Jose. Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1995.

25. Rey, Terry. Our Lady of Class Struggle: The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Haiti. Trenton and Asmara: Africa World Press,
1999.

26. Richman, Karen. Migration and Vodou. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2008. 27. Sandoval, Mercedes. Worldview, the Orishas, and Santera: Africa to Cuba and Beyond. Gainesville: University Press of
Florida, 2009.

28. Sensbach, Jon F. Rebeccas Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 2005.

29. Smith, Mark T. Stono: Documenting and Interpreting a Southern Slave Revolt. Columbia: University of South Carolina
Press, 2005.

30. Stewart, Diane M. Three Eyes for the Journey: African Dimensions of the Jamaican Religious Experience. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2005.

31. Sweet, James H. Domingos lvarez, African Healing, and the Intellectual History of the Atlantic World. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2011.

32. Sweet, James H. Recreating Africa: Culture, Kinship, and Religion in the African-Portuguese World, 1441-1770. Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.