News and Announcements:
All Into the World: Black Pentecostalism in Global Contexts: A conference sponsored by Harvard Divinity School and Harvard University's Department of African and African American Studies, March 18, 2005. There is no charge to attend the symposium, but registration is mandatory and can be done online at the conference site. Participants include: Robert Franklin, Harvey Cox, Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, David Daniels, Cheryl Sanders, and Eugene Rivers.
Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion
The Steering Committee of the Afro-American Religious History Group of the AAR has announced the following program for the annual meeting to be held in San Antonio, November 20-23, 2004.Monday, 9:00 am-11:30 am
Theme: The Legacy of C. Eric Lincoln and the Study of Islam in North AmericaAminah Beverly McCloud, DePaul University, Presiding
Panelists:
Edward E. Curtis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Jamillah Karim, Duke University
Richard B. Turner, University of IowaResponding:
Carolyn Rouse, Princeton UniversityBusiness Meeting:
Debra Mubashshir Majeed, Beloit College, Presiding
Monday, 4:00 pm-6:30 pm
Theme: Survival, Resistance, and Transmission: New Historiographical and Methodological Perspectives for the Study of Slave ReligionEddie Glaude, Jr., Princeton University, Presiding
Panelists:
J. Gordon Melton, Institute for the Study of American Religion
Heather White, Princeton University
Yolanda Pierce, University of KentuckyResponding:
Albert J. Raboteau, Princeton UniversityOther Sessions of Interest:
Sunday, 9:00 am-3:30 am
Black Theology Group and Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society Group
Theme: Brown vs. Board of Education: Fifty Years Later
Emilie M. Townes, Union Theological Seminary, Presiding
Panelists:
Barbara Holmes, Memphis Theological Seminary
Susan Holmes Winfield, District of Columbia Superior CourtResponding:
Eric Mazur, Bucknell University
Marcia Y. Riggs, Columbia Theological Seminary
Darryl Michael Trimiew, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity SchoolMonday, 1:00 pm-3:30 pm
North American Religions Section
Theme: Finding Islam in New York CityReeva Simon, Columbia University, Presiding
Zaheer Ali, Columbia University
" Black Mecca": The Nation of Islam's Mosque No. 7, Harlem, and Islam in New York CityLinda Beck, Barnard College, Dept of Political Science
The “Other” Black Muslims: The Transnational Community of West African Muslims in New York CityMunir Jiwa, Columbia University
Muslim Visual Artists and the Boundaries of Muslim IdentityYusuf Nuruddin, Brooklyn, NY
Islam, Afrocentricity, and Urban Mythology: Syncretizing Qur'anic and Kemetic Cultures in the Inner CityNeguin Yavari, New York, NY
Reconstructing the Past: The “Founding” Texts of a Sufi Revivalist Movement in New York City
The Annual Meeting of the American Studies Association will take place November 11-14, 2004 in Atlanta Georgia. The recently-founded Religion and American Culture Caucus has organized a number of sessions, including one on Race, Religion, and Identity in African American Fiction on Friday, November 12, 10am - 11:45am.
"Emory University's Special Collections and Archives Division announces acquisition of the library of Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Two fellowships in Woodson's name will be created to encourage scholars to work with the library. Woodson's library has been in storage in the headquarters of the association for many years, and has been inaccessible to researchers. Under terms of a collaborative arrangement, Emory will preserve and catalog the collection and will publish a printed catalog. In addition to providing full bibliographical citation to each item, the printed catalog will note inscriptions to and marginal comments by Woodson, and it will indicate the presence of bookplates, dust jackets and other distinctive features." For further details on African American Collections at Emory University, contact Randall K. Burkett (rburket@emory.edu), curator of African American collections, Woodruff Library, Emory University.
The XXI Conference of the International Association for Media and History
Call for Papers: Projections of Race and Ethnicity: National Identities and Global Networks.University of Cincinnati and The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives/ Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Cincinnati, Ohio USA July 20-24, 2005The International Association for Media and History invites media scholars and practitioners to submit complete panels, workshops, or individual papers on the theme "Projections of Race and Ethnicity: National Identities and Global Networks." We seek submissions from a variety of disciplinary perspectives on race and ethnicity in all kinds of media, within borders and across borders, in peace and at war. Topics may include but need not be limited to: expressions of race and ethnicity in silent cinema; the performance of race and ethnicity on radio; depictions of native peoples, minorities, and immigrants in film and television; close readings of signature texts; images of the enemy in the combat zone or on the homefront; the politics of imagery from the Iraq war; projections of race and ethnicity in digital imagery and on the world wide web; and the creation of ethnic archives and museums. Ours is an international organization and we solicit papers from all nations addressing media representations of a diverse range of peoples. Individual paper proposals should include a 250-word abstract and a one-page c.v. Organizers of pre-constituted panels should include a 250-word abstract and a one-page c.v. for each paper, plus a title and brief description of the panel on a separate cover sheet. Send all proposals by January 15, 2005 to: Dr. Frederic Krome, American Jewish Archives 3101 Clifton Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45220-2488 USA.
The Pluralism Project at Harvard University provides a "Religious Diversity News" service which offers headlines of news stories and is updated at least twice a week. In addition to the news service, the website cotnains links for a variety of religious traditions, a state-by-state map, images, statistics, and a directory of religious centers.
for a variety of religious traditions, a state-by-state map, images, statistics, and a directory of religious centers.
Academic Positions:
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Religious Studies, announces a tenure-track position at the rank of assistant professor in the area of African-American Religions/Religions of the African Diaspora. The appointment begins August 2005, and the Ph.D. must be completed by that time. The department offers both the B.A. and the M.A., with thirteen fulltime faculty members (including two endowed Chairs). The department covers a broad range within the academic study of religion and makes a vital contribution to our university liberal studies offerings. Please submit a letter of application, CV, writing sample, and names and addresses of four references by February 28, 2005 to: James D. Tabor, Chair, Dept. of Religious Studies, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223. UNC Charlotte is an AA/EOE employer.
California State University, Bakersfield, seeks a tenure-track assistant professor, beginning September 2005, in Religion and Society. S/he will regularly teach Introduction to Religion and survey courses in Western or Eastern religions. S/he will also teach upper-level courses that may include Sociology of Religion, Psychology of Religion, Women and Religion, New Religious Movements, African American, Hispanic, or Native American Religions, Myth and Symbolism, and our heavily enrolled course on death. Seven quarter courses per year. Salary competitive and based on CSU scale. Ph.D. at time of appointment expected. Teaching experience required. Applications received by 10/31/04 will be considered for interviews at the AAR meeting in San Antonio, TX. Please send dossier (CV, letters of reference, graduate transcripts, a short writing sample, teaching evaluations) to Stafford Betty, RAS Position, Philosophy and Religious Studies, CSU Bakersfield, Bakersfield, CA, 93311. CSU Bakersfield is a comprehensive, regional university with a substantial Hispanic enrollment and is AA/EOE. Applications from women, ethnic minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are especially welcome.
Denison University Department of Religion invites applications for a tenure-track position beginning August 2005 in Religious Diversity and Pluralism in America. Teaching will include introductory, intermediate, and advanced undergraduate courses that cover both the diversity of contemporary American religion and the ways different religious traditions—both “traditional” Catholic, Protestant and Jewish traditions and the “new immigrant” traditions understand and respond to this diversity on philosophical, theological, ethical, historical and social levels. We will be on a 3/2 teaching load. Ph.D. in the academic study of religion, relevant linguistic training, some competence in Islam, and undergraduate teaching experience are preferred. Applications should include a transcript, letters of recommendation, and evidence of teaching experience. The Department will begin reading files on October 15, 2004. Denison is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer. Send applications to David O. Woodyard, Chair, Department of Religion, Denison University, Granville, Ohio 43023.
Indiana University, Bloomington, Department of Religious Studies, invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor in African Religions. Applicants should conduct research on Islam, explore its intersection with indigenous religious expressions, and engage anthropological understandings of religion in their research and/or teaching. Preference will be given to applicants who specialize in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in regions with substantial Muslim populations. Ph.D. or equivalent required. Course load: 2 courses/semester. The successful applicant must maintain ongoing research, a record of creative and effective teaching, and an active professional profile. Teaching obligations will extend from introductory courses to upper level undergraduate seminars to graduate training at the Master's and doctoral levels. Deadline for applications: October 20, 2004. Applicants should send a cover letter, c.v., and a dossier with at least three letters of recommendation to: Professor Robert Campany, Chair, African Religions Search, Department of Religious Studies/Sycamore Hall 230/Indiana University/Bloomington, IN 47405. Women and minority candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Indiana University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia invites nominations and applications for a tenured or tenure-track faculty position in African American Studies beginning in the fall of 2005. The seminary seeks an ordained pastor with significant parish or ministerial experience and a completed Doctorate in an appropriate field [African American/Liberation Theology or African American Religious History or African American Parish Ministry (i.e., Preaching, Worship, Pastoral Care/Counseling, Social Ministry or Christian Education)]. The successful candidate will teach required courses in their primary discipline of study in the day, evening, and/or weekend programs of the Seminary each year, shaping the courses to meet the learning needs of both Lutheran ministerial candidates and students from other ecclesial traditions. Deadline for application is September 30, 2004. Please send letters of nomination or curriculum vitae, including at least three contacts for references, with an accompanying cover letter to: The Rev. J. Paul Rajashekar, Ph.D., Dean, Lutheran Theological Seminary, 7301 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19119. The Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Manhattan College seeks to fill two tenure-track appointments at the assistant professor level from the following areas: Religion in the United States, Religion in the Americas, Science and Religion, and Islam. Ability to teach in more than one of these areas is desirable, and ability to teach the introductory course, 'The Nature and Experience of Religion' is essential. Most faculty members also teach in the core humanities curriculum. The ideal candidate will have a PhD in hand, a commitment to undergraduate education, and a desire to participate in an interdisciplinary scholarly community. Applications should include a curriculum vitae, a letter of intent, and 3 letters of reference. Those wishing to be interviewed at the annual meeting should submit materials by Noveember 1, 2004, to Stephen Kaplan, Chair, Department of Religious Studies, Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY 10471. Manhattan College is an independent Catholic coeducational institution in the Lasallian tradition. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. We are committed to a diverse workforce. An AA/EO Employer M/F/D/V.
The New York University Faculty of Arts and Science invites applications for a tenured appointment to be held in The Africana Studies Program within a proposed new department focusing on interdisciplinary social and cultural analysis, to begin September 1, 2005, pending budgetary and administrative approval. We invite applications from scholars investigating any facet of African-diasporic, African-American, or Afro-Caribbean culture and society, from any disciplinary perspective. Applicants working in the general field of gender and sexuality studies or more specifically in black feminism will be given especially serious consideration. The ideal candidate will already hold tenure at the Associate Professor rank or will have recently attained the rank of Full Professor; highly accomplished Assistant Professors with exceptional experience may also be considered for advanced untenured appointment. Candidates must present a record of effective teaching and scholarly achievement and the promise of continued productivity. Send letter of application, CV, writing sample (an article-length essay or a chapter or section of a book or book manuscript), and the names and addresses of three references by October 15, 2004 to Professor J. Michael Dash, Director, Africana Studies Program, 269 Mercer Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003. NYU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
Southern Methodist University: The Department of Religious Studies welcomes applications for at least one entry-level, tenure-track appointment to begin in August of 2005. A Ph.D. earned no later than August 15, 2005, is required. The specializations of greatest interest to the department are (in no rank order) theory and method in the study of religion, religions of Africa and the African diaspora, and religions of south and southeast Asia. SMU awards B.A and Ph.D. degrees in Religious Studies. To guarantee full consideration, applications should be postmarked no later than October 11, 2004, but applications will be accepted until the positions are filled. Prearranged interviews will be conducted at the annual SBL/AAR convention in San Antonio. The department will notify applicants of its employment decision after the positions are filled. Candidates should submit a CV, three or more letters of recommendation, a graduate transcript, and a sample of written work to Professor Richard Cogley, Chair, Department of Religious Studies, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, 75275-0202. SMU will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, or veteran status. SMU's commitment to equal opportunity includes nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Temple University, Department of Religion, invites applicants for two tenure-track positions in Religion, Race and Ethnicity at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin in Fall 2005. Candidates must be prepared to develop and/or maintain a strong program of further research in the area of specialization. A letter of application that includes a statement about plans for future publications, along with a current c.v., should be sent as soon as possible to Rebecca Alpert, Chair, Department of Religion/ Temple University/ 1114 West Berks Street/ Anderson 617/ Philadelphia, PA 19122/USA. Candidates may also wish to include a sample of scholarly writing and evidence of effective teaching, such as teaching evaluations and sample course outlines. Please include e-mail addresses and all other contact information for the summer as well as the fall, and arrange for letters of support to be mailed to the above address immediately. Applications will be reviewed as they arrive and the search process will continue until the position is filled. Temple University is an AA/EOE.
Temple University, Dept. of Religion, invites applicants for a non-tenure track, one semester position in Religion, Race and Ethnicity at the rank of Assistant Professor or Instructor. This will be for Spring 2005, and should not be confused with the two tenure-track positions also in this area (see our separate advertisement of these). Candidates must be prepared to teach an undergraduate courseload in courses such as Racial Justice, Religion and Society, and Religion in America. A letter of application, current c.v. and evidence of effective teaching (evaluations, syllabi) should be sent to Dr. Rebecca Alpert, Chair, Dept. of Religion/ Temple University/ 1114 West Berks St. Anderson 617/ Phila, PA 19122/USA. Candidates must also arrange for three academic reference letters to be sent to this address. Search deadline: Oct. 1, 2004. Temple University is an AA/EOE.
University of Rochester, Department of Religion and Classics, invites applications for a tenure-track appointment as Assistant Professor of Religion. Specialization: African-American Religion or Religions of the African Diaspora, including Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Brazilian religions. Ability to teach Religion in America is highly desirable. Candidates should be prepared to teach undergraduate courses at all levels and actively to participate in both the Department and the University's Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies. Potential for scholarly achievement and demonstrated excellence in teaching is required, and a completed Ph.D. is desirable. Send full dossier, including writing samples and letters of recommendation to: Department of Religion & Classics, 430 Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627. Applications accepted and reviewed continuously until the position is filled, but the deadline for applicants to be interviewed at the American Academy of Religion meeting in San Antonio is November 3, 2004. An Equal Opportunity Employer.
Fellowships and Grants:
The Massachusetts Historical Society will offer approximately twenty short-term researchfellowships in 2005. Each grant will provide a stipend of $1,500 for four weeks of research at the society sometime between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2006. Short-terms awards are open to independent scholars, advanced graduate students, and holders of the PhD. or the equivalent, with candidates who live fifty or miles from Boston receiving preference. Candidates must be U.S. residents or foreign nationals with permission from the U.S. government to hold such awards. The African-American Studies Fellowship will support research at the Massachusetts Historical Society in African American History.
Application deadline: March 1, 2005. For more information about the MHS Short-Term fellowships and about the Massachusetts Historical Society's other awards, including theMHS-NEH Long-Term Fellowships and support through the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium, please check the Society's web site or contact Cherylinne Pina, Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215.
Recent and Forthcoming Books
Kenneth C. Barnes, Journey of Hope: the Back-to-Africa Movement in Arkansas in the Late 1800s (University of North Carolina Press, 2004)
Beth Barton Schweiger and Donald G. Mathews, eds., Religion in the American South: Protestants and Others in History and Culture (University of North Carolina Press, 2004)
Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, ed., Fragments of Bone: Neo-African Religions in a New World (University of Illinois Press, 2004)
Newell G. Bringhurst and Darron T. Smith, eds., Black and Mormon (University of Illinois Press, 2004)
Rufus Burrow, Jr., God and Human Responsibility: David Walker and Ethical Prophecy (Mercer University Press, 2003)
Douglas B. Chambers, Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia (University Press of Mississippi, 2005)
Phillis L. Chandler, Heritage of Hope and Sacrifice: The Remarkable Journeys of Rev. William Levington (2002; available from willowbendbooks.com)
Brad Christerson, Michael O. Emerson and Korie L. Edwards, Against All Odds: The Struggle of Racial Integration in Religious Organizations (New York University Press, 2004)
Ina J. Fandrich,The Mysterious Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveaux (Routledge, 2004)
Jerry Gershenhorn, Melville J. Herskovits and the Racial Politics of Knowledge (University of Nebraska Press, 2004)
Philip Goff and Paul Harvey, eds., Themes in Religion and American Culture (University of North Carolina Press, 2004)
Michael P. Graves and David Fillingim, eds., More than “Precious Memories”: The Rhetoric of Southern Gospel Music (Mercer University Press, 2004)
Dwight N. Hopkins and Anthony B. Pinn, eds., Loving the Body: Black Religious Studies and the Erotic (Palgrave, 2004)
Sherman A. Jackson, Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking toward the Third Resurrection (Oxford University Press, 2005)
Sylvester Johnson, The Myth of Ham in Nineteenth-Century American Christianity: Race, Heathens, and the People of God (Palgrave, 2004)
Colleen McDannell, Picturing Faith: Photography and the Great Depression (Yale University Press, 2004)
Patrick Minges, ed., Black Indian Slave Narratives: The Voices of a Complex Relationship (John F. Blair, 2004)
Henry H. Mitchell, Black Church Beginnings: The Long-Hidden Realities of the First Years (Eerdmans, 2004)
Timothy J. Nelson, Every Time I Feel the Spirit: Religious Experience and Ritual in an African American Church (New York University Press, 2004)
Albert J. Raboteau, Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South, updated edition (Oxford University Press, 2004)
Houston Bryan Roberson, Fighting the Good Fight: A History of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Church, 1865-1977 (Routledge, 2004)
Michele Valerie Ronnick, ed., The Autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough: An American Journey from Slavery to Scholarship (Wayne State University Press, 2004)
R. Drew Smith, ed., Long March Ahead: African American Churches and Public Policy in Post-Civil Rights America (Duke University Press , 2004)
Daphne C. Wiggins, Righteous Content: Black Women Speak of Church and Faith (New York University Press, 2004)
Alan Scot Willis, All According to God's Plan: Southern Baptist Missions and Race, 1945-1970 (University Press of Kentucky, 2004)
Dissertations
Jeffrey Elton Anderson, "Conjure in African-American Society" (University of Florida, 2002).
LaVonne Evelyn Ansari, "Muslim Sisters" African-American Women Return to their Islamic Roots" (State University of New York at Buffalo, 2003).
Julius Bailey, "Around the Domestic Altar: Domesticity in the African Methodist Episcopal Church" (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2003).
Jamece Victoria Brown, "Expressions of Faith and Spritual Power in African American Religious Literature" (University of California, Santa Barbara, 2003).
Audrey M. Byrd. "What We Say in Church: A Critical Examination of Discourse in an African American Methodist Church," Howard University, 2003.
Charity A. Freeman, "Earnestly Contending for the Faith: The Collective Traditions of Literacy, Spirituality, and Struggle, as Articulated in the Spiritual Autobiographies and Sermons of Selected African-American Holiness/Pentecostal Women, 1830-2000" (University of South Florida, 2003)
Willie Jake Harrell, Jr., "'To Bear the 'slave's heavy cross': Religion and the Jeremiadic Tradition as Literary and Social Constructions of African-American Protest, 1760-1865" (Wayned State University, 2003).
Jonathon Samuel Kahn, "The Religious Imagination of W. E. B. Du Bois" (Columbia University, 2003).
Cedrick May, "Evangelism and resistance in the black transatlantic, 1760--1820 (Jupiter Hammon, Phillis Wheatley, John Marrant)" (The Pennsylvania State University, 2003).
Georgiary Bledsoe McElveen, "My hands, O God, I offer thee': Religious Social Consciousness and Cooperative Power in the Metropolitan St. Louis Gospel Music Center, 1930-1960 (Duke University, 2002).
Edward Jerome Robinson, "Like rates in a trap': Samuel Robert Cassius and the 'Race Problem' in Churches of Christ (Mississippi State University, 2003).
Yaalieth Adrienne Simpson, "African-American Female Identity in the 19th Century: The Individual and Cultural Empowerment of Harriet Powers' Bible Quilts" (Columbia University Teachers College, 2003).
Jennifer Lynn Strychasz, "'Jesus is Black': Race and Christianity in African American Church Art, 1968-1986" (University of Maryland).
Cynthia Taylor, "A. Philip Randolph and the Transformation of the Negro Church" (Graduate Theological Union, 2003).
Courtney Louise Tollison, "Moral Imperatives and Financial Practicality: Desgregation of South Carolina's Denominationally-Affiliated Colleges and Universities (University of South Carolina, 2003).
Articles
Lewis V. Baldwin, "Soaring on the Wings of Pride: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 'New' South Africa," SAFUNDI: The Journal of South African and American Comparative Studies 15 (July 2004)
Dan Fountain, "Christ Unchained: African American Conversions during the Civil War Era," Ohio Valley History 3 (Summer 2003): 31–46.
Charlotte A. Haller, "‘And Made Us to Be a Kingdom’: Race, Antislavery, and Black Evangelicals in North Carolina’s Early Republic," North Carolina Historical Review 80 (April 2003): 125–52.
Pamela E. Klassen, "The Robes of Womanhood: Dress and Authenticity among African American Methodist Women in the Nineteenth Century," Religion and American Culture 13 (Winter 2004): 39-82.
William C. Leornard, "Growing Together: Blacks and the Catholic Church in Boston," Historian 66 (Summer 2004): 254–77.
Gabriel Smith, "Correspondence between the Reverend J. Edward Nash Sr., Pastor, Michigan Street Baptist Church, Buffalo, NY, and African-American Soldiers during World War II," Afro-Americans in New York Life and History 28 (January 2004): 7-22.
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