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Class number:
3163
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Title: Voodoo |
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Department: Religious Studies |
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Career: Undergraduate |
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Component: Lecture |
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Session: Regular |
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Instructor's Permission Required: No |
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Grading Basis: Regular |
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Units: 1.00 |
| Enrollment limited to 24 |
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Current enrollment: 7 |
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Available seats: 17 |
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Start date: Tuesday, September 8, 2026 |
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End date: Wednesday, December 23, 2026 |
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Mode of Instruction: In Person |
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Schedule: TR: 6:30PM-7:45PM, MC - 225 |
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Instructor(s): Landry, Timothy |
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Prerequisite(s): None |
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Distribution Requirement: Meets Humanities and Global Requirements |
Course Description:
This course focuses on those religious traditions known collectively as "Voodoo." Students will examine powerful displays of spirit possession, rituals in which the ancestors raise from their graves to dance, and secretive ceremonies of devotion, healing, and resistance. Students will explore how Voodoo is practiced and in what ways racial tropes have contributed to the dehumanization of its devotees. With a focus on Benin (West Africa) and Haiti (Caribbean) we will juxtapose Western imaginations and fantasies of Voodoo to the real-lived experiences of practitioners. By examining historical and ethnographic accounts, students will learn how, despite racial stereotyping and anti-Africa sentiments around the globe, Voodoo has become one of the world's more important religions on the global stage today. |