AFR 136 African Trad Religion (REL)

An introduction to African traditional religion within its cultural contexts and its interactions with Christianity, Islam, and other worldviews in Africa. The course studies the nature and structure of African traditional cultures and religion. The course includes both theoretical and experiential approaches to understanding the religious and cultural traditions of the African continent, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. Through the following topics, the course explores various facets of African traditional religion: its characteristics and sources, social organization and groupings, practices, rituals, philosophies, texts, symbols, world-views, concepts of sacred reality, basic values, religious leadership (such as, priesthood), the roles of women, understanding of mystical forces, religious experience, divination, ethics, death, and afterlife. The course also examines the influence of African traditional religion on Islam and Christianity in Africa, on the one hand, and forms that African traditional religion have taken in modern and contemporary Africa, as well as in communities of the African diaspora, on the other hand. This course provides a broader context for understanding the African diaspora as it appears among African Americans in the United States. Religion Perspective and International (Non-Western) Perspective. 1 Course Credit

Credits

1 Course Credit

Cross Listed Courses

REL 136