AFST 13275 - The Bible, the Black Church and the Blues

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

Africana Studies

Description:

This class will examine three historical matrices that have had a decided impact on the development of Africana identity and culture in the North American Diaspora. The first centers on the reception, interpretation, and appropriation of the Christian Bible by peoples of African descent. The second focuses on the evolution of the Black Church, the collective body of adherents in traditionally African American and other Christian faith communities. The third consists of the emergence of Blues music, artists, and performance spaces as non-ecclesial loci of protest and crucibles in which Africana spiritualities of resistance were forged. Thus, the course will, in effect, introduce students to the essential sources - both primary and secondary - methodologies, animating questions, and debates crucial to three historically based subfields within Africana Studies: 1) the history of Africana biblical interpretation in North America; 2) Black Church Studies; and 3) Blues Studies. By the end of the class, students will be able to identify the core texts essential in each of these subfields; discuss the major periodization schemes proposed by scholars for African American biblical hermeneutics, the development of the Black Church in the Americas, and the growth of Blues; discuss the methodological paradigms employed in each of the aforementioned research domains; explain cogently some of the major issues and debates that drive each of these subfields; and offer a reasoned explanation as to why the Bible, the Black Church, and the Blues can be construed as symbiotic matrices in which historical memories are preserved, individual and corporate identities are formed, institutional life is preserved, and social traumas are ameliorated.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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