The Religious Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is delighted to welcome Dr. N. Fadeke Castor, Assistant Professor of Religion and Africana Studies at Northeastern University to campus. On April 4th, 2024, Dr. Castor will deliver the lecture The Ancestors say “Do the work”: Black Feminist Ethnographic Lessons from African Diasporic Religions.
Date: April 4th, 2024
Time: 4:00 PM
Address Information: Room 6102 Social Sciences Building (1180 Observatory Dr, Madison, WI 53706)
Abstract: What do the ancestors mean when they say, “Do the work”? And how can this be understood from a Black Feminist anthropological lens? I offer that engaging African diasporic religions through a Black feminist theory and critical ethnography theoretical frame can help us to uncover theoretical and methodological “lessons” around embodiment, subjectivities, and epistemologies. Drawing on ethnographic research over two decades from Trinidad to Nigeria, I will share some thoughts (and stories) about what we can learn from a serious engagement with Black sacred epistemologies and ontologies, ultimately proposing that we consider how they could lead us to envision new futures.
This event is made possible with support of the University Lectures Committee and co-sponsorship from African Cultural Studies, African American Studies, the African Studies Program, Anthropology, and Gender and Women’s Studies.