African Diaspora Religions: Vodou, Pop Culture, and the Culture Wars
taught at Tufts University, Experimental College, Fall 2012
This course introduces students to the study of African diaspora religions, through the lens of exploring why these traditions—usually in mangled form—appear so frequently in American pop culture products, especially horror films. Quickly moving beyond the simple question of whether such products accurately depict these religions, the focus instead is on exploring what work they do in creating and maintaining cultural and racial boundaries. While the special focus of the course is Haitian Vodou, students also explore Regla de Ocha (Santería), Palo, Candomblé, and conjure/hoodoo. Particular attention is given to the genre of horror movies, in which voodoo’s connections with violence against whites and hypersexuality are exploited to produce both terror and arousal.
Each class meeting begins with a short presentation by the instructor, during which the week’s readings are woven together in light of common themes. However, the emphasis of each class meeting is on small group presentations and discussion. Students are expected to arrive prepared to help shape the conversation. Course materials include scholarly depictions of African diaspora religions and popular stories, novels, films, and television shows. In addition to the weekly assigned readings, students are expected to have watched the assigned films. Students are forewarned that course materials include depictions of violence and sexuality (i.e. the bread and butter of horror)—and emphasis is be placed on critically deconstructing these images, rather than passively receiving them.
taught at Tufts University, Experimental College, Fall 2012
This course introduces students to the study of African diaspora religions, through the lens of exploring why these traditions—usually in mangled form—appear so frequently in American pop culture products, especially horror films. Quickly moving beyond the simple question of whether such products accurately depict these religions, the focus instead is on exploring what work they do in creating and maintaining cultural and racial boundaries. While the special focus of the course is Haitian Vodou, students also explore Regla de Ocha (Santería), Palo, Candomblé, and conjure/hoodoo. Particular attention is given to the genre of horror movies, in which voodoo’s connections with violence against whites and hypersexuality are exploited to produce both terror and arousal.
Each class meeting begins with a short presentation by the instructor, during which the week’s readings are woven together in light of common themes. However, the emphasis of each class meeting is on small group presentations and discussion. Students are expected to arrive prepared to help shape the conversation. Course materials include scholarly depictions of African diaspora religions and popular stories, novels, films, and television shows. In addition to the weekly assigned readings, students are expected to have watched the assigned films. Students are forewarned that course materials include depictions of violence and sexuality (i.e. the bread and butter of horror)—and emphasis is be placed on critically deconstructing these images, rather than passively receiving them.
| mcgee_exp-0037-f_syllabus.pdf |
Peoples and Cultures: Introduction to Socio-Cultural Anthropology
taught at Northeastern University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Fall 2012
This course is an introduction to the discipline of Socio-Cultural Anthropology. Using diverse readings, as well as film and audio, the course emphasizes the role that anthropology has played in shaping our understanding of common ideas such as culture, class, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, and globalization. While presenting information about the history of the discipline, it encourages students to think critically (and sometimes skeptically) about anthropological truth-claims. The course also takes a hard look at the ways that anthropology has sometimes played a role in creating and supporting colonial regimes and racist ideologies—yet has also helped to dismantle them. Most importantly, the course encourages students to consider how anthropology can help us better understand our lived experiences, particularly of love, aesthetic pleasure, spiritual longing, economic stratification, sickness, aging, mortality, loss, violence, dislocation, ecological imbalance, foreignness, and radical change. Examples are drawn from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and many places in between.
taught at Northeastern University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Fall 2012
This course is an introduction to the discipline of Socio-Cultural Anthropology. Using diverse readings, as well as film and audio, the course emphasizes the role that anthropology has played in shaping our understanding of common ideas such as culture, class, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, and globalization. While presenting information about the history of the discipline, it encourages students to think critically (and sometimes skeptically) about anthropological truth-claims. The course also takes a hard look at the ways that anthropology has sometimes played a role in creating and supporting colonial regimes and racist ideologies—yet has also helped to dismantle them. Most importantly, the course encourages students to consider how anthropology can help us better understand our lived experiences, particularly of love, aesthetic pleasure, spiritual longing, economic stratification, sickness, aging, mortality, loss, violence, dislocation, ecological imbalance, foreignness, and radical change. Examples are drawn from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and many places in between.
| McGee—Northeastern Syllabus for Peoples and Cultures.pdf |