Black Studies 401 - Black Liberation Theology

(Offered as BLST 401[D] and HIST 468 [LA].) The seminar traces historically the rise and development of black liberation theology across the black diaspora, particularly in the Caribbean, Africa, England and the U.S.  Two central questions structure this course:  How did disenfranchised and diasporic Christian communities reinterpret the biblical text according to their lived experiences?  How did their faith and new theologial formulations inform their political praxis?  The dialogical encounters between Marxism and Christianity, black liberation theology and anti-colonial politics, Christian theology and anti-black racism and sexism from the 1960s to the present, will underpin the weekly readings and discussions.  Students will read the central texts in the large field of liberation theology, and black liberation theology in particular, from thinkers such as Gustavo Gutierrez, Leonardo Boff, James H. Cone, Delores S. Williams, Jacquelyn Grant, Katie G. Cannon, Desmond Tutu, Alan Boesak, John Mbit, Elgelbert Mvent, and Anthony Reddie. 

Not open to first-year students. Limited to 18 students.  Spring semester.  Professor Castro-Alves.