Middlebury

RELI 0393

Crossroads

Crossroads: Religion and Race in the Americas
White rock musicians have traced the origins of their musical style to the Delta blues, fixating on a myth that a young, Black musician sold his soul at a southern crossroads to learn to play the guitar. This myth portrays the success of rock as having supernatural origins, while obscuring how the recording industry appropriated and commodified the art of Black Americans. In this seminar we explore the polysemous image of the “crossroads” as an entrée into the intersecting fields of comparative religion, humanistic economics, and critical race. We will rely on works by authors such as Gloria Anzaldúa and Toni Morrison to interrogate these fields while comparing the histories of the U.S. and Brazil. 3 hrs. sem
Subject:
Religion
Department:
Religion
Division:
Humanities
Requirements Fulfilled:
AMR CMP PHL

Sections in Spring 2023, School Abroad Italy (Florence)

Spring 2023

RELI0393A-S23 Seminar (Doran)