Are the Gods Afraid of Black Sexuality? Religion and the Burdens of Black Sexual Politics

Registration and full schedule available here.

We are living through a moment of tremendous change at the intersection of race, religion, and sexuality, which has significant implications both for those who study and practice religion alike. This conference will bring scholars, activists, and religious leaders together to explore a range of historical and contemporary phenomena associated with religion, race, and sexuality, as they coalesce and converge. The task before us is not to address a single problem, but rather to unearth and engage with the often-unstated normative claims surrounding race and religion, gender and sex that continue to inform the work of scholars of (and the lives of people within) the U.S. and the African Diaspora.

Topics to be explored include: Religion, Media, Markets and the Making of Black Sexualities; Religious Narratives of Black Sexuality in the New World; The Religious Aesthetics/Cultural Politics of Black Sexuality; Captive Bodies: The Sexual Politics of Policing Blackness; and Beyond the Burdens: Engendering the Sexual Futures of Black Religion.