REL Student Association Sponsors Lecture

On Monday, October 31, 2005, the Religious Studies Student Association sponsored its first public lecture, offered by its advisor, Prof. Tim Murphy. Introduced by Samantha Sastre, student association president, the talk was entitled "Zombies and Voodoo: The Real Story." The talk addressed the tremendous discrepancy between popular American conceptions about "voodoo" and zombies and the religious reality of "Vodou," the Afro-Caribbean religion practiced by most Haitians. The terms "vodun" and "vodoun" derive from a Fon word (a language from the west African country known as Benin) and are used by many scholars to name these traditions, but are not terms used by Haitians. Although once popular, many virtually all practitioners and many contemporary scholars reject the African/Catholic "syncretistic" view of Vodou.

Prof. Murphy has taught at the Capstone since August of 2002; his current work focuses on developing a semiotic theory of religion.

The lecture, which was advertised in the campus newspaper, The Crimson White, attracted about twenty people, many of whom are not currently in REL classes.

The Department is deeply appreciative of the entire campus for holding so many festivities through the weekend immediately prior to our event. Including the football game, which we apparently won, it all served as a nice build-up for the lecture. Perhaps more homecoming can be held prior to our other upcoming Department events?

Two evenings prior to the lecture, several thousand students engaged in a ritual of their own on the front quad.

Interested in learning more about Vodoun, either its Caribbean form or West African origins? Try this site.

Interested in learning about semiotic theory? Go here.

On only two previous occasions has the Department held a public event in the Forum Room of the Ferguson Student Center.

Prof. Murphy, recovering from knee surgery (hence the cane), regularly draws on data from Haitian and North American Indian cultures in his courses. Apart from REL 100, he regularly teaches courses on Native American religions, Existentialism, 20th Century religious thought, and theories of religion. In the Spring of 2006 he will offer the Department's Senior Seminar, REL 490.

Justin Lev Tov (left), a zooarchaeologist who has worked both at UA and UAB, attended the lecture. His wife, Gabriele Fassbeck, worked in the Department for two years, funded throught the Aronov Endowment. Also attending the lecture were Kim Davis, REL graduate and French grad student, and Tim Davis (back, right), REL/Spanish double major.

Also attending was Merinda Simmons Dickens (center), a UA doctoral student in the Department of English who was also one of the participants in the Department's April 2004 conference on religion and the spread of African cultures.

Lauri Crunk, a recent graduate of the Department, kicks back and listens to the lecture. As always, a small reception followed the event.