An Introduction to Black Magic — African American Hoodoo with Yvonne P. Chireau Ph.D., Consultant on Ryan Coogler’s "Sinners,"

Magic? This course—taught by Yvonne Chireau, religious studies professor and consultant on Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners—will trace African American Hoodoo from its rise into the current day through a cultural history that spans the African context and U.S. enslavement, viewing the synthesis of African, European and indigenous native American cultures in the early period and the African American experience in the 20th century. Our approach will be comparative. Interacting with characters and themes from real histories, we will explore Hoodoo through what I call ancestral storytelling. The course will culminate with a journey through the past by way of the present, as you encounter the Conjurers, witches, spirit workers and Hoodoos within your own lineages of family and community through fabulation and imaginal journaling. We begin with a short history of the Hoodoo Woman in film and literature. Topics include: worldviews of Hoodoo; healing and harming practices; recipes and grimoires of Conjure; Nature and spirits; the commodification of African American traditions; Race and the closed system; the materiality of African American magic, its artistic and visual elements; supernatural beliefs and the magic of Christianity. Sessions will include time for reflection and vibrant discussions of materials, weekly readings and reference texts, available online.