Visiting Professor Explores Apprenticeship and Religious Secrecy in Benin, West Africa

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Timothy Landry

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The African and African American Studies Program in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences will continue its Brown Bag Lecture Series this Wednesday with its second lecture of the fall semester. All members of the University community are welcome to attend “Into the Sacred Forest: Apprenticeship and Religious Secrecy in Bénin, West Africa,” by Timothy Landry, visiting assistant professor of African and African American studies, religious studies, history and art history, at 11:50 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, in Memorial Hall 230. 

Landry’s current project, Seeking Devine Power, explores the ways in which the globalization of Benin is encouraged by the formation of transnational religious-based markets, global media and the international spiritual tourism. He joined the University this fall with a doctorate in social anthropology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and he teaches courses on African history, religion and art history.

“Program faculty and graduate students have undertaken some important research on the history of race and the African Diaspora,” said Calvin White, associate professor of history and director of the African and African American Studies Program. “As faculty move through the scholarly process, the Brown Bag Series brings together an interdisciplinary audience to provide feedback as they revise and develop their work. These events help foster the interdisciplinary community that makes our program so special.”

The African and African American Studies Program at the University of Arkansas is an interdisciplinary program that expands on the core disciplines of a traditional liberal arts education. Through interdisciplinary study, students explore the legacy of the African diaspora and African-descended people’s global experiences and the importance of race with a focus on Africa, the United States and the Caribbean. 

The remaining Brown Bag lecture the fall 2014 semester will take place at 11:50 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 James Gigantino, assistant professor of history and an affiliated faculty member in African and African American Studies will present.