INTRODUCTION
This course, Religious Traditions of Africa and the African
Diaspora, chronicles the religious traditions of African, Caribbean,
Latin American, and African-American people by exploring the links among
indigenous African religious beliefs, values, rituals and worldview, and
the practices throughout the African Diaspora. The ways in which African
religions have informed global preservations of an African worldview, and
the worldview's subsequent fusion with African, European, and American
Islam and Christianity will be emphasized.
As our midterm project we compiled information from the
first half of the course and created a website in order to share our discovery
of the widespread influence African traditions have had on American culture.
We find this influence present in literature, history, art, religion, philosophy,
and other ways in which we construct our view of the world, a view we assumed
developed solely from Western ideologies. Now we would like to share our
discoveries with you . . .
DIASPORA - a Greek term meaning scattering; spread out;
disperse. In the context of our course, African Diaspora refers to the
dispersion and influence of Africans and their culture, largely due to
the TransAtlantic Slave Trade.
ABOUT
THIS
WEBSITE
This website was created in 2 parts by undergraduate
students at The College
of New Jersey enrolled in Honors AFAM 280 and traces
the course of our learning by following our path through the semester.
It was initially authored by the Spring 1997 and 1999 sections and until
now was
published on the African American Studies Program's website. Recently
the website was updated by members of the the Spring 2001 section.
The design of the initial site has been changed, but the content is unaltered.
All sections are best viewed at 800x600 resolution.
HOW TO
NAVIGATE
THIS
WEBSITE
Clicking on either of the links on the left will open
a new window. Part 1 and Part 2 are of similar design, with links
on the left-hand side of the screen which will open in the center portion.