Looking for Magic: African Religions and the "Paranormal"

Dr. Funalyo E. Wood Menzies, will be discussing her article "Bush Knowledge in the Concrete Jungle: a day in the life of an urban babalawo."

In this informal discussion based on her ethnographic work and personal practice, Funlayo E. Wood Menzies will share scholarly and practical reflections on African and African-derived Religious practices and how they intersect with the categories of "magic" and the "paranormal," with focus on contemporary urban practice in the US.

Dr. Funlayo E. Wood Menzies is is a scholar-practitioner of African and Diasporic Religions, spiritual counselor, motivational speaker, and facilitator. A native of New York City, she earned her doctorate in African and African American Studies and Religion from Harvard University, and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Black Studies Research at the University of California Santa Barbara where she is completing her first book, Obi: Death, Divination, and the Divine Feminine. Funlayo's work has been published in venues including the Journal of Africana Religions and Transition, and she has been featured in documentaries for PBS and the National Geographic channel.

Attendees should read article in advance: https://english.duke.edu/sites/english.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/Wood%20-%20Bush%20Knowledge%20in%20the%20Concrete%20Jungle.pdf