A new MALS seminar, taught by faculty member Xavier Pickett, will be offered in Maymester 2022.
Black Faith Matters
Why and how does faith matter to Americans of African descent? How has faith been a form of entrapment or empowerment? In what ways does faith matter in public? This interdisciplinary seminar will explore these questions and how faith has mattered from a broad range of perspectives, tracing it from slavery to the development of independent Black churches to social movements like the Civil Rights Movement and #BlackLivesMatter. This course incorporates disciplines such as history, politics, theological studies, ethics, women and gender studies, and sociology. Classroom sessions are complemented by guest speakers and site visits (e.g., churches, faith-based civic organizations, divinity schools).
For more information, please see the course flier.
Meet Xavier Pickett
Pickett is an assistant professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies. Prior to joining NC State, he was an entrepreneur, Visiting Assistant Professor at New York University in the Department of Religious Studies, and held a residential doctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia’s Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies. Having a joint appointment between the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies and the Africana Studies Program, Dr. Pickett teaches courses in both units at NC State. His research focuses on African American religion, politics, emotions, and social movements like Black Power and #BlackLivesMatter. He is currently working on two manuscripts. The first reconceptualizes the academic study of Black religion by shifting attention to affect, literature and the secular. The second offers a new theory of Black rage that reevaluates its common misconceptions with historical, ethical and political import while distinguishing Black rage from other forms like white rage.
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