The "Look" of Freedom: Embodiment and the Nature and Meaning of Black Religion

In February the Religious Studies Program was proud to sponsor a lecture this by Dr. Anthony Pinn, Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University.

His lecture dealt primarily with the nature and meaning of black religion, which he explained, has little do with doctrines and creeds and more to do with the nature and meaning of black bodies. By using Civil Rights Movement activities and strategies as a case study, his lecture argued for the importance of the aesthetics of black bodies as a primary arena in which religious issues are defined and worked out.

Pinn holds a M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. in Religion from Harvard University. His professional commitments also involve work as the Executive Director of the Society for the Study of Black Religion and co-chair of the American Academy of Religion's Black Theology Group. Pinn is the author/editor of seventeen books, including Why, Lord?: Suffering and Evil in Black Theology (1995); By These Hands: A Documentary History of African American Humanism (2001); and African American Humanist Principles: Living and Thinking Like the Children of Nimrod (2004).

The Department of African American & African Studies and The Institute for Advanced Study co-sponsored the event.