Candomblé Practitioners: "Plurality in Afro-Brazilian Spirituality"
Anderson Silva Argolo, Patrick Santos Da Silva, and Urania de Oliveira Rodrigues will share their knowledge of sacred Afro-Brazilian Candomblé rituals and ceremonies, and offer insightful perspectives on the politics of race and gender in Brazil's changing religious landscape. Each has had unique experiences as Candomblé practitioners, spiritual leaders, and political activists. Complementing each other in their visits to classes and in public lectures/performances, they will address the importance and relevance of ceremony as both a link to an African past and a means of negotiating the present and future in Brazil. They were on campus February 25-March 1, 2019.
Public Event
Their Campus COLL 300 Main Event was on Wednesday, February 27, 2019. "Plurality in Afro-Brazilian Spirituality" [video above]
Spring 2019 Theme: Ceremony
Ceremony occurs in many forms and arenas, spanning the natural and cultural, the secular and sacred, and grounding the legitimacy of authority. The performance of ceremony expresses the accepted social order – and can mark transitions in that order – for individuals, groups, and nations. Ceremonies may include religious rituals, such as baptism, marriage, and pilgrimage, and state rites, such as the inauguration of political leaders and the execution of criminals. They may vary in scale from large public rites, such as the commemoration of important historical events or the opening of a new city shopping mall, to small private ceremonies, such as the celebration of a wedding anniversary or a funerary ritual.
