FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS — Pennsylvania State University Press has named Edward Curtis, Millennium Chair of the Liberal Arts and professor of religious studies in the IU School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, the co-editor of a new book series.
Curtis, co-founder of the Journal of Africana Religions, says that the book series will adopt the journal’s global vision of both African and African diasporic religions.
“Like the journal, the book series will emphasize the translocal nature of Africana religions across national, regional and hemispheric boundaries,” Curtis said. The journal is also published by Pennsylvania State University Press.
The IUPUI professor will co-edit the book series with Sylvester A. Johnson, associate professor of African American studies and religious studies at Northwestern University. Johnson is also the co-founder of the Journal of Africana Religions.
Curtis sees the book series as yet another sign of the growing interest in Africana religions and their global reach.
“National and colonial-drawn boundaries have too long shaped the formation of knowledge about black people and their religious commitments,” the IUPUI professor said. “This book series will help to nurture a community of scholars dedicated to analyzing the entire Africana world in all its richness.”
The series’ editorial board includes Afe Adogame of Princeton Theological Seminary, Sylviane Diouf of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Paul Christopher Johnson of the University of Michigan, Elizabeth Pérez of Dartmouth College, Elisha P. Renne of the University of Michigan and Judith Weisenfeld of Princeton University.
“We want to publish academic monographs in addition to books designed for classroom use about Africana religious experiences, identities, beliefs, aesthetics, ethics and institutions,” co-editor Sylvester Johnson said. “And we welcome a variety of methods, including archival, theoretical, literary, sociological and ethnographic approaches.”
Any author interested in contributing to the book series should send a three- to five-page proposal outlining the intent of the project, its scope, its relation to other work on the topic and its targeted audience. The proposal and current CV can be sent to the editors at journal@africanareligions.org.