African American History Month at CSUDH: Biblical Scholar Speaks on the Connection between African Americans, Scripture and Social Power

NOTE: This event has been rescheduled. The lecture will be held on April 17, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in the Loker Student Union on the campus of CSU Dominguez Hills. For additional information, please contact Dr. Sheela Pawar at (310) 243-3974.

Vincent Wimbush, Ph.D., professor of religion at Claremont Graduate University, will present a lecture on “African Americans, Sacred Texts and the Quest for Social Power” on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Loker Student Union Ballroom on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills.

The director of Claremont’s Institute for Signifying Scriptures, Wimbush will discuss the construct of African Americans’ self and culture in connection with their use of sacred texts, including the Bible, and the social, cultural and political consequences of that connection. He is a noted scholar on this subject, having directed an eight-year research project that resulted in the publication, African Americans and the Bible: Sacred Texts and Social Textures. Wimbush also has written The Bible and African Americans: A Brief History, and edited Scriptures: Excavating a Complex Phenomenon, and The Bible and the American Myth.

One of several events on campus to commemorate Black History Month, the lecture also serves to introduce the Department of Philosophy’s new degree option in religious studies. Sheela Pawar, CSUDH assistant professor of philosophy, said there has always been strong interest in religion among philosophy majors. This new option was added last semester and offers courses in comparative religions, the philosophy of religion, Asian and philosophies, African world religions and a course titled “Understanding the Bible.”

For more information, contact (310) 243-3050. For more information about the Philosophy Department, click here.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills African American History Month Celebration continues with the following events:

Feb. 22- March 2: “The Colored Museum” by George C. Wolfe
Directed by Jeffery Wright (Class of ’04)
Edison Theatre, CSUDH
For tickets and information, call (310) 243-3589 or order online at www.zaptix.com (browse “California”).

Feb. 27: In Focus: Belizeans and Africans Outside the United States-
The Ties That Bind
Speaker: Zenaida Moya, mayor of Belize City, Belize
Loker Student Union, TBA, 1-2:30 p.m.
Sponsored by the Multicultural Center and Toro Productions
For more information, call (310) 243-2519

Afrikan Market Place
Vendor Walkway, 10 a.m.- 7 p.m.
Sponsored by the African American History Month Planning Committee

- Amy Bentley-Smith