CALL FOR PAPERS
Submit Your Roundtable Comments (1,500-3,000 words), Review Essays (5,000 words), and Articles (8,000-10,000 words) at www.editorialmanager.com/joar/.
Please use endnotes formatted according to Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition. Questions? Contact managingeditor@africanareligions.org.
Africana Religions and Popular Culture
· Analyses of recent films, television shows, and music albums that engage with Africana religious themes, practices, and communities. This includes, but is not limited to, explorations of Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” (2025) and its portrayal of Hoodoo, horror, and folklore in the Mississippi Delta; and Blitz Bazawule’s version of “The Color Purple” (2023) and its portrayal of the blues and Black women’s spirituality in rural Georgia.
· Anthropological, sociological, and cultural interpretations of popular cultural expressions of Africana spirituality, sacred traditions, and communal life.
· The role of media and technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), in shaping perceptions, representations, and internal dialogues within Africana religious traditions throughout the diaspora.
Afropessimism, Black Critical Theory, and Black Religious Thought
· Engagements with Afropessimism and other Black critical theories as frameworks for understanding anti-Blackness and its implications for Africana religious life and thought.
· Theoretical interventions that bridge Africana religious studies with critical race theory, queer theory, feminist theory, and other critical frameworks.
· Theological and ethical responses to concepts of “social death,” fungibility, and the ontological status of Blackness within various Africana religious traditions.
Gender, Sexuality, and Africana Religions
· Scholarship that examines the complex interplay of gender, sexuality, and Africana religious identities and practices.
· Explorations of LGBTQ+ experiences within Africana religious contexts, including issues of inclusion, exclusion, affirmation, and dissent.
· Feminist, womanist, queer, and transgender perspectives on Africana religious thought and lived experience.
The State of the Field: Navigating Current Social and Political Pressures
· Reflections on the challenges and opportunities facing the study of Africana religions (including in Africa and the African diaspora) in the current social and political climate, particularly within the higher education landscape.
· Analyses of the impact of political pressures, funding cuts, and evolving institutional landscapes on research, teaching, and academic freedom in the field.
· Discussions on methods, methodologies, and theoretical approaches that are particularly salient or challenged in the contemporary moment.