Center for the Study of African American Religious Life
Through innovative scholarship, public programs, and collecting religious artifacts, the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life expands the ways religion is acknowledged and explored by our nation’s research and cultural institutions.
Exhibitions
Diverse aspects of the Black Religious experience are revealed by stories of artists bluring the boundaries between the holy and the profane, Black religious leaders bearing witness to wrongs and lighting the pathway to freedom and activists articulating the complex dimensions of the suffering and trauma of Black people in America.
Explore Our Public Programs
The Center organizes public events exploring religion’s place in African American history and culture and the contemporary roles and needs of faith leaders, faith-based organizations, and African American communities.
Visit the Museum's calendar of events for a list of upcoming programs, subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch past programs, and follow #BlackFaith for an ongoing conversation with a global community of faith and religious leaders, scholars, and the public.
gOD-Talk
gOD-Talk is a groundbreaking project spearheaded by the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life in association with Pew Research Center.
The project is a series of conversations aimed at uncovering how millennials interact with religion and the transformative nature of community, the internet, and space. Featuring leading millennial voices, gOD-Talk amplifies their individual and shared experiences in a curated conversation streamed live to audiences online across the United States and around the world.
Afterlives of Slavery Conference: The Troubles I’ve Seen: Religious Dimensions of Slavery & Its Afterlives
October 19 – 21, 2023
Presented by CSAARL, Princeton Seminary, & Howard University School of Divinity.
For more information or to register to attend for free visit: https://afterlivesconference.ptsem.edu
Center Staff Photos and Bios
Religious Practitioners and Scholars' Advisory Council
(CORPS)
Bishop Myokei Caine-Barrett, Residing Priest, Myoken-ji Temple
Bishop Yvette A. Flunder, Founder, City of Refuge United Church of Christ
Eminence Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Member of the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
Dr. Afe Adogame, Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Religion and Society, Princeton Seminary
Dr. Alexis S. Wells-Oghoghomeh, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University
Dr. Anthony Pinn, Agnes Cullen Arnold Distinguished Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religion, Rice University
Dr. Braxton Shelley, Associate Professor of Sacred Music, Divinity, and Music, Yale University
Dr. David Daniels, Henry Winters Luce Professor of World Christianity, McCormick Theological Seminary
Dr. Jan Willis, Professor of Religion Emerita, Wesleyan University
Dr. Marla F. Frederick, Harvard Divinity School Dean
Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, Associate Professor of American Culture and Arab and Muslim American Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Dr. Yolanda Pierce, Professor and Dean, Vanderbilt Divinity School
Reverend Dr. Howard John Wesley, Senior Reverend, Alfred Street Baptist Church, Alexandra, VA
Rabbi Sandra Lawson, Director of Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Reconstructing Judaism, Reconstructing Judaism
Reverend Michael Bernard Beckwith, Founder and CEO, Agape International Spiritual Center
Publications
Double Exposure Vol. VIII - Movements, Motions, Moments
Movements, Motions, Moments draws upon the photography collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture to explore the dynamic ways African Americans engage in and practice religion and spirituality.
Search the Collection
Discover objects from the Museum's collection that help expand the ways religion is acknowledged and explored.
The Center for the Study African American Religious Life is generously funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc.