Two Tricks & A Treat: New Orleans and The Vodou Religion
You might say “work hard, play hard” is something of a motivating principle for the Curb Center. This week we’re leaning into that maxim with a four day trip to New Orleans. The scholars will get the chance to experience the culture of the Crescent City through food (learning to cook some New Orleans staples), music (engaging with the vibrant legacies of The Quarter, joining a line band, and attending the Voodoo Music festival), mysticism (examining the history of New Orleans Voodoo) and much more. In preparation for the visit, Wilna Taylor shared her short film Lumiere douce, Lumiere brilliante and gave a presentation on the links between New Orleans and Haitian culture and their connections to the Vodou Religion, the ways those traditions are referenced in pop-culture (particularly in Beyoncé’s “Lemonade”) and her own experience with mysticism as a person of Haitian descent. The scholars ended the meeting with another round of “Two Tricks & A Treat” where they put their knowledge of New Orleans history to the test, ferreting out the factual from the nearly true, to reflect on how an awareness of history shapes what we’re willing to believe.
Written by Joshua Moore
Poster October 23, 2019