Haitian Vodou and its migration and transformation in the late twentieth century is the focus of research by Karen McCarthy Brown, professor of the sociology and anthropology of religion at Drew University. Brown will deliver the Elizabeth Kennan lecture on April 23. (See calendar section for details.) It will be the first annual lecture sponsored by a lecture/performance fund established to honor former President Kennan on her retirement.
According to MHC history professor Eugenia Herbert, Brown is one of the most distinguished scholars in her field. Since 1973 Brown has conducted field research in Haiti and in 1978 expanded her research to include the Haitian immigrant community in Brooklyn. One woman Brown met there is the subject of her award-winning 1991 book, Mama Lola. The book is "an intimate spiritual biography of a Vodou priestess and her family." Brown is also the author of two other books and dozens of scholarly articles on a variety of topics involving Afro-Caribbean spirituality.
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