Africana Religions

Dr. Wood-Menzies' manuscript in progress, Obi: Death, Divination, and the Divine Feminine, will produce the first book-length study of the kola nut (obi) in the context of Yoruba indigenous religion, including how its divination system changed upon movement into the diaspora. The study provides new insight on a growing religious movement and also breaks theoretical ground by challenging the conception of Africana cultures as “oral” cultures and offering new terminology and frameworks through which to analyze them. Additional areas of focus include women and gender relations, indigenous knowledge and healing systems, intersections between religion and technology.