[Ginen Series (Vol. 1) - Ep. #15] Conversations w/ Dr. Patrick Bellegarde-Smith

In this first episode in the Ginen mini-series, we cover the central tenets of Haitian Vodou, the life, love, and expansive mind of the distinguished scholar, Patrick Bellegarde-Smith.  Professor Emeritus Patrick Bellegarde-Smith received his doctorate in international relations, comparative politics, and Latin American Studies, in 1977. He taught in the field of international development, political economy, and culture, at Bradley University,  then later, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in the field of  African-American Studies with a focus on Caribbean cultures, politics and history, Afro-Caribbean religions, and in the area of Black feminisms.  He is the author or editor of five books, among them, In the Shadow of Powers (Humanities Press International, 1985, 2nd ed. Vanderbilt University Press, 2019), The Breached Citadel (Westview Press, 1990, 2nd ed. Canadian Scholars Press, 2004), and Fragments of Bone: Neo-African Religions in a New World,  ed. (Illinois University Press, 2005). The sixth book on gender identities and African religious systems is in preparation. Some of his writings have been anthologized, notably, "Hormones and Melanin: The  Dimensions of 'Race,' Sex and Gender: Reflexive Journeys," in Jacqueline  Bobo et al., The Black Studies Reader (New York: Routledge, 2004). For his work on issues of ethnic,  racial, and national identities, he received from the State University of Haiti, the Jean Price-Mars Medal in 2013, and the Lifetime  Achievement Award for Scholarship from the Haitian Studies  Association in 2010. Some of his books and articles have been translated into French, Spanish, Kreyol (Haitian), and Portuguese. Bellegarde-Smith served as the President of the Congress of Santa  Barbara (KOSANBA), a scholarly association for the study of Vodou and other African-derived religions, and is a former president of the  Haitian Studies Association, (HSA). He is an associate editor for the Journal of Haitian Studies and served on the editorial boards of Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies, and the Journal of Africana Religions. He is an advisory board member/Elders-Distinguished Member of the  Institute for the Study of Canadian Slavery, in Halifax, NSCAD, Nova  Scotia. He is a Houngan asogwe, a priest of Haitian Vodou. He attended The University of the Virgin Islands, the "youngest" HBCU,  Syracuse University at Utica College, and The American University,  School of International Service. Dr. Bellegarde-Smith is the author of many books, including In the Shadow of Powers (1985, 2nd edition 2019), The Breached Citadel (1990, 2nd edition 2004), Fragments of Bone, ed. (2005). For his books and articles on issues of national and personal identities, he received from the University of Haiti, the Jean Price-Mars Medal in 2013, and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Scholarship from the Haitian Studies Association in 2010. Some of his works have been translated into French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and some of his writings are anthologized.