On Oct. 29, Dr. Judith Weisenfeld delivered a guest lecture as part of the Bruttell Endowment For Social Ethics lecture series.
Dr. Weisenfeld is the Agate Brown and George L. Collord Professor of Religion and the chair of the Department of Religion at Princeton University. The focus area of her research is Black religion in the early 20th century as it relates to various other disciplines like film, medicine and gender studies.
The lecture mainly revolved around her recent book release which investigates the now nullified diagnosis of religious excitement in Black people post-slavery, during the reconstruction era. The lecture examined how this diagnosis and medicine by extension intersects with religion and race to justify the mass incarceration of black people in state mental hospitals.
The lecture dissected various case studies and documents presented in the book. The bulk of the research done was archival. Dr. Weisenfeld was able to present the actual documents she sifted through for her research, along with statistics highlighting the maltreatment and diagnosis disparity visible in Black people during this time.
There is minimal research in this subject area, especially in the scope of religious studies. During a lunch with Dr. Weisenfeld she discussed how this lack of research initially proved difficult when it came to the beginning of her career, yet the umbrella of religious studies provided the lens for her to “chase the hunger of the question” opposed to a single methodology, with religious studies allowing various methodologies.
This interaction highlights the importance of not only doing research of this nature but also sharing that research so everyone may feel inspired to question the structure of our society, but especially how it relates to overarching power structures like white supremacy in our culture.
Allowing people the space to question this, especially community members who may not be academics, enriches and over time betters the social fabric of our society by letting people see their place within these power structures.
Dr. Todd Hibbard, the chair of Detroit Mercy’s Religious Studies Department, said “one of the key parts of this series is to make sure that the community outside of the campus is part of the programming.”
The consensus among audience members demonstrates that this goal is being achieved. Many people said they found the lecture “engaging” or “accessible” despite the rigorous background Weisenfeld has.
Allena Williams, a religious studies student, said, “It was thought provoking, insightful and overall increased my awareness of history.”
Dr. Hibbard expressed this is an essential hope of the lecture series.
The Bruttell Endowment for Social Ethics was created by the namesake Judy and her husband Robert Bruttell. This endowment has the goal of fostering interest and concern for social ethics, especially as it pertains to race, religion and culture.
Robert, who is affectionately known as “Bob,” facilitated this series as an inspired alumni of the master’s degree program in religious studies, alongside Judy, as an extension of their interest in these subjects.
The Bruttells hope to give students a supplement to develop a well-rounded sense of ethics in our culture or “how we live together” as Hibbard and Bob Bruttell would both say.
The endowment is sure to keep facilitating amazing opportunities for many students in the years to come.