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Mary Ann Clark

• Independent Scholar, graduate of Rice University Religious Studies department. See my on-line CV for additional information.
• Spouse of Art Gorski, computer consultant extraordinaire.

Recent Work

• Articles on Espiristimo, Palo Monte, Rada, Santeria, and Santerismo for African American Religious Cultures, In Press, ABC-CLIO, INC.
  
• Revealing Religion in America, In Process. Thinking Strings, South Orange, NJ. an interactive learning systems, or courseware, designed to replace college textbooks.Scheduled publication date Fall 2008.
• Santería: Correcting the Myths and Uncovering the Realities of a Growing Religion.  2007. Praeger Publishers. More Information.
  
• “Santería” in  Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Eds Eugene V. Gallagher and W. Michael Ashcraft . Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.  2006. More Information.
  
• Where Men are Wives and Mothers Rule: Santeria Ritual Practices and their Gender Implications. 2005. University Press of Florida. More Information.
• Rockefeller Fellowship at the Center for Latin American Studies and the Religion in the Americans Program at the University of Florida. Spring 2003
• Unveiling of Trono as part of the University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies 51st Annual Conference
• “Ambiguities in Santeria Possession Trance: Challenges to the Unitary and Gendered Self.” Annual meeting, American Academy of Religion, Mysticism Group, November 2004.
  
• "Where Women Rule: An Explication of Santeria as a Female-Normative Religion." Annual meeting, American Academy of Religion, Women & Religion Section, November 2004.

Current Teaching Assignments

• University of Houston, Clear Lake, Houston, Texas
  Basic Texts I: Western Tradition to Renaissance (web-based course). An Introduction to the early Western culture and literature.
• Yavapai College, Prescott, Arizona
  Introduction to Philosophy, a history of the Western philosophical tradition
  Comparative Religions, survey of world religions including indigeous and new religious traditions
  

Recent Talks and Presentations

• "There Is No Orisha As Lucky As The Stomach: Feasting and Feeding within Santería Ritual Practice." Annual meeting, American Academy of Religion, Religion and the Social Sciences Section, November 2007.
• “¡Hola Orisha! An Introduction to the Icons and Iconography of Santería.” Presentation in conjunction with the exhibit Cuba Plástica: Recent Art from Cuba at The Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport, LA, September 24, 2006.
• "Santería Sacrifical Rituals: A Reconsideration of Religious Violence." Annual meeting, American Academy of Religion, Indigenous Religious Traditions Group, November 2005.
• “Ambiguities in Santeria Possession Trance: Challenges to the Unitary and Gendered Self.” Annual meeting, American Academy of Religion, Mysticism Group, November 2004.
  
• "Where Women Rule: An Explication of Santeria as a Female-Normative Religion." Annual meeting, American Academy of Religion, Women & Religion Section, November 2004.
• “Religious Exchange and Gift-Giving: Relationship in Motion.” Annual meeting, Southwest Commission on Religious Studies, (AAR/SBL regional), Association for the Scientific Study of Religion, Dallas, Texas March 2004
  
• "Healing Rituals in the Suburbs: African-Based Healing among Middle-Class Americans." Annual meeting, American Academy of Religion, African Religions Group and Religions, Medicine, and Healing Consultation Joint session, November 2003.
  
• "¡No Hay Ningun Santo Aqui! (There are No Saints Here!): Symbolic Language within Santería." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 69 (1 2001): 21-41.
• "Orisha Worship Communities: A Reconsideration of Organizational Structure," Religion, an Academic Press Journal, 30 (4 2000): 379-389.
• Syncretism, Acculturation and Hybridity: The Development of Santería Altar Displays." Ritual and Spirits: Religious Contact and Change in the Early Atlantic World, a symposium at the Harn Museum of Art, Gainseville, Florida presented by the History Department of the University of Florida. October 2000.
• "Spirit Made Flesh: Possession Trance as Radical Challenge to Concepts of Personal Identity." Annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Black Theology Group (November 2000).
• "Santería Altar Displays as Memory Palaces." Annual meeting, American Academy of Religion, Comparative Studies in Religion Section and African Religions Group, November 2000.
• "Intro to Afro-Cuban Spirituality," June 9, 2002. Northwest Community UU Church
• Introduction to Santería. Presented as part of the Pagan Lecture Series, Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church, Houston, Texas (November 2000).
• "Orisha on my Doorstep: A West African Pantheon in the Americas." C. G. Jung Educational Center of Houston, Texas, Inc. (May 2000).
• "You Are (Not) Shango: Jungian Archetypes in Contemporary Santeria." Annual meeting, Southwest Commission on Religious Studies, (AAR/SBL regional), Association for the Scientific Study of Religion, Dallas, Texas March 2000.
• "Santería Ritual Garments: A Cross-Cultural Analsyis." Annual meeting, National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies, Houston, Texas, February 2000.
• "Santería Healing: African Traditions in Contemporary America." Houston Chapter of American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) and The Institute of Religion. Houston, Texas (April 1999).
• "Finding the Saints in Santería: The Place of Catholic Figures in Afro-Cuban Religion." Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopalian) Adult Education Series. Houston, Texas (April 1999).
• Santería Sundays. A series of talks about the religion and my research presented to the E.A.R.T.H. CUUPS group at First Unitarian Church, Houston, Texas (January to October). Four sessions also presented to St. Luke's Methodist Friendship Class, Houston, Texas (Sept ember 1998).
• "The Ways of Ashe: African Religion in the New World." Lyceum Program at San Jacinto Junior College, Pasadena, Texas (October 1998)).
• "The Invisible Made Visible: The Radical Interpenetration of the Divine into the Human Lifeworld." Annual meeting Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World, Estes Park, Colorado (August 1998). (See http://www.phil.stmarytx.edu/SPCWhm for abstract.)
• "Making Saint: Liminality, Presentation and the Iyawo in Contemporary Santeria." Annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, African Religions Group and Religions in Latin America and Caribbean Group (November 1996).

Other Interesting Projects

• Reading List. Several people have asked me for a list of books they might read for more information about the African Religions in the Americas. These books should be generally available in the larger bookstores and libraries.
• Santeria has a rich material culture, offering tremendous opportunities for studying the material history of religion. However, my article "Seven African Powers: Hybridity and Appropriation" published by the Material History of American Religion Project warns scholars not to trust all appearances.
• The Eleggua Tour 1995 (What I did on my Summer Vacation, 1995)
• CyberAltars: A Postmodern Pilgrimage. Experience various Afro-Cuban religious sites in cyberspace.
• Self through Media Shifts a project of the Communication, Cognition and Culture team on the Self and Community. (See also Implications of Technology on the Perception of Community the work of another team in the same class.)
• Death and Dying in Contemporary Neo-Paganism: An exploration of the view of contemporary Neo-Pagans around the issues of death and dying using the Internet for a portion of the research. Annual meeting of the Southwest Commission on Religious Studies (AAR/SBL regional) Association for the Scientific Study of Religion, Dallas, Texas (1995).
• Hypertext Collection for St. Edith: What is hyperfiction anyway?
• An Experiment in Hyper-Meta-Mythology: an experimental refashioning of the myth of Psyche and Eros.

Religions on the Net

• African and Afro-Diaspora Religions: New World (Caribbean, North and South America) and African religious sites. Includes information on Santería, Candomblé, other Orisha religions, Vodoun, and more.
• My Religions-on-the-Web Pages. Cults, Catholic, UU and other religious groups.
• The Religious Movements Homepage @ the University of Virginia. Check out the profile of Santería that cites my book chapter.
• American Pluralism Project developed by Diana L. Eck at Harvard University to study and document the growing religious diversity of the United States, with a special view to its new immigrant religious communities.

Other Places to Surf

• American Academy of Religion
• Virtual Institute of Caribbean Studies
• Anders Main Page
• The Internet Interfaith Consortium
• Finding God in Cyberspace
• Boston University Religion and Philosophy Resources
• Material History of American Religion Project
• Botanica Eleggua, Houston Texas. Source for religious supplies, herbs, and spiritual consultation.
• JBL Statues. Over 350 images of deities and archetypes from cultures ancient and contemporary around the world.
• Latitude: The Art and Science of Fifteenth-Century Navigation. Find out how the Portuguese invented the science of navigation. Created by Dr. Patricia Seed, who was also a member of my dissertation committee.