Center for Latin American Studies

While Zora Neale Hurston is best known for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, it is less widely known that Hurston wrote that novel while doing fieldwork on traditional health and healing practices in Haiti. Hurston’s work was truly transnational, following questions about the human experience and the African Diaspora through New York, the U.S. South, as well as to Jamaica, Haiti, and Honduras. This collection provides lesson plans and resources related to Hurston’s engagements with gender, spirituality, health, race/racism, and folklore across the Americas. 

CLAS Teacher Workshops

125 Years of Zora Neale Hurston

November 18-19, 2016 -- This workshop explored the life and legacy of Zora Neale Hurston, as a folklorist, a novelist, and an anthropologist in the U.S. South and Global South with Dr. Rhonda Collier and Dr. Tiffany Ruby Patterson. Dr. Patterson, professor of African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University, explored the connections between Zora Neale Hurston in the US south and drew connections to the Global South in a talk entitled, “Zora Neale Hurston: Historian of the Global South.” Dr. Collier, professor of English at Tuskegee University explored Zora Neale Hurston’s birth in Notasulga, Alabama and related it to African religions.

Zora Neale Hurston: Health and Spirituality in the Caribbean and US South

April 24-25, 2015 – While Zora Neale Hurston is best known for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, it is less widely known that Hurston wrote that novel while doing fieldwork on traditional health and healing practices in Haiti. Hurston’s work was truly transnational, following questions about the human experience and the African Diaspora through the U.S. South, as well as to Jamaica, Haiti, and Honduras. Come explore Hurston’s engagements with themes of spirituality and health in the Americas with scholars from Tuskegee University (Dr. Rhonda Collier and Dr. Zanice Bond) and Vanderbilt University (Dr. Ifeoma Nwankwo and Tatiana McInnis). In this workshop, educators will discuss ways to implement Hurston’s work in coursework related to literature, social studies, Spanish, and even health/biology.