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Kelly Hayes

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

After spending a year living in Sierra Leone in 1989 as a college student, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Kelly Hayes' view of life changed dramatically. She realized that "everything you took for granted as normal was socially conditioned." She came back to the United States a very different person, questioning the materialism of American culture and the view of the world that she had unquestioningly absorbed as a privileged American.

Intent upon pursuing religious studies as a graduate student, she applied for a Fulbright grant to study religions of African descent in Brazil. Living in Brazil for several years, she discovered that the African traditions originally brought to Brazil by slaves (Brazil imported nine times more slaves than the US) had blended with elements of Portuguese Catholicism and other traditions to create remarkably vibrant religions that permeated every aspect of Brazilian culture.

Umbanda, an archetypal religion of healing, has an eclectic pantheon that includes Catholic saints as well as African deities connected to ancestors and natural forces. It also invokes spirits familiar from Brazilian folk history such as Pretos Velhos, who represents spirits of elderly black slaves who died in captivity, and Caboclos, the spirits of indigenous Indians. Umbanda also includes "spirits of the street" who are represented as tricksters, con men and prostitutes. These entities are believed to be the spirits of actual human beings who lived and died on earth, but whose wisdom and healing powers are accessible to human beings through the practice of mediumship. Umbanda is a religion that understands the poverty of the people, and one that the people come to for guidance in personal matters.

Hayes knows it is necessary to look beyond your upbringing and to expose yourself to other worldviews in order to gain a better understanding of other belief systems as well as your own. On finding effective ways to communicate with her students she reveals, "It took me a long time to figure out my audience." Her Catholic roots in Chicago did not prepare her to teach students that had been raised in strict Bible-based Protestantism and had little exposure to other forms of Christianity, let alone other religious traditions. She finds that some students are afraid to question their spiritual roots, believing that questioning is a form of betrayal. She challenges them to think beyond their experience in an open atmosphere of discussion.

Hayes believes religion is fundamental to everything we know, including art, music and literature. As she sits behind her office desk, the bright batiks that line the walls and the shelves lined with religious icons all speak of her dedication to teach people of the colorful, religious heritage that is all around them.

--Colleen Card, BA English 2008
Liberal Arts News Bureau

Featured Interviews

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Professor Kelly Hayes talks about her various academic interests.

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