International symposium

Religious/ethnic groups and vulnerable minorities were the focus of a symposium at the Hermannsburg University of Applied Sciences for Intercultural Theology.

An international symposium took place at the University of Applied Sciences for Intercultural Theology Hermannsburg (FIT) from March 2 to 6, 2024. It was attended by 17 researchers from the United Theological College in Bangalore (India), Tumaini University in Makumira (Tanzania) and FIT Hermannsburg, including the director of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM), who comes from Tanzania. The event was organised and chaired by Professor Dr Kaholi Zhimomi (UTC Bangalore) and Professor Dr Andreas Kunz-Lübcke (FIT Hermannsburg).

 

The main theme of the symposium was to reflect theologically on the situation of minorities and ethnic and social groups and to scrutinise the challenges they face. The spectrum of the 17 lectures was broad and included ethnicities and their perception in biblical literature, the political situation in northern India, the specific situations of Roma groups in the Netherlands and indigenous people in Guatemala. The marginalisation and discrimination of women in (church) ministries was also discussed. The Director of the ELM, Dr Emmanuel Kileo, gave the opening lecture on (hidden) discriminatory structures in Tanzania, particularly with regard to the Lutheran church there.

 

However, the project has not yet come to an end with the conclusion of the event in Hermannsburg: The participants of the symposium will continue their research work on the topics presented and will later publish the results in a joint volume. In addition, the symposium - which, in the opinion of all participants, was very fruitful and insightful - is intended to be the prelude to networking and academic cooperation between the participating institutions even after the closure of the FIT Campus next year.