Invitation to an International Conference
Re-Learning
to Be Human for Global Times:
The Clash between Modern and Traditional Life: African Values in the Contemporary World
Catholic University
of Eastern
Africa, Nairobi, Kenya
May 27 -28,
2017
Conference Program
Theme
The challenges of Africa, under the impact of colonialism
and imperialism, hardly need any introduction. Caroline
Elkins, in her book Imperial
Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya (Henry
Holt and Company, 2005), describes the so-called 3-pronged
prescriptions of British mission to civilise the African
continent as follows: (1) to redeem the backward heathens by
bringing the light of the gospel to the dark continent, (2)
to use the superior economic know-how to exploit the
continent’s natural resources and its people’s labour, and
(3) to civilise Africa administratively by using their
superior laws and administrative structures. Indeed, the
hidden agenda has been exposed by such thinkers as Walter
Rodney (How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Bogle
L’Ouverture Publications, 1972) among others.
The interest of this conference, however, is the clash of
values that ensued from the encounter. Especially it will
focus on family values, because family is the foundation of
society. According to the African tradition as well
as many other
traditions marriage is the lynchpin of which all societal
life evolves. According to J.S. Mbiti (African Religions
and Philosophy, Heinemann, 1969/1990) this concept of
marriage is the centre of life in Africa for (1) it connotes
immortality, a continuum of the past, present, and future,
that is, life
in the here and now, at a non-definitive future, and in the
hereafter; (2) it also encompasses a plethora of
relationships, namely, between fellow human beings, between
families, between communities and the environment, between
living persons and ancestors, and between human beings and
their creator.
In reality, the African life,
values and cultural traditions have been persistently
reliving, reviving and evolving in its rich soil despite the
imposed ideas, policies, paradigms, among other forms of
foreign interference. Nevertheless, the imposition did
distort many things and affect the life and values in many
ways in the African continent. The clash between the modern
and traditional values and ways of life hasraised
many unprecedented challenges that this CUEA
international conference has taken special interest in.
In preparation for the conference,
the CUEA academia makes a special effort to delve into
concrete issues pertaining to this clash and distortion of
values and ways of life. If we have to ‘re-learn to be human
for global times’, we need to discover what went wrong and
how to correct the mistakes.
Thus, the CUEA Faculty of Law and other participating
faculties and departments,
such as, Literature
and Language, Education, Social Justice and Ethics,
Philosophy, and Theology, have developed themes and
sub-themes related to their areas respectively. For
instance, “African Family Values and ‘Literature as a Tool
for Promoting Values: The African Experience.”
Abstract
Please send an abstract of not more than 300 words and a
brief CV to Professor Ernest Beyaraza [ebeyaraza@yahoo.com] and [cua-rvp@cua.edu]
by March 1, 2017. Full papers sent by April 30, 2017 will be
considered for publication by the RVP in its publication
series "Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change."
Contacts
Ernest Beyaraza
ebeyaraza@yahoo.com
