Conference Information and Schedule
“African Christian Biography: Narratives, Beliefs, and Boundaries” Boston University, October 29-31 General Information October 29-31, 2015
Note: The opening reception, the Friday morning plenary, and the Friday afternoon panel are open to non-registrants. Meals (including plenaries at the meals) are open to fully registered participants only. This is a working conference.
Thursday, Oct 29
2:00 – 4:00 Registration in African Studies library, Mugar Memorial Library
4:00 - 5:30 Opening reception at the African Studies library; exhibits - OPEN SESSION
Welcome by Dana Robert, Center for Global Christianity and Mission; Beth Restrick, African Studies Library; Jonathan Bonk, Dictionary of African Christian Biography
5:30 – 7:30 Dinner for registrants, discussion of conference details
Project plenary, Jon Bonk, African Church History and the Streetlight Effect: Biography as A Lost Key
Friday, Oct 30
9:00 – 10:00 Morning plenary: Lamin Sanneh, Biography and the Narrative of History - OPEN SESSION
10:00 – 10:30 Coffee break
10:30 – 12:30 Concurrent Paper Sessions
1.A. Early Biography. Bishop Graham Kings, chair
**Michael Glerup, The Life of Paul of Thebes and the Living Memory of Contemporary African Communities.
Wendy Belcher, The Life and Visions of Krəstos Śämra, a Fifteenth-Century Ethiopian Female Saint.
John Thornton, King Afonso of Kongo**
1.B. Biography as historical narrative: Chris Evans, chair
**Mark Noll, Mizeki, Chilembwe, Harris and the Future of African Christianity in its Past
**
Stan Chu Ilo, The Stories My Grand Parents Never Told Me: Memory and Orality in the Narrative of African Christian History
Michele Sigg_, Narrative as History: African Christian Biography as History in the Dictionary of African Christian Biography_
12:30 – 2:00 Lunch
2:00 - 3:30 Panel: Tim Longman, chair—_Biography as History
_
Panelists: Kathleen Sheldon, Diana Wylie, Richard Elphick - OPEN SESSION
3:30 - 4:00 Coffee break
4:00 - 5:45 Concurrent Paper Sessions.
2.A. Critical perspectives on South African biography. Diana Wylie, chair.
**Joanne Davis, Omission and Elision: Missing the Target in Biographies of the Reverend Tiyo Soga
Deborah Gaitskell, Preaching as Boxing? The Sermons of Seth Mokitimi, the ‘Brown Bomber,’ as a Biographical Resource
Roger Levine, Jan Tzatzoe or Dyani Tshatshu: Personal, Political, and Historical Consequences of Naming in African History**
2.B. Women in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Dana Robert, Chair.
**Heather Hughes, Recovering the Lives of Early African Women Christians in South Africa: The Case of Nokutela Dube
Barbara Mahamba, A Character Worth Writing About: Roman Catholic Girls and Women’s Education Mirrored through the Experiences of Sikhaulaphi Khumalo
Wendy Urban-Mead, “Ah, if only Nellie could be ordained”: The Leadership and Witness of Nellie Maduma Mlotshwa, Zimbabwe 1958 to 2015**
6:00 – 8:00 Dinner and Plenary (Castle)
**Linda Heywood, Queen Njinga of Angola: Spirituality and Politics
**
Saturday, Oct 31
9:00 -11:00 Concurrent Paper Sessions
3.A. African Christian Biography in Ghana/West Africa. Nimi Wariboko, chair
Ethan R. Sanders, James Aggrey and the Movement of Political Thought in Africa
Maureen Iheanacho, Unknown Pioneers and Unsung Heroes: Forgotten Christian Ancestors of the Gold Coast (Ghana)
3.B. Methods, theories, and models for African biography. Jean-Luc Enyegue, chair
Paul Grant, Biography as Counter-Narrative to Rupture: The Moral Problem of Describing Intact Lives
The Most Rev Emmanuel A.S. Egbunu, Towards Authentic Characterization in African Christian Biography
Philomena Mwaura, Gender and Power in African Christian Biography
11:00-11:15 Coffee break
11:15 - 1:00 Project Wrap up and Boxed lunch
Over lunch a panel of “listeners’” will offer a response to the conference and there will be an open discussion. Panelists are Andrew Barnes, Joel Carpenter, and Jacob Olupona
