Original Research - Special Collection: Theology and Nature
Ecodomy as education in tertiary institutions. Teaching theology and religion in a globalised world: African perspectives
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 76, No 1 | a5956 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v76i1.5956
| © 2020 Johan Buitendag, Corneliu C. Simuț
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 10 February 2020 | Published: 23 June 2020
Submitted: 10 February 2020 | Published: 23 June 2020
About the author(s)
Johan Buitendag, Department of Systematic and Historical Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South AfricaCorneliu C. Simuț, Department of Systematic and Historical Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
On 29 July 2017, an international colloquium entitled ‘Re-Imagining Curricula for a Just University in a Vibrant Democracy – Carrying the Conversation Forward’ was held at the Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. A wide range of scholars from African and non-African countries provided variegated perspectives on how tertiary theological and religious education could contribute positively to the development of contemporary societies – African and non-African. This article focuses on the colloquium’s African contributors by means of the concept of ecodomy, envisaged as a constructive process. Whilst the attending academics came from Europe, the USA, South Africa and Ghana, this article takes into consideration only the contributions provided by African scholars. The purpose of this selection is to identify ecodomic or constructive ways to argue in favour of university education in the fields of theology and religion which share the potential to be applied across the whole African continent. Bearing in mind that Africa has been dealing with decolonisation awhile, these African contributions investigate issues such as contextualisation, science, practice, illumination and holism from the governing principle of decolonisation, which is also the overarching societal umbrella for academic development in Africa. This study concludes with an assessment and a proposal written from an exclusively South African vantage point which demonstrates the viability of tertiary theological and religious education for the ongoing ecodomic development of African societies.
Keywords
Education; Ecodomy; University; Theology; Religion; Constructive; Africa
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