The CIHA Team extends conversations to the Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary

Upon his induction as the third president of the Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary on the 31^st of January 2016, Professor Simanga Raymond Kumalo, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a co-editor of The CIHA Blog, has initiated a new and vibrant course at the university. The course is tailored to the ideals of The CIHA Blog and the academic development of African religious leaders and theologians in the 21^st century. This course is coordinated by Professor Kumalo and Bangirana Albert – a CIHA Blog editorial assistant at UKZN. The link between the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary is critical. It fosters transformative leadership among religious leaders in southern Africa and beyond. Under the name Religion, Leadership and Humanitarianism, this course has already attracted over twenty-five theology students this semester.

Aim of the Course

The aim of this course is to introduce students to key issues on the interface between religion, leadership and humanitarianism as experienced in Africa and beyond. It explores the underlying issues informing humanitarian practice and the debates surrounding this sometimes controversial phenomenon. Notably, most church organisations are directly or indirectly involved in some form of humanitarianism; therefore, this module enables students to interrogate such engagements and further develop tools to successfully handle such humanitarian projects. The first part of the course unpacks the concept and practice of humanitarianism in general and challenges unequal power relations, paternalism and victimization characterizing the humanitarian aid discourse. The second part of the course focuses on how leadership should impact on humanitarian processes enabling students to critically explore connections between issues of faith, governance, and aid/charity in their own contexts.

Outcomes

This course will enable students to:

1. Make critical conceptual linkages between religion, leadership and humanitarianism.
2. Discuss key issues relating to ethical and political questions emanating from charity and NGO/FBO work in the development sector in Africa.
3. Engage in critical yet productive discussions about the uncomfortable associations of religious humanitarianism with colonialism, slavery, neo-colonial exploitation, and neo-liberal forms of paternalism, as well as more positive associations with commitments to education, health care, and the affirmation of human dignity in humanitarian interventions.
4. Gain theoretical and methodological tools to critically engage with humanitarian discourses within academic research.

In a nutshell, students attending this course will be exposed to The CIHA Blog’s work and encouraged to actively participate in the activities of the blog as an academic and information resource. As the CIHA Team in South Africa, we are excited by this initiative. We are optimistic at its significance to the formation and development of critical religious leaders for Africa and as a precursor to the 2016 Luce–CIHA Conference to be co-hosted by both the UKZN and SMMS institutions.