Last month’s 17th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies at Addis Ababa University celebrated 50 years since the first conference, held in Rome in 1959. The conference calls to mind similar ones which take place to discuss studies on Syriac, Arab Christian, and Armenian churches. The most recent of these was the International Conference of Coptic Studies which was held in Cairo September 2008.
Since the 1959 International Conference of Ethiopian Studies there has been an evolutioin in scholarship. The last conference from 2 to 6 November was organised under the auspices of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University and took place on the new campus at Akaki, about 30km south of Addis Ababa. The convention attracted scholars and researchers from all around the world. It was a necessary step to preserve the time honoured heritage of Ethiopia and its Church, especially in the face of winds of change inevitably brought about by modernity.
Various disciplines
International conferences like this have greatly contributed to disciplinary and interdisciplinary research in all aspects of Ethiopian Studies. About 300 papers were presented in a number of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences of Ethiopia; its cultures; people: history; law and politics; linguistics; philology; literature; philosophy and religion; archaeology; anthropology and sociology; development and environment; education and fine arts; indigenous knowledge and cultural landscapes in the southern Ethiopia; and continuity in the making of Ethiopian archives from the ancient and mediaeval periods up to 1931. There were different panels because of the number of papers. The proceedings of the conference will be published soon.
The topics presented varied widely. Speakers during the daily plenary sessions included Professor Baye Yimam who spoke on «Trends in Ethiopian Linguistics»; Professor Harold Fleming on «The Importance of Ethiopia in Human Prehistory…Drawing Conclusions from Four Different Fields of Study»; Dr Gebre Yntiso on «The Growing Prominence of Anthropology in Ethiopian Studies»; Professor Uhlig Siegbert on «Encyclopedia Aethiopica : Progress Report»; Professor Sisay Asefa on «Five Decades of Ethiopian Development Studies»; Dr Tekalign Wolde Mariam on «Reflections on Public and Academic Historiography of Ethiopia»; Dr Yacob Arsano on «The Nile: Frozen Politics of Colonial Agreement»; Professor Habtamu Wondimu on «Educational Research in Ethiopia: An Overview of Themes and Trends» ; and Wolde Meaza Ashenafi on the «Participation of Women in Public Decision Making».
Distinguished guests
Various Ethiopian personalities were present at the opening of the conference. These included H.E. Ambassador Mohamed Drir, Minister of Culture and Tourism; H.E. Ato Seyoum Mesfin, Minister of Foreign Affairs ; and Professor Richard Pankhurst, founding member of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies.
Also present were Professor Andreas Ashete, president of Addis Ababa University, and Dr Elisabeth Giorgis, director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. Dr Giorgis said it was hoped that the conference would engage with critical issues and narratives concerning cultural spaces, cultural productions, constructions of gender, historiography, ethnography and development.
Such conferences offer an opportunity to hear and meet great scholars and researchers in all related fields. Dinners were offered at the Sheraton Hotel, in presence of the president of Ethiopia, Girma Woldegiorgise, and at the Japanese Embassy by invitation of the Japanese, German and Norwegian Embassies.
Speaking of Ethiopia, let us recall that in April 2008 Pope Shenouda paid his first official visit to the Ethiopian Orthodox patriarchate, which has been led since 1992 by Patriarch Paulos. Pope Shenouda was very warmly welcomed by the Orthodox of Ethiopia, and the visit was a sign of reconciliation between the two patriarchs and Churches.
Christine Chaillot has written several books on the life and spirituality of the Oriental Orthodox Churches (Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian Orthodox and Malankara in India) which were translated into several languages, including in Arabic, Amharic and Russian (in French éditions du Cerf, Paris, in 2010).