Black August: Musa Dube and Sithembiso Zwane on the Politics and Possibilities of Bible Translation

August 24, 2024, 11am Eastern US Time

Our fourth Black August session will feature Dr. Musa Wenkosi Dube Shomanah, Botswanan biblical scholar and first African President of the Society of Biblical Literature, in conversation with Sithembiso Zwane, director of the Ujamaa Centre for Biblical and Theological Community Development and Research in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Dr. Dube will discuss the call she delivered to the field of biblical scholarship in November 2023 to direct scholarly attention toward researching and understanding the process of Biblical translation into the many languages around the world. She will be joined by Sithembiso Zwane, who will offer a response based on his work developing the Contextual Bible Study (CBS) tradition, a popular bible study methodology aimed at working with grassroots communities to read the Bible in the context of social change initiatives.

This session will be hosted by Dr. Angela Parker.

Logistical Notes:

Please note: This session takes place at a different day and time of the week than the previous three sessions! In an effort to make the series more accessible to a wider section of the globe, the last two sessions will be on Saturdays at 11am Eastern US Time, which is 4pm West Africa Time and 5pm Central Africa Time.

Please register separately for each session that you wish to attend. Donations are encouraged on a sliding scale basis, based on what you can pay. All are welcome regardless of ability to donate. We are using a new “cart” technology which allows you to register for multiple events at once – please reach out to info@clbsj.org if you have any questions or technical issues with it!

Speaker Bios:

Dr. Musa Wenkosi Dube Shomanah is the William Ragsdale Cannon Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Candler School of Theology. Prior to that, she has held positions at the University of Botswana, the World Council Churches, Scripps College, Union Theological Seminary, University of Stellenbosch, University of Bamberg, and University of South Africa. Particularly known for her work as a postcolonial feminist theologian, her research interests include gender, postcolonialism, translation, and HIV and AIDS studies. She has authored 262 academic works published in journals, books, encyclopedias, educational modules, and magazines, and has edited 12 volumes – including Postcoloniality, Translation, and the Bible in Africa (Wipf and Stock, 2017) and The Bible in Africa: Transactions, Trajectories, and Trends (Brill, 2000). Dube is the current continental coordinator of The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, and recently finished her term as the first African president of the Society of Bibilcal Literature. She is a member and lay preacher in The United Methodist Church.

Rev. Sithembiso Zwane the director of the Ujamaa Centre for Biblical and Theological Community Development and Research, and a lecturer in the Bible and Social Change within biblical studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. His work draws on the traditions of liberation theology praxis and Contextual Bible Study (CBS) to engage with the socio-economic challenges in the public realm. His research interests include Intersectionality between the Bible and Development, Intercultural Bible Reading, Theologies of Work, and African Independent Churches (AICs). Zwane is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Southern Africa (ELCSA).

Dr. Angela N. Parker is assistant professor of New Testament and Greek at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University. She received her B.A. in religion and philosophy from Shaw University, her M.T.S. from Duke Divinity School and her Ph.D. in Bible, culture, and hermeneutics (New Testament focus) from Chicago Theological Seminary. She teaches courses in New Testament, Greek Exegesis, the Gospel of Mark, the Corinthians Correspondence, the Gospel of John, and Womanist and Feminist Hermeneutics unto preaching. Read full bio at https://theology.mercer.edu/faculty-and-staff/parker/