The Centre of Mission and Global Studies, in collaboration with the Faculty of Health Studies and the Mission and Diakonia Archives at VID Specialized University, invited scholars from China, India, Korea, Ghana, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom, New Zealand and North America to gather together and present their research on the history of medical and health work in World Christianity at a three-day workshop at VID Stavanger.
The workshop is a research by-product of the project “Connected Histories – Contested Values. World Lutheranism and Decolonization: Processes of Transloyalties, 1919-1970” (CHCV), one of the three appointed Excellence in Research projects at VID in 2020-2023. It aimed to enhance studies and discussions focusing on multi-layered identities and loyalties, as well as negotiations and shifts in-between (tentatively understood as “transloyalities”) emerged throughout the history of medical missions and World Christianity.
“It was a brilliant idea to hold it on medical missions, which is an important element to understand Christian missions in its entirety, that till date is often ignored.” - Manpreet Kaur (Assistant Professor, Department of History, DAV College, India)
“It was a real blessing connecting with very intelligent and relational people who were on the team.” - David Nyansah Hayfron (PhD Candidate in Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary)
Keynote lectures
The workshop invited Professor Klaus Koschorke, Emeritus Professor in the Faculty for Protestant Theology at the University of Munich, and Professor Emma Wild-Wood, Professor of African Religions and World Christianity and Co-director of the Centre for the Study of World Christianity, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, to deliver keynote lectures.
Their lectures were titled “New Approaches to the History of World Christianity: Polycentricity-Interconnectedness-Transloyalties” and “Healing Body and Soul in the Great Lakes Region of Africa: Early Medical Work of the White Fathers (c.1880-1910)”.
The three-day intensive and thought-provoking discussions and mutual exchanges covered topics on medical missionaries’ identities and professional loyalties to healing and evangelism, conflicting and merging medical theories and practices, medical missions and colonial rules, interplay of interests, values, and loyalties between various agencies in medical and health work; medical and health work, secularisation, and modernisation discourse, gender issues in medical and health work, the history of diakonia and the deacon and deaconess education, disability studies and theoretical reflections on the concept of transloyalties.
In addition, the Mission and Diakonia Archives and VID Library Stavanger organised a guided tour for workshop participants, introducing the missionary archives and library collections, particularly sources on medical and health work.
Enriched the participants' understanding
The three-day workshop enriched the participants’ understanding of the complexity of human relations and the multifaceted processes in various contact zones in the history of medical missions and World Christianity and inspired them to explore more precisely and comprehensively the concept of transloyalties in their contributions to advancing the scholarship coming out of the workshop.
The insightful scholarly conversations, the organising team’s hospitality, and VID’s picturesque Stavanger campus have left the participants great impressions:
“It was a real privilege to discuss our topic with such engaged scholars from all over the world. VID’s hospitality was marvellous. ... It really was the best kind of scholarly work - and a real testament to the excellent team at VID.” - Emma Wild-Wood (Professor of African Religions and World Christianity, University of Edinburgh)
“It was a huge privilege to attend. I learned so much and came away energized. It was a pleasure from beginning to end. … The conversations were intellectually exhilarating.” - Heather Sharkey (Professor and Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania)
“Thanks to the entire VID community for being so kind and helpful throughout our stay.” - Jagriti (PhD Student, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology)
An edited volume of the selected workshop papers is under preparation for publication in 2024.