Theological Anthropology in/between Contexts
27 – 30 August 2026
International Consultation
part of a study project of the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Theologie
The project examines theological anthropology from intercultural, postcolonial, and liberationist perspectives by scholars of African, Asian, Latin American, European, and American descent. The study of theological anthropology has been dominated by the epistemology of colonial modernity, reflecting its race, class, gender, and heterosexual biases. It deconstructs the universalist anthropological claims and presents theological inquiries that are contextual, decolonial, interreligious, and inter/transcultural, using an intersectional approach and taking the construction of alterity seriously.
The project is significant because current wars and conflicts have intensified the debates on moral and religious issues in/between religious communities and theologies, often intertwined with questions of identity, culture, and power. Changing geopolitics challenges the understanding of rules-based order, international relationships, human rights, and democracy. It is necessary to lift up new theological and interreligious anthropologies emerging from the socio-political margins. Different ways of learning and knowing must be honored, recognizing that cultural and religious memories and traumatic experiences can be expressed through art, poetry, narratives, and practices. Traditional Christian theology has been criticized as anthropocentric and androcentric, contributing to a variety of challenges, among others to the ecological crisis and climate emergency.
The character of the international consultation in Münster is that of collegial sharing, each presenting on their area of expertise, of mutual exchange and collaborative reflection. The aim is to present and discuss papers that will then after this collaborative process be published in a joint volume.
Agenda
Day 1: Thursday, 27 August 2026
12:30 Lunch
1.30 pm Welcome and Opening
1:45 pm Panel 1: Regional perspectives
Kenneth Mtata (Zimbabwe/ Switzerland, World Council of Churches): Characteristics and dynamics of African theological anthropologies
Raimundo Barreto (Brazil/ USA, Princeton Theological Seminary): Who Counts as Human? Colonial Anthropological Distortions and Decolonial Visions from the Grande América
3.30 pm Break
4.00 pm Panel 2: Anthropology from Muslim perspective - AI, Transhumanism and Theological Anthropology
Mira Sievers (Germany, University of Hamburg): Anthropology and ethics from a Muslim perspective
Kwok Pui Lan (Hong Kong/ USA, Emory University): AI, Transhumanism, and Theological Anthropology
6.30 pm Dinner
Day 2: Friday, 28 August 2026
9.00 am Panel 3: Mental Health and Justice
Lisa Fortuna (USA, University of California, Riverside): The Developing Human Person: Theological Anthropology, Child Mental Health, and Developmental Justice
Septemmy E. Lakawa (Indonesia, Jakarta Theological Seminary): Trauma – psychological and political dimensions
10:45 am Break
11:00 am Panel 4: Community and dislocation
Peter Phan (Vietnam/ USA, Georgetown University): Being Human is Being Migrant: A Christian Anthropology of Migration [online]
Elisabeth Silayo (Tanzania/ Germany, Vereinte Evangelische Mission): Disability, agency and community
12:30 pm Lunch
2.00 pm Panel 5: Contemporary political challenges
Natallia Vasilevich (Belarus/ Germany, University of Bonn): Rise of authoritarian rule. Perspectives from Eastern Europe
Thandi Gamedze (South Africa, University of the Western Cape): Necropolitics and the impact on geopolitics
3:30 pm Break
4.00 pm Panel 6: Interrogating the genealogy of racialisation
Masiiwa Gunda (Zimbabwe/ Switzerland, World Council of Churches): Systems of Supremification: Interrogating the genealogy of racialisation
Aliyah El Mansy (Germany, University of Münster): “For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28) – The interpretation of the New Testament and critical debates on racism
6.30 pm Dinner
Day 3: Saturday, 29 August 2026
9.00 am Panel 7: Global entanglements - ecumenical and queer
Simone Sinn (Germany, University of Münster): Countering de-humanisation. Aspirations and realities in the global ecumenical movement
Andrea Musskopf (Brazil, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora): Queering [Christian] [Theological] [Anthropology]: Hardcore Sex and the Search for a Dignity
10:45 am Break
11.00 am Panel 8: Contexts and beyond
Claudia Jahnel (Germany, University of Hamburg): In/between contexts. The significance of the context for theological anthropologies
Resonance from the online participants (junior scholars)
12:30 pm Lunch
2.00 pm Panel 9: Plenary discussion
3:30 pm Break
4:00 pm Conclusion
6:30 pm Dinner