You are hereby cordially invited to the fifth Stellenbosch Forum lecture for the year.

The Stellenbosch Forum lecture series was started in 1990 and provides regular opportunities to staff and students at SU, as well as interested people from the public, to learn more about the relevant, world-class research that is being done at SU. Researchers are requested to present their academic research topics in such a way that they are understandable for non-experts in the field, and these lectures therefore provide the ideal opportunity for critical debate and interesting discussions across disciplinary boundaries.

At this event Dr Dion Forster,  the head of department, Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology and the Director of the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology at Stellenbosch University, will present a seminar with the title:

The (im)possibility of forgiveness? Considering the complexities of religion, race and politics in South Africa

Date:               Thursday, 21 September 2017

Time:              13:00 – 14:00

Venue:            JS Gericke Library Auditorium

More about the lecture

Is forgiveness for the wrongs of apartheid possible between South Africans? How do we generally conceptualise notions of forgiveness and the processes that are necessary to achieve it? What are the differences in understandings and expectations of forgiveness between Black and White South Africans? This presentation will offer some insights into the politics of forgiveness in South Africa as they arise from the findings of three year empirical intercultural Bible reading research project that was conducted with groups of Black and White South African Christians. In general Black South Africans tended to view forgiveness in political and social terms, while White South Africans tended to disconnect it from political, economic and social realities. Social identity complexity theories and inter-group contact theory offer some resources for understanding how forgiveness and reconciliation may become possible within the complex intersections of religion, race and politics.

We look forward to welcoming you at this event, which is not to be missed!

Contact:  Felicia Mc Donald, tel:021 808 2581 or fmcdonald@sun.ac.za, for any enquiries