Oromo studies scholars bring important topics to the table at ASA meeting in Indianapolis
(OromoPress)
– Fifteen fellow Oromo studies scholars from around the world presented
papers on a wide range of topics under six panels, making this the
largest presence of any panels from the Horn of Africa in the program as
well as actually in the conference rooms of JW Marriot hotel in the
beautiful and cold city of November – Indianapolis.
A few scholars were new entrants into the field of Oromo Studies with brand new focuses, such as gender issues, nagaa, Oromo ecotheology, the state of religions in Oromia and Ethiopia, genocide and land grabbing, among others. Well established topics in social sciences, such as the conquest and domination of Oromia by Abyssinian northerners, were part of the panels. Veteran Oromo studies scholars reinforced their previous works and introduced some newer developments in their fields.
In contrast, there was not a single Ethiopianist panel at this year’s African Studies Association conference. A few angry Habesha walked into one panel and resorted to ad hominem attacks and vented – instead of engaging in rational discussions on historical and ongoing issues, including the fact that Menelik II committed genocide and mutilated limbs and breasts in Annoolee and Chelenko in Oromia of the last quarter of 19th century when the Oromo lost half its population to that genocide. The extremist Abyssinians in the room denied that Menelik II chopped of breasts of women, and limbs of men, commonly rendered in Afan Oromo as “Harma Muraa Aannolee and Harka Muraa Calanqoo.”
Despite the desperate hecklers, Oromo Studies scholars enthusiastically brought to the table many of the important issues relevant to the Oromo people and the broader Horn of Africa region.
The quality and the originality of the papers delivered at these conferences opened the eyes of curious ASA conference participants who were non-Oromos. Some African Americans in Indianapolis who did not hear of the Oromo or Oromia state before expressed their surprises that the stories of a people as large as the Oromo have been systematically cleansed from international attention.
Marit Ostebo from the University of Florida is a new entrant into the field of Oromo studies with her research titled “Can Respect Be Key to the Gender Justice? The Case of Wayyu and Women’s Rights among the Arsi-Oromo of Ethiopia.”
Swedish Professor Gudrun Dahl returned to the Oromo studies after twenty years hiatus, and gave very inspiring talk and reflections on the Oromo philosophy of “nagaa” [peace], and online resources. Gudrun’s work was titled “Morality, Peace, and Environment in Representation of Boran Oromo Culture.” Gudrun told us that she was among the very few expatriate researchers who began working on the Oromo since the early 1970s. That makes her one of the pioneers in Oromo studies. Her contemporary pioneer Oromo studies scholar, Bonnie Holcomb joined Gudrun on the stage to present a paper on “Oromo perspectives on peace and conflict,” which was received very well.
Scholars of Oromo Studies made their presence felt at the 57th congress of the African Studies Association, speaking directly to the theme of the conference, “Rethinking violence, reconstruction, and reconciliation.” Oromo scholars had a lot to offer not only to Oromo Studies, but to research on the African continent. As scholars representing the Oromo nation facing extreme violence in the Ethiopian state, it was only fitting that Oromo studies scholars participated in the conference, unveiled new topics and mapped future research topics to place the Oromo on the continental African and world maps.
=>gadaa
A few scholars were new entrants into the field of Oromo Studies with brand new focuses, such as gender issues, nagaa, Oromo ecotheology, the state of religions in Oromia and Ethiopia, genocide and land grabbing, among others. Well established topics in social sciences, such as the conquest and domination of Oromia by Abyssinian northerners, were part of the panels. Veteran Oromo studies scholars reinforced their previous works and introduced some newer developments in their fields.
In contrast, there was not a single Ethiopianist panel at this year’s African Studies Association conference. A few angry Habesha walked into one panel and resorted to ad hominem attacks and vented – instead of engaging in rational discussions on historical and ongoing issues, including the fact that Menelik II committed genocide and mutilated limbs and breasts in Annoolee and Chelenko in Oromia of the last quarter of 19th century when the Oromo lost half its population to that genocide. The extremist Abyssinians in the room denied that Menelik II chopped of breasts of women, and limbs of men, commonly rendered in Afan Oromo as “Harma Muraa Aannolee and Harka Muraa Calanqoo.”
Despite the desperate hecklers, Oromo Studies scholars enthusiastically brought to the table many of the important issues relevant to the Oromo people and the broader Horn of Africa region.
The quality and the originality of the papers delivered at these conferences opened the eyes of curious ASA conference participants who were non-Oromos. Some African Americans in Indianapolis who did not hear of the Oromo or Oromia state before expressed their surprises that the stories of a people as large as the Oromo have been systematically cleansed from international attention.
Marit Ostebo from the University of Florida is a new entrant into the field of Oromo studies with her research titled “Can Respect Be Key to the Gender Justice? The Case of Wayyu and Women’s Rights among the Arsi-Oromo of Ethiopia.”
Swedish Professor Gudrun Dahl returned to the Oromo studies after twenty years hiatus, and gave very inspiring talk and reflections on the Oromo philosophy of “nagaa” [peace], and online resources. Gudrun’s work was titled “Morality, Peace, and Environment in Representation of Boran Oromo Culture.” Gudrun told us that she was among the very few expatriate researchers who began working on the Oromo since the early 1970s. That makes her one of the pioneers in Oromo studies. Her contemporary pioneer Oromo studies scholar, Bonnie Holcomb joined Gudrun on the stage to present a paper on “Oromo perspectives on peace and conflict,” which was received very well.
Scholars of Oromo Studies made their presence felt at the 57th congress of the African Studies Association, speaking directly to the theme of the conference, “Rethinking violence, reconstruction, and reconciliation.” Oromo scholars had a lot to offer not only to Oromo Studies, but to research on the African continent. As scholars representing the Oromo nation facing extreme violence in the Ethiopian state, it was only fitting that Oromo studies scholars participated in the conference, unveiled new topics and mapped future research topics to place the Oromo on the continental African and world maps.
=>gadaa
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