Martyrdom, Transdisciplinarity and Doing Theology in Africa Today: Reflections on a Seminar

Abstract

This paper arose from my reflections on a seminar I facil-itated - ‘Martyrdom: Ancient and Modern’ - at Hekima University College during the second semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. In the course I encouraged the students to use case studies of martyrdom to explore how the idea of martyrdom opens up theological discussions on a range of religious and political themes. I saw this as a nod to the medieval theological ‘quodlibet’ tradition. On reflection I suggest that a fruitful way to understand what we did falls under the new concept of transdisciplinary research. Seen through the lens of transdisciplinarity, martyrdom reflects and interrogates key themes in theology (ecclesiology, suffering, church-state relations etc.). Finally, I note the lack of Africa-centred case studies, and propose that this lack may be a result of lower levels of publicising our local martyrs sufficiently. I conclude that this transdisciplinary approach to studying martyrdom is something worth pursuing in future.