OSA Mid-Year Conference to be held on 22 March

Toward Understanding and Interpreting the Oromo Concept of Peace

A Workshop Organized by The Oromo Studies Association

22 March 2008

Blackburn Auditorium

Howard University

Schedule

8:30 - 9:00: Registration

9:00 - 9:30

Opening Remarks: Abebe Adugna, World Bank; President-elect, Oromo Studies Association

9:30 - 11:00

Roundtable 1: Oromo Peace: Philosophical Foundations

Chair: Ezekiel Gebissa, Kettering University

Peace and Conflict in the Horn of Africa

Lahra Smith, Georgetown University

Oromo Philosophy

Charles Verharen, Howard University

The Oromo Concept of Forgiveness and Justice

Charles Schaefer, Valparaiso University

Coffee Break: 11:00 – 11:30

Discussion: 11:30 – 12: 30

2: 00 – 3: 30 Lunch Break

Roundtable 2 Oromo Peace: Moral and Practical Dimensions

Chair: Abebe Adugna, World Bank

The Concept of Peace in the Oromo Gadaa System

Tenna Dewo, Addis Ababa University

The Role of Women in Peacemaking among the Oromo

Bonnie Holcomb, The George Washington University

Traditional Mechanisms of Reconciliation among the Oromo

Lube Birru, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Coffee Break: 3:30 – 4:00

Discussion: 4: 00 – 5:30

Source: Oromo Studies Association