An
Inter-faith Perspective on
Globalisation
for the Common Good
The Annual International Conference Series,
To download the programme
brochure as Adobe file (1MB) with photos click here
About
the Conference Venue:
Why
Kericho?
For
many centuries, Africa remained labelled, in a rather casual and inconsiderate
way, the ‘Dark Continent’. It suffered under the yoke of colonial subjugation and
repeated economic exploitation. Its wealth of raw material, including gold and
diamonds, was plundered and its people endured the untold sufferings of the
slave trade. Africa was hastily carved up by the colonial nations in their
scramble for a portion of the continent, and those regions that offered the
most attractive climate and conditions were routinely granted to the
aristocrats and those with wealth and power. After gaining independence, Africa
became steeped in terrible debt for which, despite ‘debt relief’ programmes
from the West, it is still suffering the consequences.
The
conference venue in Kericho therefore throws into stark relief many of the
challenging issues we face concerning ‘Globalisation for the Common Good’. It
is surely time that humanity woke up to Africa’s enduring plight and found
constructive ways to make amends and create real opportunities for regeneration
and sustainable development.
The small town of Kericho owes its name to a renowned African
healer and medicine man known as ‘Kerich’. People from far and wide would flock
to see him in this green and fertile region of East Africa, so much so that the
town was named Kericho in tribute to his remarkable healing gifts. Around the
early 1900s, Kericho became home to settlers from the Indian Subcontinent,
including a number of Sikh families. Today, the town is associated with one of
the most eminent and influential Sikh saints of the twentieth century outside
India. Remembered fondly as ‘Baba Puran Singh Ji of Kericho’, he was born in
1898 to a devout Sikh family in the Panjabi village of Gura. Married at a young
age, he emphasised the Sikh principle of ‘Grihsthi Jeevan’, to live the life of
a householder, carrying out all one’s responsibilities to family and society
whilst kindling spirituality within, rather than choosing a reclusive life of
meditation – in other words, this was to live like the lotus flower, with its
roots in the muddy waters of earthly life, with spirituality blossoming like
petals above.
Baba Puran Singh emigrated to Kenya in 1916 and spent a total of
forty-seven years in Kericho itself, where he set up ‘Kericho Wagon Works’.
There he focussed on earning a livelihood, being a father to his family and
helping others in the town, notably through municipal improvement schemes, such
as the renovation of hospitals, schools and churches. In recognition of his
civic contributions, the town square was named Sant Puran Singh Square. He also
devoted himself to a private life of meditation, a love for Kericho’s natural surroundings,
and the practice and propagation of the Sikh faith, demonstrating that
modernity and spiritual growth need not be contradictory. It was in 1952 that
Baba Puran Singh’s spirituality was given open recognition by a visiting saint
from India and, thereafter, Kericho became immortalised through his immense
humility and compassion, resilience and conviction which drew thousands to the
town. In the 1970s Baba Puran Singh came to England and became a catalyst for
the spiritual regeneration of Sikhs in Britain and around the world and a
driving force for interfaith understanding. He founded the international
charitable organisation, Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha whose headquarters are
in Birmingham, UK, which promotes the spirit and practice of selfless service
(‘nishkam sewa’) in the name of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of the Sikh
faith.
Today, Kericho is home to
Africa’s largest Gurudwara or Sikh place of worship, which in recent years has
been extended and refurbished as a ‘living’ monument to this great saint. For
Sikhs who are endeared to the town and to the memory of Baba Puran Singh, the
name Kericho is associated with the healing and rejuvenation of mind, body and
soul, echoing the original legacy of the African healer ‘Kerich’ many year before.
The spaciousand monumental Gurudwara, which has become a stunning architectural
landmark in the region, envelopes Baba Puran Singh Ji’s modest family residence
as well as workshop – the ‘Kericho Wagon Works’ – which is still operating 79
years on since it was founded in 1925. The site has been gazetted by the
Government of Kenya as a place of spiritual significance. Another renowned
Gurudwara in Kenya, which was the first to be built in the African continent,
is in the small town of Makindu en route from Nairobi to the coastal resort of
Mombasa, home to a long-established Sikh community. Still today, Makindu is a
popular stop-over for pilgrims and travellers and is noted for its spiritually
vibrant and refreshing atmosphere. Adjoining the Gurudwara an infrastructure
has been built for ‘The Nishkam Puran Technical Institute’ envisaged to impart
technical skills, with a faith dimension, to indigenous local youth. The
visionary initiative, which in time should become a model to be emulated, is a
combination of benevolence and charity exercised by followers of one faith into
doing positive good for people of different faiths who are marginalised and
less privileged. The unique enterprise thus strives to build bridges between
different faith communities across physical and hierarchical borders, across
nations and nationalities and, with the respective government’s blessings, to
serve at the grass roots level. This development initiative can be seen as a
practical example of the human spirit at work for Globalisation for the Common
Good. The forthcoming April 2005 conference will be the second international
programme to be hosted by GNNSJ in Kericho. In March 2004 it was the venue for
a conference organised jointly by GNNSJ and Chicago-based CPWR (Council for a Parliament
of the World’s Religions) entitled ‘The power of commitment in improving the
plight of refugees and addressing international debt cancellation for
developing countries.’ This event brought together over eighty leaders and
activists from around the world, including figures such as Rev. Professor
Micheal Taylor, Director of World Faiths Development Dialogue; the Rev. Dirk
Ficca, Executive Director of CPWR; and Hon. Dr. A. A. Moody Awori, the Republic
of Kenya’s Vice President and Minister for Home Affairs. Faith is expected to
be the ‘global prime mover’ of the 21st century in the third millennium.
Globalisation without the faith element’s humane traits is bound to result in
exploitation. To establish world peace and harmony, it is paramount that humanity
eradicates poverty, through charitable acts and education, through exercising
love for human beings, through actually practicing not theorising faith’s
universal qualities of compassion, forgiveness, truthfulness, selflessness,
humility and love. In turn, faith organisations should have an open door policy
for social uplift, community development, conservation and environment issues
as well as education and technical training. The Babylonian proverb ‘work is
worship’ cannot be true without work having a faith dimension for its upkeep.
The human spirit, being indestructible, is the only everlasting human
‘constituent’ that can, in absolute terms, guarantee sustainability. Finally,
Kericho and the surrounding region can be considered as the emerald of Kenya;
scenic and serene, it is a truly breathtaking, naturally carpeted ‘tea-country’
of tranquillity. The appreciation and protection of nature and the environment
is mandatory for humanity within the globalisation context. Kericho is only an
hour’s drive from the world’s largest fresh water lake – Lake Victoria Nyanza,
and only some two hours drive from Masai Mara National Park, offering a chance
to view Kenya’s extraordinary wildlife first hand. Conference participants will
therefore have the opportunity to experience the region’s spectacular natural
beauty during their stay. Nature according to the Sikh scripture is second to
Godliness.
The Children of Adam
Are limbs of one another,
In terms of Creation,
They’re of the self-same Essence.
Sa’adi.
What is to be
done, O Moslems? For I do not recognise myself.
I am neither
Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabr, nor Moslem.
I am not of the
East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea;
I am not of
Nature’s mint, nor of the circling heaven.
I am not of earth,
nor of water, nor of air, nor of fire;
I am not of the
empyrean, nor of the dust, nor of existence, nor of entity.
I am not of India,
nor of China, nor of Bulgaria, nor of Saqsin;
I am not of the
kingdom of ’Iraqian, nor of the country of Khorasan.
I am not of this
world, nor of the next, nor of Paradise, nor of Hell.
I am not of Adam,
nor of Eve, nor of Eden and Rizwan.
My place is the
Placeless; my trace is the Traceless;
’Tis neither body
nor soul, for I belong to the soul of the Beloved.
I have put duality
away; I have seen that the two worlds are one;
One I seek, One I
know, One I see, One I call.
He is the first,
He is the last, He is the outward, He is the inward;
I am intoxicated
with Love’s cup, the two worlds have passed out of my ken;
If once in my life
I spent a moment without thee,
From that time and
from that hour I repent of my life.
If once in this
world I win a moment with thee,
I will trample on
both worlds; I will dance in triumph for ever.
Rumi.
With what shall I come
before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him
with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord
be pleased with
thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give
my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’ He
has told you, O mortal,
what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to
do justice, and to love
kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Prophet Micah
Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.
Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.
Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred.
This is the time for you to compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.
Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.
Hafez
Sooner or later, all
the peoples of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace,
and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of
brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict
a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of
such a method is love.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today the globalised world
economy, despite many significant achievements during the last few decades, and
especially since the end of the Second World War, in areas such as science,
technology, medicine, transportation and communication, is facing major
catastrophic socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental crises.
We are surrounded by global
problems of inequality, injustice, poverty, greed, marginalisation, exclusion,
intolerance, fear, mistrust, xenophobia, terrorism, sleaze and corruption.
These problems are affecting the overall fabric of societies in many parts of
the world.
Moreover, the twentieth
century was the bloodiest in human history, with holocausts, genocides, ethnic
cleansing, two world wars and hundreds of inter and intra-national wars.
Furthermore, today after decades of selfishness, greed, individualism, emphasis
on wealth creation without care about how this wealth is being created, the
world is entering a period of reflection, self-examination and a spiritual
revolution. Many people around the globe have come to an understanding that it
is possible to create a better world if a critical mass of people with a sense
of human decency and a belief in the ultimate goodness of humanity rise and
realise their power to transform the world. More and more people around the
world are realising that there are no short cuts to happiness. Material wealth
is important. This should not be denied. However, physical wealth is only one
ingredient for happiness. Realisation of a complete sense of happiness, inner
peace and tranquillity can only be achieved through acting more on virtues such
as wisdom, justice, ethics, spirituality and love. This spiritual revolution
needs architecture and dedicated architects.
To address this need, in
2002, in Oxford, a small and humble movement for Globalisation for the Common
Good came into being. This movement was for “Rekindling the Human Spirit and
Compassion in Globalisation”. We wanted to have an alternative to the
current dominant economic/free trade globalisation and to make globalisation
good for all. Our movement found many dedicated and committed friends around
the world. From Oxford we went to St. Petersburg, Russia, then to Dubai. This
year we are in Kenya. 2006 will take us to Chaminade University, Honolulu,
Hawaii, while in 2007 we will be in India.
Globalisation for the
Common Good Mission is to promote
ethical, moral and spiritual values into the areas of economics, commerce,
trade and international relations amongst others, as well as personal virtues,
to advance understanding and action on major global issues by civil society,
the private enterprise, the public sector, governments, and national and
international institutions, leading to the promotion of collaborative policy
solutions to the challenges posed by globalisation. We are committed to the
idea that the marketplace is not just an economic sphere, ‘it is a region of
the human spirit’. Whilst
considering the many economic questions and issues we should also reflect on
the Divine dimension of life, and should, in contrast to what is practised
today, be concerned with the world of heart and spirit. We view the problem and
challenge of globalisation not only from an economic point of view, but also
from ethical, spiritual and theological perspectives.
We affirm our conviction
that a genuine inter-faith dialogue and co-operation is a significant way of
bringing the world together; leading to the creation of a harmonious environment
needed to build a world of peace, justice and prosperity for all. The call for
Globalisation for the Common Good is an appeal to our essential humanity to
deal with some of the most pressing concerns of peoples the world over.
Religion has always been a
major factor in the growth of human civilisation. Business and wealth creation
when they are for a noble reason are blessed and vital for human survival.
Bringing religions and
business together for the common good will empower us with humanity,
spirituality and love. It will raise us
above pessimism to an ultimate optimism; turning from darkness to light; from
night to day; from winter to spring. This
spiritual ground for hope at this time of wanton destruction of our world, can
help us recognise the ultimate purpose of life and of our journey in this
world.
In
the beautiful and ever-lasting words of Eleanor Roosevelt; “The future belongs to those who
believe in the beauty of their dreams”. At Globalisation for the Common Good,
we do believe in the beauty of our dream. We do know that you share this
dream with us. Please accept my heart- felt thanks for who you are and what you
do in serving the common good and thank you also for all your love, support and
prayers.
Kamran Mofid
Founder
Convenor
Greetings, Welcome and
Thank You
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It is our pleasure and
honour to welcome you to the conference.
In these global and too often troubled times, we need new perspectives
and models so that we can find humane answers to the challenge of
globalisation, based on a profound respect for the diversity of cultures and
religions in our world community. As
global events demonstrate, there is a desperate need to reintroduce
spirituality, ethics, morality and faith into the debate on globalisation.
Looking at the conference
programme, without doubt and hesitation, we can see that our accomplished
speakers have risen well to this challenge.
The conference is truly privileged to have speakers of this calibre,
sharing their views with us. Without
them there would have been no conference, and with them, we hope we can travel
together to heal the troubled and torn cultures of our time and pave the way to
global justice, peace and harmony. We
wish to express the conference’s respect and sincere gratitude to each of our
presenters for their extraordinary commitment in being a part of this vital
effort by giving their time and expertise freely. Each one of our speakers brings a missing and essential piece
that completes the process, leading to a better understanding of what
globalisation is all about. Hopefully,
together, we can clearly argue for and insist on social and economic
alternatives that address the roots of global injustice and inhumanity, leading
to Globalisation for the Common Good.
We are also grateful to and thank all the conference delegates who have come from near and far to be with us. It is wonderful for academics and non-academics to get involved and engaged with one another, so that we can all share each other’s varied experiences. All of us must be given a voice to be heard.
We are most grateful to
Hon. Dr. Moody Awori, The Vice President and Minister for Home Affairs, for his
kind acceptance to be the Patron of the Conference. We also give our grateful
thanks to the Government of Kenya, its Ministers and Officials who have
provided much assistance to us. We are honoured to be in Africa-The Cradle of
Civilisation- and Kenya-The Cradle of Humanity.
We are grateful to and
thank our Local Organising Committee
(LOC) in Kenya. Space alone has kept us
from naming all of them. They have given their time, expertise and know-how as
volunteers to Globalisation for the Common Good. We thank them all. We are
however, particularly grateful to Sutinder Singh Jabbal, the Chair of (LOC),
for all his support and hard work. Faith Muniu, our Conference Secretary,
deserves a special thank. She has worked tirelessly, with great dedication and
sense of humour. We would also like to thank Hayer Bishan Singh, Indish Hayer, Pal Singh Bhachu and Davinder S. Devgun for all their support. We thank the Audio Visual Department at Guru
Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha, especially Nirmal and Sukhwinder, in preparing and
the printing of the Programme. Finally, we thank our mutual good friend, Dr.
Josef Boehle for his continuous hard
work in maintaining the commongood website and help in developing the
conference programme.
This week, all of us,
experienced and newcomers, young and old, students and teachers together will
form a community, committed to exploring and debating visions and ideas for
celebrating diversity, appreciating uniqueness, enabling us to transform
disagreements into understanding and mutual respect.
In addition to plenary sessions and workshops, there will be opportunities for informal spontaneous meetings and dialogue between participants all through the week. This, we sincerely hope will result in invaluable collaborative learning experiences and networking as well as rich personal interactions. Please try to participate also in the cultural and social activities to cement further the newly formed friendships. I hope you will take full advantage of all these activities.
In conclusion, we invite
you to share a common belief in the potential of each one of us to become
self-directed, empowered, and active in defining this time in the world as
opportunity for positive change and healing and for the true formation of a
culture of peace by giving thanks, spreading joy, sharing love, seeing
miracles, discovering goodness, embracing kindness, practicing patience,
teaching tolerance, encouraging laughter, celebrating diversity, showing
compassion, turning from hatred, practicing forgiveness, peacefully resolving
conflicts, communicating non-violently, choosing happiness and enjoying life.
Bhai
Sahib Mohinder Singh and Kamran Mofid
List
of Speakers
|
Hon. Dr. A. A. Moody Awori, EBS, M.P. |
The Vice President and Minister for Home Affairs,
The Republic of Kenya |
|
Dekha Ibrahim Abdi |
Director,
Wajir Peace&Development Initiative, Kenya |
|
Rev. Prof. J. Baitu |
Director, Centre for Social
Justice and Ethics, Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya |
|
Teresa Baldwinson |
Justice and Peace
Campaigner, UK |
|
Rev. Michael Bos |
Director, Al Amana
Centre, Sultanate of Oman |
|
Rev. Dr. Marcus Braybrooke |
President, World Congress
of Faiths, Oxford, UK |
|
Shaheen Chandbhai, |
Student, Centre for
Women Studies and Gender Analysis, Egerton University, Kenya |
|
Prof. Dr. Michael Chege |
Advisor
to the Minister for Planning and National Development, Nairobi, Kenya |
|
Bagher Talebi Darabi |
Centre for Religious Studies, Qom and Advisor, Institute
for Interreligious Dialogue (IID), Tehran, Iran. |
|
Cliff Edwards |
Realign Consulting, UK |
|
Prof. William F. Fore |
Adjunct Prof. Divinity School,
Yale University and Founder/Moderator Religion Online, USA |
|
Moraa M.
Gesicho |
Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta
University, Kenya |
|
Wayne Green |
Global Affairs
Consultancy, UK |
|
Prof. Wendy C. Hamblet |
Department of Philosophy,
Adelphi University, USA |
|
H.E. Dr. Ahmad Jalali |
President
of 31st UNESCO General Assembly (2001-2003) and President of the World
Heritage General Assembly of UNESCO (2003-2004) |
|
Dr. Judith Rahima Jensen |
Director, Educational Solutions,
USA |
|
Prof. Yahya R. Kamalipour |
Head, Department of
Communication and Creative Arts, Purdue University Calumet, and Managing
Editor, Global Media Journal, USA |
|
Jim Kenney |
Executive Director,
Interreligious Engagement Project, USA |
|
Prof. Mumtaz Ali Khan |
University of
Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India |
|
Daniel Lewis |
Chief, Disaster, Post
Conflict and Safety Section, Un-Habitat, Nairobi, Kenya |
|
Todd Lorentz |
Centre for Global
Negotiations, Brandt 21 Forum, USA |
|
Sr. Beatrice Mariotti |
Headmistress, St.
Mary’s Catholic High School, Dubai, UAE |
|
Rev. Prof. John Maviiri |
Rector and Vice
Chancellor, Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya |
|
Prof. Ali Mazrui |
Director, Institute of Global
Cultural Studies, Binghamton University, USA and Chancellor, Jomo Kenyatta
University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya |
|
Paul McCarthy FRSA |
Principal Teaching
Fellow, Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, UK |
|
Dr. Kamran Mofid |
Founder-Convenor, An
Inter-faith Perspective on Globalisation for the Common Good, UK |
|
Roger Montgomery |
Bishop, Spirit of Peace
Monastic Community, USA |
|
Dr. Mansoob Murshed |
Institute of Social
Studies (ISS), The Hague, Netherlands |
|
Rebecca Napier |
Research Intern, Centre
for Survivors of Torture, Dallas, USA |
|
Hon. Prof. Peter Anyang' Nyongo, M.P. |
Minister
for Planning and National Development, Kenya |
|
Emmanuel Franklyne
Ogbunwezeh |
Candidate,
Faculty of Social Ethics, Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitat, Germany and
Nigeria |
|
Prof. Mar
Peter-Raoul |
Marist College, Marist Praxis Project, Founding
Resident: Beloved Community House (Casa de Beloved Communidad), USA |
|
Dr. Andreas
Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos |
Reader
in Law, University of Westminster, London, UK |
|
Dr. James Bernard Quilligan |
Director, Centre for
Global Negotiations, Brandt 21 Forum, USA |
|
Rev. Alan Race |
Editor-in-Chief,
Interreligious Insight, UK |
|
Prof. Ahmad Sadri |
Chair of the Sociology and Anthropology
Department, Lake Forest College, USA |
|
Prof. Mahmoud Sadri |
Department of
Sociology, Texas Woman's University, USA |
|
Jane Samuels |
Director of the Removing Unfreedoms Project, UK |
|
Bhai Sahib
Mohinder Singh |
Chairman, Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha |
|
Dr. Keyvan Tabari |
Attorney-at-Law, USA |
|
Dr. jur.Thilo Tetzlaff |
Institute
of Global Law, University College London (UCL), UK |
Cemal Usak
|
Secretary General, The
Intercultural Dialogue Platform, Istanbul, Turkey |
|
Sr. B. K. Vedanti |
Director, Brahma
Kumaris, World Spiritual University (Africa) |
|
Dada Vratadhiirananda |
Principal, Ananda Marga Academy, Nairobi, Kenya |
|
L. Muthoni Wanyeki |
Executive Director,
African Women's Development and Communications Network (FEMENT), Kenya |
|
Prof. Lawrence Woods |
Department of
International Studies, American University of Sharjah, UAE |
Monday
18th April
|
|
Arrival at Nairobi Airport |
|
|
Transfer to hotel |
Tuesday
19th April
|
8.00 -
9.00 am |
Welcoming Reception and Breakfast |
|
Morning |
Visits to Kenya National Museum and Ananda Marga Academy, Kangemi, Nairobi |
|
|
Lunch –
hosted by Brahma Kumaris, World Spiritual University, Africa |
|
Afternoon |
Visit to the Animal
Orphanage Sanctuary, near Nairobi |
|
|
Dinner, hosted by Interfaith |
Wednesday
20th April
|
7.00 -
8.00 am |
Welcoming Reception and Breakfast |
|
8.30 am |
Depart for Kericho |
|
1.00
pm |
Lunch at Emelentaita Lodge |
|
5.00
pm |
Arrive in
Kericho, Formal registration and room allocation |
|
7.30
pm |
Dinner |
Thursday
21st April
|
6.00 –
6.30 am |
Meditation and excersise (Optional) Instructor: Dada Vratadhiirananda |
|
7.30 –
8.30 am |
Welcoming Reception and Breakfast |
|
9.00 am – 12.00 pm |
Opening Ceremonies of the 4th Annual
International Conference |
|
|
Chair: Dr. Kamran Mofid, Founder-Convenor Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Traditional Kenyan Music, Dancers and Welcome Welcome to Kericho and the Gurudwara Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Globalisation for the Common Good Dr. Kamran Mofid Opening Address and Welcome to
Kenya Hon.
Dr. A.A. Moody Awori, E.B.S, M.P.
Vice president and Minister for Home Affairs The Book Launch- Promoting the Common Good: Bringing Economics and Theology Together Again Rev. Dr. Marcus Braybrooke and Dr. Kamran Mofid Presentation of the Book by Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh to the
Delegates Ground
Breaking and Tree planting ceremonies; Nishkam Puran Institute |
|
12.00
– 1.45 pm |
Lunch
|
|
2.00 – 3.30 pm |
Africa and Globalisation for the Common Good (Session 1) |
|
|
Chair:
Prof. Ali Mazrui Rev. Prof. John Maviiri Africa and
Globalisation: Contribution to the Common Good Dr. James Bernard Quilligan What Next for
Africa? Twenty-Five years After The Brandt Commission Report Hon. Prof. Peter Anyang' Nyongo, M.P. NEPAD and the
Status of Africa in the Era of Globalisation |
|
3.30 –
4.00 pm |
Coffee /
Tea Break |
|
4.00 – 5.30 pm |
Africa and Globalisation for the Common Good (Session 2) |
|
|
Chair: Prof. William Fore Rev. Prof. J. Baitu Globalisation
and Social Justice in Africa Emmanuel Franklyne Ogbunwezeh Africa as a Stranger in the House of Globalisation Dekha Ibrahim Abdi Interfaith
Structures in Northern Kenya: Responding to Local Conflict, Contributing to Global
Peace |
|
7.00 –
8.30 pm |
Dinner |
|
9.00 –
10.00 pm |
Reflections on Meditation and Inner Peace Chair: Sr. B.K.Vedanti |
Friday
22nd April
|
6.00 –
6.30 am |
Meditation and excersise (Optional) Instructor: Dada Vratadhiirananda |
|
7.00 –
8.00 am |
Welcoming Reception and Breakfast |
|
8.30 – 10.30 am |
Africa and Globalisation for
the Common Good (Session 3) |
|
|
Chair:
Prof. Yahya Kamalipour Prof. Dr.
Michael Chege The
Brain Drain Issue in Africa: Is there a Problem?" Moraa Gesicho Building Blocks to Peace in
Africa and Globally: The Role of the Civil Society L. Muthoni
Wanyeki African Women’s Human Rights
in a Globalised World Shaheen
Chandbhai Of Economic Justice and
Gender: Structural Adjustment, Globalisation, and Poverty in Rural Kenya |
|
10.30
– 11.00 am |
Coffee / Tea Break |
|
11.00 – 12.30 pm |
Religion, Culture and Globalisation for the Common Good |
|
|
Keynote
Address Chair: Dr.
Kamran Mofid Prof. Ali Mazrui On God and Globalisation:
Between Piety and Pluralism H.E. Dr. Ahmad Jalali Globalisation for the Common Good and the Divine Religions: A View from Islam |
|
12.30
– 1.45 pm |
Lunch |
|
2.00 – 4.00 pm |
Inter-faith Dialogue and
Globalisation for the Common Good
(Concurrent Session) (Session
1) |
|
|
Chair: Prof.
Ahmad Sadri Jim Kenney and Rev. Alan Race, Bridges:The
Intrreligious Insight Paradigm Sr. Beatrice Mariotti and Dr. Judith Rahima Jensen Dialogue and Reconciliation:
Pathways to Peace and Justice in Islam and Christianity Roger Montgomery Hafez, Haleh
and Global Unity |
|
2.00 – 4.00pm |
Ethics, Spirituality and the
Common Good in the Age of Globalisation (Concurrent Session) (Session 2) |
|
|
Chair: Dekha
Ibrahim Abdi Paul McCarthy and Cliff Edwards Realisation for the Common Good Dr. David W. Lutz On Resolving
the Conflict between Catholic Social Thought and Business Management
Education Prof. Mumtaz Ali Khan Globalisation
Coincides with Indian Humanism Bagher Talebi Darabi Study of
Religions Promotes Interfaith Accommodation: A Case Study of Ian |
|
4.00 –
4.30 pm |
Coffee /
Tea Break |
|
4.30 – 6.00 pm |
A Humanitarian Perspective on Globalisation (Concurrent Session)
(Session 1) |
|
|
Chair: Paul
McCarthy Daniel Lewis Sustainable
Relief and Reconstruction in Post-crisis Situations Dr. H.L. Ndlovu A Call for Interfaith
Joint Social Action to Combat the HIV and AIDS Pandemic Teresa Baldwinson Towards a
Level Playing-Field |
|
4.30 – 6.00 pm |
Philosophical and Political Perspectives on Globalisation (Concurrent
Session) (Session 2) |
|
|
Chair: L.
Muthoni Wanyeki Prof. Wendy C. Hamblet Is Religion
the Root of Evil? Prof. Mar Peter-Raoul Jihad vs. the Beloved Community Wayne Green Concepts of
Globalisation and Africa |
|
7.00 –
8.30pm |
Dinner |
|
8.30 –
10.00 pm |
Cultural and Social activities |
Saturday
23rd April
|
6.00 –
6.30 am |
Meditation and excersise (Optional) Instructor: Dada Vratadhiirananda |
|
7.00 –
8.00 am |
Welcoming Reception and Breakfast |
|
8.30 – 10.30 am |
Faith and Development in the Global Age (Concurrent Session) (Session 1) |
|
|
Chair: Rev.
Prof. J. Baitu Todd Lorentz Non-dualism: Bridging the
Gap in Human Development Cemal Usak Good Deeds:
Justice and Peace Jane Samuels Journey to the Source of Interfaith and
International Development Dr. Mansoob Murshed Marginalisation
in an Era of Globalisation |
|
8.30 – 10.30 am |
Inter-faith Dialogue and
Globalisation for the Common Good
(Concurrent Session) (Session
2) |
|
|
Chair: Rev. Dr. Marcus
Braybrooke Prof.
Mahmoud Sadri From Irony to Inclusion: Early
Models for Interfaith Dialogue Rev.
Michael Bos From Plurality to Pluralism:
Religious Coexistence in the Age of Globalisation Prof. Ahmad Sadri Disestablishment: A
Trans-civilisational View Prof.
Lawrence Woods High, Lows and the Way
Forward: On the Challenges of Promoting Interdisciplinary and Interreligious
Dialogue at the American University of Sharjah |
|
8.30 – 10.30 am |
International Law and Globalisation (Concurrent Session) (Session
3) |
|
|
Chair: Prof.
Wendy C. Hamblet Dr. Keyvan Tabari Africa and
the Emerging International Law Dr. Andreas Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos Inside looking Inside: Legal Transplants as Always- Already There Dr. jur.Thilo Tetzlaff Intellectual Property
and Music Downloads - Free at Last? Rebecca Napier Challenges of Resettlement in the Global Village:
Somali Bantu Women in Texas |
|
10.30
– 11.00 am |
Coffee /
Tea Break |
|
11 – 12.00 Noon |
Media, Reporting
and Globalisation for the Common Good
|
|
|
Chair: Jim Kenney Prof. Yahya R. Kamalipour Global Media and Global Perceptions Prof. William F. Fore American
Empire and the Mass Media |
|
12.00
– 1.30 pm |
Lunch |
|
2.00 – 5.00 pm |
Visit to Tea Plantation and Factory |
|
7.30 – 9.30 pm |
Gala Dinner |
|
9.30 – 11.30 pm |
Inter-faith Music Gala |
Sunday 24th
April
|
7.00 –
7.30 am |
Meditation and excersise (Optional) Instructor: Dada Vratadhiirananda |
|
8.00 –
8.45 am |
Welcoming Reception and Breakfast |
|
9.00 – 9.45 am |
Open Forums |
|
|
1.
Africa and Globalisation for the Common Good (GCG) Chair: Rev. Prof. John Maviiri and
Prof. Ali Mazrui 2.
Theological and Economic Aspects of (GCG) Chair: Rev. Marcus Braybrooke and Dr.
Kamran Mofid 3. An Inter-faith/ Ethical/ Spiritual Perspective
on (GCG) Chair: Jim
Kenny and Rev. Alan Race 4. Global Media, Reporting and (GCG) Chair:
Profs: William Fore and Yahya Kamalipour 5. International Law, Human Rights,
NGOs and (GCG) Chair:
Dekha Ibrahim Abdi and Dr. Keyvan Tabari |
|
10.00 – 11.10 am |
Globalisation
for the Common Good: The Way Forward |
|
|
Chair: Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh and Dr. Kamran
Mofid 10.00
– 10.10 am Spokesperson- Forum 1 to
report back 10.00
– 10.20 am Spokesperson- Forum 2 to
report back 10.20
– 10.30 am Spokesperson- Forum 3 to
report back 10.30
– 10.40 am Spokesperson- Forum 4 to
report back 10-40
– 10.50 am Spokesperson- Forum 5 to
report back 10.50
– 11.10 am Conveners Respond and the
Concluding Remarks 11.10
am Conclusion of the
conference at Kericho |
|
11.10
- 11.45 am |
Free
time / packing |
|
11.45
– 12.45 am |
Lunch |
|
1.00 pm |
Departure
from Kericho |
|
|
Group One: To Nairobi/ Nairobi
International Airport Group Two: To Lake Naivasha |
Monday 25th
April
|
7.00 –
8.00 am |
Welcoming Reception and Breakfast |
|
8.30 am |
Depart for
Makindu from Lake Naivasha |
Tuesday 26th
April
|
6.00 –
7.00 am |
Welcoming Reception and Breakfast |
|
7.15 am |
Depart for
Mombassa from Makindu |
|
12.00
pm |
Arrive
Mombassa Lunch and
sight seeing tour |
|
6.00
pm |
Ferry crossing and departure to Tiwi Resort on the Indian Ocean |
Wednesday 27th
April
|
8.00 –
9.00 am |
Welcoming Reception and Breakfast |
|
1.00 –
2.00 pm |
Lunch |
|
7.00
pm |
Gala Farewell Dinner and Entertainment |
Thursday
28th April
|
|
All day Breakfast
/ Lunch and Departure to Nairobi for flights home or to connect for Safari |

The 5th Annual International Conference on
An Inter-faith Perspective on Globalisation
Globalisation
for the Common Good: East Asia and Pacific Island Communities
The
Quest for Identity, Justice and Peace
at
Chaminade University of Honolulu, Honolulu, Hawaii
The Year of
Solidarity with the peoples and communities of East Asia and the Pacific
Islands
Convenors: Dr. Kamran Mofid, Founder-Convenor
and
Dr. David L. Coleman,
Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, Chaminade
University
It is with
great pleasure that we inform you of The 5th Annual International
Conference on an Inter-faith Perspective on Globalisation for the Common Good: East
Asia and Pacific Island Communities -The Quest for Identity, Justice and Peace
The Conference will take place at Chaminade University
of Honolulu from June 21-25, 2006. The
University is nestled in the hills with breathtaking views overlooking Honolulu
and the Pacific Ocean. Participants will be housed on-campus in newly
refurbished apartment-style accommodations.
After the conference, participants will be afforded the opportunity to
take tours of the Islands of Hawaii and to experience this wonderful region of
natural beauty and friendship.
Further details about this and past
symposiums can be seen at our web site: www.commongood.info
This
5th International Conference on Globalisation
for the Common Good addresses a world quest for international
understanding, dialogue, justice and peace in Asia and the Pacific. A large
number of speakers and delegates from around the globe will contribute
to the mission of the Conference in a unique way.
In
the decade of the Pacific, the world’s attention is focused on the emerging
face of globalisation in Asia and the Pacific. Our unique perspective in this place
is as a bridge of cultural understanding through which we can look at economic,
political, military, environmental, and religious institutions as they interact
in Pacific region. Our experiences are moulded in the bold heritage of the
sea-faring peoples of the Pacific and their experience of autonomy and
colonization, of communities imbued with beauty of song, chants, natural beauty
unparalleled in the world and frustration and suffering brought by war and
economic exploitation rippling across the Pacific in confrontations between the
West and East in war for economic supremacy. In the past half a century the
peoples of the Pacific have asserted their cultural identities, contesting for
respect and attention to their needs and their unique gifts, while being
buffeted by waves of commercialisation and westernisation.
It
is beginning in this experience that our conference seeks papers, participants
and insights into the effects of globalisation on the peoples of the Pacific.
Moving onto the shores of the great Asian continent, the conference also seeks
papers on the impact on globalisation on the great cultures and economies of
East Asia. In these global and too often troubled times, we need new
perspectives and models so that we can find humane answers to the challenges of
globalisation, based on a deep respect for the diversity of cultures and
religions in our world community. There is a desperate need for new and
practical ways of reintroducing spirituality, ethics and faith into the debate
on globalisation. Asia and the Pacific present a unique experience on the
phenomena of globalisation with both cultural and economic resources that
challenge a singular, Western definition for the cultural and economic
relations among a truly global family of nations. Even the understanding of the
common good, seen through the cultural lens of Confucianism, Buddhism, Shinto,
and the religions and ways of life of the peoples of the Pacific becomes a
richer concept and challenge to the status quo relationships among nations
today.
Globalisation
for the Common Good is proud to be involved in this vital and humanitarian
debate. We are also equally proud and honoured that so many dedicated and
committed specialists have joined us, so that, in the interest of solidarity
and comradeship, justice and peace for all, together with our sisters and
brothers of these islands, in an international conference in middle of the
Pacific, we can share our research and develop a community of discourse on how
best to move forward.
Papers, panels, and roundtable submissions are invited
from observers, commentators, academics and NGOs to address issues related to globalisation within the identified theme of the
conference.
Specifically welcome would be papers from economists,
businessmen / women, philosophers, theologians, historians, political
scientists/international relation, sociologists, psychologists, medical
profession, peace researchers, conflict resolution specialists, lawyers,
environmentalists and geographers as well as those engaged in inter-faith in
action projects. You are invited to
send a one page abstract which should include a working title, the authors
discipline and field, address, institutional affiliation and email address by
15 January 2006 to either of the conference convenors.
Kamran Mofid, PhD
k.mofid@btopenworld.com
and
David Coleman, PhD
dcoleman@chaminade.edu
For frequently updated
information on the conference please visit the websites:
http://www2.chaminade.edu/humanities/commongood
(registration site)
Notes