We had emailed several questions to Paulinus I. Odozor, associate professor of Christian Ethics and a member of the organizing committee that selected Achebe to give the Notre Dame lecture. Odozor, CSSP, is a Nigerian-born professor.

TAN: Do you have a theme for Chinua Achebe’s lecture?
PO: The theme is “The Igbo and their Perception of God, Human Beings and Creation.”

TAN: Why was Chinua Achebe chosen to deliver this lecture? What aspect of his background interested the search committee the most?

PO: I need to provide some background to the Blessed Pope John XXIII Lecture Series in Theology and Culture in our department before I can tell you why Achebe was chosen for these lectures. The Department of Theology at Notre Dame is one of the largest and most prestigious of such departments anywhere in the world today. We are ecumenical and traditional, yet we are also on the cutting-edge in all aspects of theology today. One of our many interests has to do with providing opportunities for our students, faculty and others at large to be in dialogue with cultures and traditions everywhere. In doing this, we are conscious of the fact that the church is now a world church and as such needs to be in dialogue with all aspects and areas of the world in order to learn from them, be challenged by them, and to challenge them. Theology is therefore in this way a critical mediator between various aspects and segments of the human community. The Blessed Pope John XXIII Lecture Series in Theology and Culture is one prestigious and important medium by which we further the work of the university and of the church as a place where the church does its thinking. The last lecture in this series was on secularism, a much-talked-about aspect of our culture today.

What do you hope would be the message Achebe would leave with his audience?

PO: This year, we have turned to Professor Achebe to continue our dialogue with an important segment of the human community today- Africa . I want to mention two important points here. The first is that we consider ourselves fortunate to have Achebe come to give these lectures. Aside from the fact that his presence will enhance the standing of this already prestigious exercise, the truth is that Achebe has spent his adult life as a writer and scholar engaged in dialogue with the West, Christianity and Africa.

“Even though he does not wear the badge of theologian or religious studies scholar, he has done a lot to enlighten both theological discourse and the study of religion. He counts among the best theologians and scholars of religion in recent memory. His work continues to impact research not only in literature but also in religious studies and in theology.”

A second noteworthy point about the choice of Achebe is that Africa has moved center stage into Christian thinking and in the world of Christianity as a whole. Consider these facts: there are more Anglicans in Nigeria than in Britain , The largest seminaries in the catholic world are in Africa; Africa is the area of fastest Christian growth. This means that getting to know Africa has become a necessity for the Church in many ways. Thus, when a known and knowledgeable African scholar comes to present the kind of lectures Achebe is coming to present, everyone pays attention to hear what he has to say about the faith of Africa.

P.S.: A report has it that a book is likely to come out of Achebe’s lectures at Notre Dame. Stay tuned!
Expect a blog or two here on Chinua Achebe’s visit to Notre Dame in the near future.

by Chinua Achebe Foundation

Achebe to Deliver the Blessed Pope John XXIII Lecture Series in Theology and Culture at the University of Notre Dame March 23, 25 and 26, 2009.

Nigerian author, poet, critic, and essayist, Chinua Achebe, will visit the Indiana campus of the University of Notre Dame, March 23-26, 2009, to deliver the 2009 Blessed Pope John XXIII Lecture Series in Theology and Culture. The three-part lectures will be on God, Man, and Creation, and will be published later this year by the University of Notre Dame Press.

Professor Achebe’s visit is sponsored by the Departments of Theology, English, Africana Studies, and the African Students Association. The Blessed Pope John XXIII Lecture Series in Theology and Culture has been described as “an important contribution to the post-9/11 debate on religions, cultures, and societies, and are first-rate lectures finely attuned to their moment.”

Professor Achebe, the Charles P. Stevenson Professor of Languages and Literature (currently on leave from Bard College to complete two books), is the author of over 20 novels, short stories, collections of essays and poetry, as well as children’s books. He is best known for the novels often described as the African Trilogy – Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God. In addition to the publication of God, Man, and Creation, readers can also expect another Achebe collection, Reflections of a British Protected Child, from Anchor Books this year.

In perhaps his greatest work, Arrow of God, Achebe introduces his readers to the complexity of a rich African tradition. Employing an abounding, multi-faceted, layered narrative style, Achebe inserts the reader into the tensions that develop between the views, motives, and forces that have shaped Ezeulu, the chief priest of Ulu, his rivals in the tribe, in the white government, and even in his own family. Surrounded by trouble, Ezeulu adopts an increasingly cosmic view of events – surely in the battle of the deities, he finds himself humbled, reduced in stature and influence, merely, he concludes, “an arrow in the bow of his God?”

In his scholarly essay titled “Chi in Igbo Cosmology,” Achebe suggests that: “Since Igbo people did not construct a rigid and closely argued system of thought to explain the universe and the place of man in it, preferring the metaphor of myth and poetry, anyone seeking an insight into their world must seek it along their own way. Some of these ways are folk tales, proverbs, proper names, rituals, and festivals” (“Chi in Igbo Cosmology,” 161).

Achebe was raised as an Anglican ( the Church of England) – his father was a catechist in the Christian Missionary Society – was equally interested in exploring his ancient African religious and cultural traditions. His literary works explode with this creative tension and he provides an important ‘outside’ perspective on theological issues often ignored or submerged by the pervasive ‘universal,’ cultural debates. The University of Notre Dame is pleased that he is participating in this conversation on the world stage.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame is America’s leading Roman Catholic University and is rated among the nation’s top 25 institutions of higher learning in surveys conducted by U.S. News & World Report, Princeton Review, Time, Kiplinger’s and Kaplan/Newsweek. The university was established in 1842, by a 28-year-old French priest, Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., and seven companions, all of them members of the recently founded Congregation of Holy Cross. Today, the beautiful Notre Dame campus is spread over more than 524 acres of Indiana mission fields.
The Department of Theology at Notre Dame represents the heart of the education in faith and reason that the University of Notre Dame strives to give to its students. Guided by the ideal of “faith seeking understanding,” its faculty conducts critical reflection in six areas: moral theology, spirituality, history of Christianity, liturgy, biblical studies, and systematic theology, in service to all students, the larger Church, the academy, and the broader public.