Ivory Coast comes to Fribourg

Drs. Appoh François Kouamé and James Morgan

One of the benefits of living in Fribourg and working at the University is to be a part of an international community. In the hallways and classrooms you hear many languages and accents. Since I spent almost ten years in Niger, it is a pleasure for me to have colleagues and students from Africa: Rwanda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Cameroun, Benin, etc.

In my first participation in the jury of a doctoral defense here, I was really glad that the candidate was from Ivory Coast. It was a touch of grace and made me feel at home in front of the audience in that academic atmosphere. Appoh François Kouamé wrote about a subject that is very close to his heart as pastor and teacher: the notion of blood brothers and brothers in Christ (the dissertation title, De "frères de sang" à "frères en Christ". L’appel des premiers disciples : prolégomènes à l’herméneutique de la fraternité spirituelle). In general, the question of brotherhood in Africa is more keenly felt in families and churches than in western culture. It can help or hinder spiritual unity in African churches. Kouamé explores this question by beginning with an analysis of passages in the Bible regarding brothers and then focuses on the two sets of brothers that Jesus chose as his disciples. If you are interested in this topic, you can find it here (in the collection of e-theses at UniFr).