Synopses of the Network of Oromo Studies first international conference held in London
17-18 December, 2016. It is with great pleasure that we announce NOS successfully completed its first international conference from 17-18th of December 2016 convened at the University of East London, UK. Research papers at the conference included by researchers from Sweden, Norway, USA, Czech Republic, Belgium, and Italy, and from Universities in the United Kingdom.
The opening ceremony was blessed by Oromo elders followed by supportive speech by Oromo Community UK leaders representative on behalf of the Oromo community in the UK. The conference was officially opened by Dr Gizaw Tasissa, Director of NOS followed by a keynote speech by renowned Oromo academic, writer and researcher Professor Mekuria Bulcha which covered the historical development of Oromo studies in Diaspora since the 1970’s to its present day.
What is encouraging is the variety of papers presented at NOS conference: which covered Oromo culture, Oral history, Oromo national memory, globalisation and its implication to Oromo, the role of Oromo Women in Oromo national struggle, and Afaan Oromo standardisation both in Afaan Oromo and English. What is more, there were contributors to the conference from scholars as young as 17 year old who has taken the trouble to collect first data oral history from Oromo elders to writers and researchers working in established academic institutions and others scholars working as independent researchers.
Some of the unique features of the conference were the presentation of papers in Afaan Oromo and English, book display and poster in Afaan Oromo on a wide range of issues from contributors who couldn’t make to the conference in person. We would like to thank all those who have made the NOS 2016 conference a success.
The conference ended with a discussion on how best NOS could improve the future conference, how to form alliance with academics in UK, in Oromia and USA and Canada.
The Network of Oromo Studies (NOS) is a scholarly endeavour to promote and encourage research in Oromo language, history and culture, as well as science, technology, medicine and other spheres of life pertinent to Oromia. NOS, although newly instituted in the UK in 2015, is a consolidation of years of ad hoc Oromo Studies in the UK since 2003. NOS works in close collaboration and with Oromo Studies Association, and other Oromo academic institutions such as Oromo Society of Science and Technology, universities in Oromia and here in the UK. NOS has particularly benefited from years of OSA’s experience in developing its organizational framework.
For further information about NOS please visit: http://networkoromostudies.com/
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