Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Netherlands
fellow
Tabona Snoko
2024-2025
Home institution
University of Zimbabwe
Country of origin (home institution)
Zimbabwe
Discipline(s)
Anthropology and ethnology
Earth, environmental and climate sciences
Religious sciences
Theme(s)
Environment, Sustainability & Biodiversity
Regional Studies
Religion
Fellowship dates
›
Biography
Dr Tabona Shoko is full-time permanent lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), Harare since 1st January 1993. He holds a D. Phil (1994), M.A. (1988) and BA Dual Hons. (1986) degrees in Religious Studies and Shona awarded by the University of Zimbabwe. He is trained as Staff Development fellow in the Faculty of Theology at Utrecht University in The Netherlands from 1988-89.
He lecturers in African Traditional Religion and Phenomenology of Religion. He served as Teaching Assistant in Religious Studies, University of Edinburgh in 2004. He has also served as Part-Time Lecturer at Associate/Affiliate Colleges in Zimbabwe. Moreover, he has delivered lectures and offered consultancies at study-abroad/international exchange programmes in Harare. He has also served as Acting Chairman in the Department of Religious Studies, University of Zimbabwe.
Research Project
Indigenous religion and climate change mitigation in Zimbabwe
Climate change is becoming one of the biggest challenges for humanity. While scientists and humanities scholars have studied this issue, there has been little focus on African religions and their role in climate change, particularly among the 9 million Shona people in Zimbabwe. In the context of SDG 13, the Sustainable Development Goal to mitigate and adapt to climate change, this gap requires urgent attention.
Inspired by Tarusarira (2017), Tabona Shoko looks into how the beliefs and practices of the indigenous Shona religion address climate change. Based on fieldwork and qualitative interviews in Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2023, the project researches whether indigenous religion can effectively tackle climate change and its impacts. Are spiritual beliefs and conservation methods crucial in mitigating the problem? And can indigenous religion help find a promising solution for climate change mitigation?
Research Interests:
African Traditional Religion; African Pentecostalism; Health and Well-being; HIV and AIDS; Same Sex Relationships; Bible and ATR; Human Rights and Democracy; Green Technology; Indigenous Knowledge Systems & Sustainability