Agana-Nsiire Agana (Nominee, Millennium Excellence Awards)
Thesis title: A Digital Theological Investigation of Identity Among Ghana's Christian Youth
PhD supervisors:
Address
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New College, Mound Place, Edinburgh
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Background
Agana-Nsiire Agana is a third year SGSSAH funded PhD student at the University of Edinburgh School of Divinity, where he obtained his MTh in World Christianity in 2020. Agana is also a writer and has published fiction, poetry, and-nonfiction works internationally. He has been nominated for the prestigious quinquennial Millennium Excellence Award (2020) for contributing to the sociocultural development of Ghana through literature. Agana has worked as a software entrepreneur and and continues to be a technology advocate in Ghana.
Qualifications
MTh World Christianity, University of Edinburgh, UK. 2020.
B.A. Theological Studies, Valley View University, Ghana. 2019.
Certificate in Software Entrepreneurship. MEST Africa, Ghana. 2013.
Undergraduate teaching
THET 08018 - The God(s) of the Philosophers: Proposals and Problems
THET08017 Undergraduate Course: Christian Theology: Doctrines and Debates
Postgraduate teaching
PHIL11159 - Philosophy of Religion
THET11046 - Philosophy, Science, and Religion 2: Life and Mind
Research summary
Public & Digital Theology
Philosophy of Science and Religion
Current research interests
Based on Kierkegaard's existentialist philosophy and empirical work among Ghanaian youth, Agana's PhD research is a philosophical-theological investigation of personal identity construction in an age dominated by social media.Past research interests
Free will and divine omniscienceKnowledge exchange
Agana has spoken at Black History Month Scotland on epistemological decolonisation in the academy, 2020. He has given several interviews and shares insights from his research via the Instagram handle @Technophany.
Affiliated research centres
Invited speaker
2023. Researching the Online Lives of Christians in Ghana - Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn
2022. Global Perspectives on Digital Theology. Spurgeon's College, United Kingdom
2021. Black History Month Scotland. Gave a talk on epistemological decolonisation in the British Academy.
2018. Global Earth Day. A day-long forum on the effects of plastic pollution. Hosted by the Ghana Education Service at the University of Ghana
Organiser
2022. Conference Administrator, Yale-Edinburgh Group Annual Meeting. Coordinated the Edinburgh Hub of the 2022 annual conference of the Yale-Edinburgh Group on World Christianity and the History of Mission. Hosted by Yale University and co-sponsored by the University of Edinburgh.
2021. Conference Administrator, Yale-Edinburgh Group Annual Meeting. Coordinated the organisation of the 2021 annual conference of the Yale-Edinburgh Group on World Christianity and the History of Mission on the theme: Oral, Print, and Digital Cultures, hosted by the Centre for the Study of World Christianity University of Edinburgh and co-sponsored by Yale Divinity School.
Participant
2021. iFaith Workshop, Theme: “Rewiring the House of God: Religious Self-World Relations in the Digital Environment.”
2021. 7th Africa Together Conference, “Strides of Change.” Hosted by the African Society of Cambridge University.
2020. 4th Princeton Humanities Colloquium, “Africa and the Digital Humanities.”
2020. International Research Workshop: Social Media and Religion. Methodological and Theoretical Approaches to social media research.
2020. Scholars at the Periphery. Panel on Decolonialisation and Religion in Africa.
Papers delivered
2023. Paper presentation: What Does the Network Really Look Like? Rethinking the Sociality of Digital Religion? To be presented at American Academy of Religoin annual conference, San Antonio, Texas.
2023. Paper presentation: Metaphors Old and New, and What (Not) to Do With Them
2022. Annual conference of the Global Network for Digital Theology. Paper presentation: Action and Reflection in the Digital Age: A Kierkegaardian Perspective on Selfhood.
2022. Yale-Edinburgh Conference on World Christianity and the History of Mission 2021. Delivered a paper entitled: Save the Date! Pre-Wedding Photos, Social Media, and Church Authority.
2022. SGSAH Year 2 Symposium. Presented a paper: Authority and Authenticity in Ghana’s Online Christianity.
2021. New College Postgraduate Colloquium 2021. A Digital Theological Investigation of Identity among Ghanaian Youth.
2021. Annual conference of the Global Network for Digital Theology. Annual conference of the Global Network for Digital Theology. Respondent to paper Cybertheology and Digital Theology: the development of theological reflection on the digital in Brazilian Catholic Theology.
2014. African Growth Through Technology Summit. Conference Speaker: “Building a Vibrant Technology Community: Lessons from Ghana.” Banjul, The Gambia.
In the press
Link Between Tech, Life, And Philosophy With Agana-Nsiire Agana – STN #S02E14 - https://darteymedia.com/podcast/s02e14/
Interview: Agana-Nsiire Agana on Digital Theology, African Theology, and Young Christians in Ghana -
2021. Black History Month Scotland. Gave a talk on epistemological decolonisation in the British Academy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqV6pj3qkvQ
Articles and book chapters:
- 2023. “Person, Community, and Faith in Ghana’s Online Spaces.” In Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, online first.
- 2022. “God Made Better? How the Quest for Human-Level AI Shapes Postdigital Divinity.” In Postdigital Theologies: Technology, Belief and Practice, 217-232. London: Springer.
- (and Prempeh, C.) “Of Farms, Legends and Fools: Re-Engaging Ghana’s Development Narrative Through Social Media,” Media, Culture, and Society 44, no. 7 (July 2022): 1290 –1306.
- “Rethinking African Theology in Light of Emerging Digital Culture.” Studies in World Christianity 28, no. 1 (February 2022): 87-109.
- (and Prempeh, C.). “Defiling the Church: The Impact of Mmusuo in Akan Conception.” Transformation 37, no. 1 (January 2020): 3-17.
- “Can I Get an “Amen”? Affirming the Contemporary Ghanaian Usage of Amen.” Journal of Adventist Mission Studies 14, no. 2 (2018): 88-100.
- (and Dei, D.). “‘Belief in God’ Does Not Cause Evil. A Response to Richard Dawkins.” European Journal of Science and Theology 14, no. 6 (December 2018): 3-16.
- “Difficult Texts: Genesis 2.18 and 2.24.” Theology 121(6), (October 2018): 437-440.
Upcoming:
- “Theological Anthropology.” In Oxford Handbook on Digital Theology, (Oxford: Oxford University Press), upcoming.
- “Digital Feminism, Public Theology, and the Reshaping of Female Subjectivity in Ghana.” Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, under review.
Book Reviews
- “African Public Theology.” Studies in World Christianity 27, no. 3 (October 2021).
- “The Accursed Tower: The Fall of Acre and the End of the Crusades.” Religious Studies Review 47, no. 2 (August 2021).
- “The Dawn of Christianity: People and Gods in a Time of Magic and Miracles.” Religious Studies Review 46, no. 3 (September 2020).