jac aims at exploring the actuality of augustine’s thought and its relevance to 21st century global challenges. we thus hope to make jac a platform for a dialogue on the values needed for the new 21st century and for a new mad, mutually assured development, between north and south, east and west, and all over the world. we also hope to make augustine better known to the people in his own homeland, in north africa, where there is a rising interest in owning back his intellectual and spiritual heritage.
we thank very warmly beït al-hikma, the tunisian academy of sciences, letters and arts, for reviewing the proceedings and deciding to publish them under its own prestigious label. we express our warm thanks to professor abdelmajid charfi, president of beït al-hikma, for his interest, encouragements and kind counsel.
we express our thanks also to professor amira kaddour. her diligence and untiring efforts brought all contributions together and presented them in a publishable form to beït al-hikma.
we express our heartfelt thanks to all the speakers and participants for their contribution to jac 2019. our warm thanks go especially to professor joseph t. kelley for his participation, and for his leadership in bringing to jac along with him many young students and colleagues from merrimack college in the usa.
we thank him also for his contribution, not only of his very timely presentation on augustinian, christian and islamic thinking on refugees, but also for his very valuable contribution both to the prologue, the summary of the papers and the epilogue of the book.
we thank the city of carthage which allowed us to organize the first day of the event in its sophonisbe center in carthage and facilitated a tour in the city, according to their partnership agreement with association via augustina as main initiator of the cultural itinerary “on the footsteps of saint augustine”. we thank the cultural center of the embassy of italy in tunis, and the national heritage institute (inp) of tunisia, for their moral and material support, and the city of testour for welcoming us on the last day for a field trip.
we thank professor mounir fantar and father silvio moreno for the wonderful guided tour they gave the participants at the opening of jac 2019, in the footsteps of augustine in carthage.
we thank the film production company lighthouse aw, and for allowing us to screen graciously, sami seif’s 2015 algerian-tunisian movie on augustine, “the son of her tears”.
finally, our warm thanks go to all the members of the organizing committee and especially to mr dominique martinet - association via augustina for his efforts in the organization of the days and to ms mariem mallek - atlas member..
