Ghana: the African Experience

AFPRL 290: Special Topics – 3 CREDITS 
AFPRL 290.75: Field Trip Abroad: Africa - 3 CREDITS

There are three parts to this course.  The first part consists of a field trip to Ghana, West Africa, that includes visits to areas of cultural, political, educational, social, and historical significance to students, scholars, researchers and other members of the academic community.  Participants in this course will also, in Ghana, participate in lectures from African Africanists from various departments of the University of Ghana at Legon.  Most of the lectures will be presented in the morning hours with the afternoons devoted to discussion meetings, field trips and social affairs that will give seminar participants ample opportunity to interact with Ghanaian citizens and other denizens of our world’s second largest continent.

The participants’ second part of the course consists of the preparation of summaries of Devine and Braganti’s African Customs and Manners (pp. 65-80P), Appiah’s In My Father’s House, and Whitaker’s How Can Africa Survive?  These summaries must note the significant cultural, political, economic and technical forces currently impinging on African societies, and Ghanaian societies in particular.

The third part of this course is a critical paper of not less than twelve pages on any topic related to Ghana.  These papers could be based on Ghana’s educational system, contemporary Ghanaian women, Nkrumah’s Ghana, the military in Ghanaian development/under-development, chieftaincy in Ghana, Ghana’s foreign policy from 1947-1966, Ghana and Pan Africanism, the IMF and Ghana, Pan-Africanism and the evolution of modern Africa, class and Ghanaian society, the African Diaspora and Africa, Ghanaian traditional and popular music, etc. Each student’s paper must be typed, double spaced, with footnotes reflecting not less than five sources consulted; the instructor insists on well-developed essays, including style, clarity, syntax and insight.

Suggested Readings
Ayittey, George B.N., Africa Betrayed.  (New York:  St. Martin’s Press, 1992).
Foster, Philip, Education and Social Change in Ghana.  (Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1965).
Wright, Richard, Black Power:  A Record of Reactions in a Land of Pathos, (Westport, CT:  Greenwood, 1974).
Nkrumah, Kwame, (Ghana:  Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah.  (Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1957).
Africa Must Unite.  (New York:  International Publishers, 1970).

Grading System

1. One scheduled orientation sessions.  15 points (Due November 10th)
2. Summaries of Devine and Braganti, Whitaker, and Appiah.  15 points (Due December 22nd) 
3. Participation in all the scheduled activities – lectures, field trips, social and cultural activities.  80 points 

[Failure to participate in any of the scheduled activities in Ghana will depreciate the student’s grade].

4. A critical term paper of not less than 12 typed pages, on any topic of the student’s choice.  (Must be related to Ghana – see Academic Content above).  100 points (Due February 28th)

Seminars and lectures will consist of the following titles and/or similar topics:

“Land and Economic Development”
“The Evolution of Modern Africa”
“The Economy and Education in Ghana”
“The Social Structure of Ghana”
“Drumming and Dancing in Ghana”
“Change and Continuity in Africa”
“Politics in Africa 1943 to 1994”

Cultural, Historical and Social Activities:

Sightseeing – University of Ghana campus and the immediate environs.
Visit to W.E.B. DuBois Centre for Pan-African Culture.
Trip to Cape Coast and Elmina Castle.
Visit Kakum Reserve Forest.
Visit to Akosombo and Tema.
Trip to Kumasi and environs [towns and centres] –
a) audience with the Asantehene;
b) visits to Kente:  carvings, arts and crafts, etc.