University of Ghana Receives Delegation from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Elizabeth Alexander, President and Mariët Westermann, Executive Vice President for Programs and Research of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, have paid a working visit to the University of Ghana. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Samuel Kwame Offei, hosted a meeting between the officials from the Foundation and the University of Ghana. Present at the meeting was Prof. Samuel Agyei-Mensah, Provost, College of Humanities, Project Administrators and Project Leaders of the larger project titled Reinvigorating Humanities Research at the University of Ghana (REHURE).

Welcoming the delegation, Prof. Offei expressed the University’s gratitude to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their support towards graduate education and faculty development in the humanities at the University. The Foundation has provided $ 4 million to support capacity building initiatives and partnerships between the University of Ghana and other African universities.

In a brief background, Ms. Alexander explained that as part of her duties, she was expected to visit all funded Universities with the project in mind.

 

 

Prof. Samuel Agyei-Mensah made a brief presentation on the Andrew W. Mellon Funded Programmes at the University of Ghana. This was followed by presentations of the following research projects by the project leaders:

•           Oral Traditions and Expressive Diversity:  A Research, Documentary and Archival Project by Prof Esi Sutherland Addy

•           Women and Political Participation in Africa by Dr. Amanda Coffie

•          (Un)settled strangers? The Koreans in Ghana since Independence by Dr. Lloyd Amoah

•           An Anthropo-choreological Relevance of Ghanaian Traditional Dances by Dr. Sylvanus K. Kuwor

•           Language and Communication in Specific Domains: Negotiating Multilingualism and Constructing Identities by Dr. Evershed K. Amuzu.

•           Enhancing Heritage and Ecotourism through Archaeology: The Shai Hills Archaeological Centre and Marine Drive Salvage Archaeology Initiatives by Dr. Wazi Appoh

•           Religion and Subjective Well-Being among Early Career Professionals in Ghana’s Public Universities by Dr. Willie Ben Golo.

•          The Representations of Personhood from African Oral Traditions by Prof. Charity Akotia

Ms. Alexander commended the University of Ghana and the project leaders for the diverse nature of research conducted as part of the Mellon sponsored projects.