GHANA STUDIES COUNCIL MEETING
ORLANDO, 5 NOVEMBER 1995
Recorded and Submitted by
Stephan Miescher
Present: Roger Gocking, Wilfred Owen, Jr., Ray Silverman, Daniel Mato, Ray Kea. Harvey Feinberg, Nana Asante Frempong, Ivor Wilks, Emmanuel Akyeampong, Susan Broadhead, Akwasi Aidoo, E. Ofori Akyea, Jim Sanders, David Owusu-Ansah, James LaFleur, Peri Klemm, Thomas Lewin, W. Ofuatey-Kodjoe, Ben Andoh, J.A. Sarfah, Baffuor Takyi, Jarle Simensen, E. Gyimah-Boadu, Kwame Ninsin, Kwaku Danso-Boafo, Andrew Sobiesuo, Nancy Keteku, David Killingray, Gracia Clark, Natasha Gray, Margaret Hughes, Victoria Tashjian, Alistair Chisholm, Amy Settergren, Catherine Cole, Lane Clark, Stephan Miescher, Kwame Boateng, Jean Allman, Gloria Ofori-Boadu, Kwaku Ofori-Ansa, Kwame Agyenim-Boateng, Merrick Posnansky.
Opening: Meeting called to order by the Chair, Jean Allman, at 6:10 pm. Those present approved the minutes from the last GSC meeting held in Toronto during ASA, 1994. All attending the meeting introduced themselves.
Report from David Killingray: David Killingray, coordinator of European GSC members, reported that the European membership is active, but not as active as his ambitions dictated. He is looking for further members.
Report from the Chair: There are $ 2, 000 in our U.S. account. In addition, $565 was collected in support of the Historical Society of Ghana and those funds remain with the GSC to date.
***The Chair encouraged members to fill out the questionnaires sent with Newsletter # 9 and to submit bibliographical information about recent work so that it can be published in the Newsletter. Members are also invited to submit brief research notes, archival and conference reports, or other announcements for publication in the next Newsletter. Members residing outside of Ghana are encouraged to announce their research stays in Ghana in the Newsletter and scholars resident in Ghana are invited to share their international travel itineraries. Finally, universities with regular exchange programs to Ghana are invited to file brief reports for the Newsletter. The deadline for submission of materials is April 1, 1995.
***The GSC currently has a membership of approximately 150 members all over the world.
Announcements by the Chair: The new issue of Transactions has been published and is available for purchase. Those interested can contact the Chair or write directly to the editor, Professor Albert Van Dantzig, Historical Society of Ghana, P.O. Box 12, University of Ghana, Legon, GHANA.
***The GSC has sent a note of congratulation to the Asantehene, Nana Opoku Ware II, on the occasion of his Silver Jubilee.
***The new Ghana Review International was circulated among the members and information passed out on how one could subscribe.
***Peter and Ama Shinnie's Early Asante has appeared from the University of Calgary Press. Copies can be obtained for $4 by contacting Professor Shinnie at the Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary Alberta Canada T2N 1N4.
***Anansesem Publications, under Mr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, has developed quite an extensive list of publications, including Ivor Wilks' recent biography of the Asantehene and John Collins' Highlife Time. Members are encouraged to ask their university libraries to purchase these books and others being published within Ghana. Please contact Mr. Wereko-Brobby at P.O, Box 39, TUC Post Office, Accra.
Items for Discussion: The Council has received a letter from Professor Albert Van Dantzig (Historical Society of Ghana) requesting regular and ongoing support from the GSC for the publication of Transactions. There was a general consensus among members that the GSC should make a financial commitment to the Historical Society of Ghana for the publication of the journal. After some debate on whether and/or how the GSC should be represented on the editorial board of Transactions, the meeting decided, unanimously, to send a check in the amount of $ 565 to the Historical Society of Ghana. This was the sum originally collected as part of an emergency appeal on behalf of the journal two years ago. It was further agreed that a cover letter to the editor should indicate that some members of the Council would be interested in assisting with the journal's editorial work.
***Van Dantzig's letter further suggested that GSC "queries" should be incorporated into Transactions. Many questioned whether Transactions would be the appropariate place for GSC "notes and queries" given the GSC's interdisciplinary membership and the backlog of material still awaiting publication in the next issue of Transactions. I. Wilks suggested that the GSC should have its own publication for longer research notes which cannot be placed in the Newsletter. Several members, supported by the Chair, stated that the full capacity of the Newsletter has not been tested by GSC members. The "Notes and Queries" sections is still underutilized. Members were reminded to use the available space within the Newsletter to publish brief research notes and other queries.
***David Henige's (University of Wisconsin) proposal, outlined in the last Newsletter, proposes for the GSC to launch an interdisciplinary journal on Ghanaian studies to be published once a year under the auspices of the African Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin. The editorial board would consist of scholars from Ghana, the U.S., the U.K. and other countries. The meeting welcomed the initiative by D. Henige, although there were some voices wondering whether there are enough people prepared to undertake this task. Further, there were questions about how the editorial board of this journal would be constituted, and how responsibilities would be divided between GSC and Wisconsin's African Studies Program. The meeting approved, with some abstentions, a motion to form a committee to investigate the editorial program of this journal, the costs, and the relationship with the Wisconsin African Studies Program. The committee will contact D. Henige and will report to the GSC meeting at the '96 ASA in San Francisco. The following members volunteered to be on the committee: Ray Silverman, Daniel Mato, W. Ofuatey-Kodjoe, J.A. Sarfa, Baffour K. Takyi, David Owusu-Ansah, Jean Allman.
***International Conference for 40th Anniversary of Ghana's Independence: A. Van Dantzig has proposed an international conference for the 40th Anniversary of Ghana's Independence, to be held in Ghana in 1997. Nobody present was prepared to pursue this proposal and commit himself/herself to organizing this conference. The Chair suggested that the idea be proposed in the forthcoming Newsletter and that a panel devoted to the topic be organized for the 1997 ASA Meeting in panel on this topic for the '97 ASA Meeting in Columbus, Ohio.
***GSC Panels for ASA Meeting at San Francisco in 1996. The meeting proposes the following panels for the '96 ASA Meeting:
1. "The History and Anthropology of Custom and Law in Ghana." Contact person: Jean Allman, History, University of Minnesota, 614 Social Sciences, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA, email: allma002@gold.tc.umn.edu
2. "Teaching and Education in Ghana." Contact person: Kwaku Ofori-Ansa, 2211 Amherst Rd,
Hyattsville, MD 20783, USA email: oansa@aol.com.
3. "Archeology and Cultural Conservation in Ghana."
Contact person: Merrick Posnansky, History, UCLA, 405 Hildegard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1473, email: posnansk@histr.sscnet.ucla.edu
***GSC Membership: The Chair reminds members to pay their annual dues of $ 15, $ 5 for students; members residing in Africa are exempt from dues.
***Term of Chair: Jean Allman is willing to serve another year as Chair, but she would welcome additional help from members in compiling the Newsletter. The future Chair should work closely with Jean and be "trained on the job. . ." All members present thanked Jean for her outstanding service!
General Announcements: Members in Ghana are reminded that the ASA has funds to assist scholars from Africa in attending the Annual Meeting. (Contact: African Studies Association, Emory University, Credit Union Building, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA)
***USIS-Accra is given permission to use the GSC directory for advising Ghanaian students who seek to contact scholars abroad who have research interests in Ghana .
***The University of Ghana can now be reached by email. The general address is balme@ug.gn.apc.org.
The meeting adjourned at 8 pm.