I. THE UPCOMING NEWSLETTER FOR 1998
The Ghana Studies Council would like to encourage all of its members to
contribute items to the upcoming GSC Newsletter #11. Short articles
for the "Notes and Queries" section are particularly welcome,
as are brief notes on research findings, archival holdings or reviews of
conferences. (Please try to keep these submissions under 1200 words and,
if possible, to submit them on disk as well as on hard copy.) We have had
several historical pieces in the past, so we are particularly interested
in submissions from other disciplines. Please also consider submitting announcements
of upcoming conferences, publications or lectures which may be of interest
to our membership. The Newsletter is an excellent place to initiate
arrangements for visiting lectures or to enquire about housing options away
from home. Note: announcements and queries can also be posted on our homepage.
The Newsletter will also contain an interdisciplinary bibliography of recent publications on Ghana. Entries are collected from the questionnaires you submit, so please, don't forget to submit your 1998 questionnaires (last page of the Newsletter). The questionnaires are also used to compile the directory of members for the Newsletter. At present, we have a membership exceeding 200 and are spread across the globe from Ghana, Europe and the US to Zimbabwe, China and beyond! The directory is very useful for keeping all of our members in touch.
All Newsletter material should be sent to:
Jean Allman
History Department
University of Minnesota
614 Social Sciences
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455
USA
(email: allma002@gold.tc.umn.edu)
II. JOURNAL UPDATE
After two years of discussion, the Council has decided to establish an interdisciplinary journal in cooperation with the African Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin. The initiative was first introduced by David Henige in Newsletter #8. The editorial committee overseeing the publication of this new journal have issued the following call for papers. I hope that many of you will respond:
The Ghana Studies Council resolved at its meeting in November, 1996 at the ASA in San Francisco to establish a multidisciplinary journal, Ghana Studies, for the annual publication of scholarly articles relating to Ghana -- the country, the peoples, its present and its past. Please submit your work to the journal's editor at the following address:Larry W. Yarak,Please send both hard copy and an electronic version of your article on a 3.5" disk, either Macintosh or IBM-compatible format, preferably using either Wordperfect or Microsoft Word word-processing programs. We look forward to publishing our first issue in conjunction with the Program of African Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison at the end of 1997.
Department of History
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843
e-mail: yarak@tamu.edu
III. CALL FOR PAPER ABSTRACTS
From Chris Jones-Pauly
Out of a workshop at Indiana University in May came the idea of putting together a collection of essays on the role of court clerks in formal state courts or traditional courts, whether recognized by the state or not, from an historical and/or contemporary point of view. We are soliciting papers on this theme and would welcome proposed abstracts. Address inquiries to Dr. Chris Jones-Pauly, Tel/Fax +49 921 555427; e-mail: christina.jones@uni-bayreuth.de; postal address: Hugo R\del Str. 10, D-95445 Bayreuth, F.R. Germany.
IV. INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Council member Ernestina Peprah writes to announce the holding of an International Seminar on Sustainable Rural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Seminar is being sponsored by UST's Bureau of Integrated Development, in collaboration with the Development and Project Planning Centre of the University of Bradford and with support from the British Council. The Seminar will take place at the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi from 21-24 July 1997. The seminar is aimed at academics, policy makers, traditional rulers/community leaders and NGOs responsible for mobilising and motivating communities in rural development. The main objective of the seminar is to provide an opportunity for policy makers, rural development practitioners and academics to share experiences and address specific and related issues on sustainable resource management and rural development in Sub-Saharan Africa and set the agenda for the 21st century. For further information, please contact:
S.E. Edusah (Seminar Coordinator)
Bureau of Integrated Rural Development
KNUST, Kumasi
T: 233 51 60406
F: 233 51 60137
E-Mail: ustlib@ust.gn.apc.org (for the attention of BIRD) Ms. Marilyn Niwa
The British Council
Liberia Road
Box 771, Accra
T: 233 21 663414 F: 233 21 663337
Email: bcaccra@britcoun.aau.org Dr. Michael Tribe
Development and Project Planning Centre
University of Bradford
Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7 1DP UK
T: 44 1274 383978 F: 44 1274 385280
Email: m.a.tribe@bradford.ac.uk
V. NEWS FROM TICCS, TAMALE
By Jon Kirby
After a ten year break, we are back to running the TICCS Seminars. We have
plans to run two four-day seminars per year for the next three years. One
seminar, in May, will be on aspects of indigenous knowledge and custom.
The other, in December, will be on culture and Christian ministry or "contextual"
and pastoral theology. The four day seminars aim to bring together those
with a professional interest in development in Ghana, especially in the
North, in order to better understand issues arising from knowledge, beliefs
and practices that are related to our holistic human development. Using
local case studies and current ethnographic materials, a range of cultural
issues will be presented and discussed in terms of their interaction with
the strategies and objectives of various development programs, organisations
and practices in Ghana. We are hopeful that the discussions will lead to
more cultural sensitivity in the planning and execution of development projects
in the North and to more coordination and interaction among the various
programs and agencies. Presenters will be required to deliver an academic
paper on the proposed topic with specific applications and recommendations
for human development in Ghana. If you wish to present a paper, contact
Fr. Jon P. Kirby at TICCS as soon as possible. The room, board and travel
expenses incurred by presenters will be born by TICCS. Unfortunately, we
are not able to offer any renumeration to presenters.
Contact: Fr. Jon P. Kirby
Tamale Institute of Cross Cultural Studies
Box 1012
Tamale, Ghana
T: +233 71 22914 F: +233 71 22836
E-mail: TICCS@ug.gn.apc.org
VI. NEWS FROM JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY
Jawaharlal Nehru Univrsity in New Dehli, India, has established a Chair
in memory of Kwame Nkrumah. Professor Nana Arhin Brempong has been nominated
as the first (1997) occupant of the Nkrumah Chair.
VII. PUBLICATION NOTICES
Ivor Wilks' A Portrait of Otumfuo Opoku Ware II as a Young Man has been published by and is available from Anansesem Publications, P.O. Box 39, TUC Post Office, Accra, Ghana or 4260 Via Arbolada (#213), Los Angles, CA 90042. Tel/Fax: 1-213-225-2969.
Ivor Wilks' 1995 Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lectures, Delivered at the University of Ghana, 13-17 March 1995, have also been published by Anansesem (see contact addresses above). The volume is entitled, One Nation, Many Histories: Ghana Past and Present.
Arthur Colin Russell, who served for 28 years in the British colonal government, including as Chief Commissioner in Asante, has published his memoirs. Gold Coast to Ghana: A Happy Life in West Africa is available from Pentland Press Ltd., 1 Hutton Close, South Church, Bishop Auckland, Durham, UK.