Minutes of the Meeting of the Ghana Studies Council

13 November 1997, Columbus Ohio.

By Donna Maier, Northern Iowa University.

Meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m. by Chair Jean Allman.

1. Donna Maier was made recorder of the minutes.

2. It was moved and seconded that the minutes of the previous meeting be approved. Approved by voice vote.

3. David Killingray made a report on UK membership: We have 17 subscriptions from the U.K. Income generated is £123.69; expenditure on postage £23.50. Balance in hand, £247.69. He suggested we put the money to good use. A written report was handed to the chair.

4. Larry Yarak reported on Ghana Studies Web Page and the proposed Ghana Studies Journal: The Ghana Studies Web Page was developed by Larry and 5-6 people have gone to it for information. He keeps it updated every month. He noted that it is a good way to announce upcoming events. Send any texts you might have for announcement to him and he will gladly put it on.

Regarding the Ghana Studies Journal: The project is going slowly. A tentative editorial board has been established. Larry is working on a logo to represent all of Ghana. Any suggestions are welcome. A Black Star was suggested. He has been handing out a call for papers, and there is also a call on the web page. It has been published in the ASA newsletter and in our newsletter but so far there have been only 4 submissions. It is a peer review journal. Please consider it for your papers. We should be able to produce it by mid-June 1998. It will be an annual publication printed by the Program of African Studies at the University of Wisconsin. They will pay for distribution, with free copies to Ghana.

Q: Ray Kea: How many articles will a volume hold?

A: Yarak: It can go to 200 pages print. That is substantial. This is a multi-disciplinary journal.

Q: Could we make our publicity wider? Put ads for it in other journals and magazines, such as Okyeame in Ghana?

A: Yes. But we need a strong first volume.

Q: How late can we send articles in?

A: To the end of January 1998.

Q: Will there be book reviews?

A: Book reviews are too big an undertaking for the first issue. We would need a book review editor, which is a full-time job. We could think of the newsletter for book reviews.

6. The Chair, Jean Allman, reported on Council funds. The U.S. account has $1781.03. We use our money in part for publishing the Newsletter. Postage for the Newsletter is subsidized by distributing it to 5 or 6 people who mail it through their university. We also provide money for Ghanaian students to attend ASA and give papers. Our biggest expenditure last year was for the Ghana National Archives to catalogue and put on computer disk the CSO papers. We approved $931 to go for this purpose at our meeting last year. At that time we asked for the archives to send us a report. It came this summer. The updating and cataloguing will be completed by the third Quarter of this year. $400 was paid to the systems analyst. The remaining $500 will be paid when the project is finished.

Our membership is up now to 210 members. The Ghana membership is up by 11, with many new joiners from Tamale, but responses to the questionnaire in the Summer Newsletter was down. These responses are useful for updating bibliography and specializations and all were encouraged to send them in.

Comments from the group: Perhaps some people are waiting for their late 1997 publications to come out before reporting them. Some people are perhaps waiting for the 1998 subscription.

Jean: We do a Spring Newsletter and also a January mailing. We will wait for January to send another questionnaire update. Regarding our last Newsletter #10: It was more interdisciplinary than ever, and that was nice. Bits and pieces do come in. You can use this for sharing small notices that aren't full articles. Feel free to submit little publication items to the Newsletter.

Yarak: I also put the Newsletter on the Web Page. The last 2 issues are there.

7. Old Business

Allman: We funded the last printing of the Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana a couple of years ago. We hoped this would help get it going again, but apparently it has not.

E. Akyeampong commented that Van Dantzig came to Ghana 4 months ago to wind up his affairs. He was not well. It was not clear who would pick up the editing and production of THSG after him.

Q: D. Killingray: What was our money used for?

A: The printing of the last issue was paid for with our money.

8. New Business

Expenditures:

Allman: We have only two approved standing expenditures: postage and travel scholarship. Are there any other suggestions for use of our money, on-going expenditures or one time expenditures?

Natasha Gray: We could authorized money for small materials purchases by people while in Ghana to help preserve archives in the various regions.

Louis Wilson: Should we have an on-going arrangement for preserving as well as disseminating archives?

Allman: We have enough money.

Gracia Clark: We need to save some money for advertising.

Killingray: I can get some ads for free.

Yarak: I think the journal ads will be paid for by ASA-Wisconsin, but I need to check.

Akyeampong: A committee was formed in Ghana to plan a commemoration of the 1896-1900 arrest of chiefs and Yaa Asantewaa War. The Asantehene was keen on the idea and has appointed a liaison to the committee. They are interested in our in-put on the program of the conference. Some papers from it could go to the journal. As of now they are thinking of a seminar in 1999, and in 2000 an international conference. They are also considering an 1896-1935 Documentation Collection from all sources. Adu Boahen might give his collection of genealogy from the Seychelles. They are also thinking of an Exhibition and an Endowed Chair of Asante History at UST or Legon. This is really for your information. Keep these years open and think of papers to contribute and of ways to get funding to attend. Send your ideas to me by e-mail and I will send it on the committees in Ghana.

Ivor Wilks: 1901 is when the Northern Territories, Asante and the Gold Coast were put together to make Ghana for the first time. Noting or emphasizing this may help make it seem less like an "Asante" thing.

Akyeampong: The committee will be informed.

Yarak: Are you asking for financial support?

Council requested that Akyeampong seeks further information and present progress report.


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