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I wish to welcome you to our course blog dedicated to the miniature research projects created by students in the African American Studies Course: AFAM 310 African Diaspora Experience at the University of Puget Sound. I am Professor LaToya Brackett, Visiting Assistant Professor of African American Studies and the Race & Pedagogy Institute, and I am the faculty member who created this course and study abroad experience. It has been on my list of things to accomplish for some years now. I began my journeys to Ghana in 2009 for a short-term study abroad trip during my graduate study. I have since returned to Ghana another 6 times, this trip with the students means that I have been to Ghana 7 times, and I do not intend to stop there. Ghana is a second home for me, for multiple reasons but mainly because of the people. Ghana has some of the most welcoming people in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nOnce again, I welcome you to our public blog page in which students share their research and later their experiences in Ghana. During the fall semester we had a full 1-unit course that focused on West African literature to engage students with the various aspects of culture in the area. The four novels we read and engaged with were: Joys of Motherhood <\/em>(Nigeria) by Buchi Emecheta, Houseboy <\/em>(Cameroon) by \u200eFerdinand Oyono, Homegoing <\/em>(Ghana) by Yaa Gyasi, and So Long a Letter <\/em>(Senegal) by Mariama B\u00e2, in that order. Additionally, the students were given a course reader on Ghana solely, and sections included peer reviewed articles, encyclopedia entries, government sources, and news articles. Sections were dedicated to History of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, Religion and Health, Women, Business, Culture and Language, Geography of Ghana, and African Americans in Ghana for example. We additionally read a historical text that was helpful in understanding the extensive history of the continent of Africa, the text is rather accessible to novice African history learners, and my students found it helpful for foundational context: Through African Eyes <\/em>by Leon E. Clark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These small research projects were required from all students in the course. At the start of the course I asked students to share areas of interest they each had regarding Ghana prior to our visit. The goal of these projects was to have students engage with more current issues and learn the histories that lay foundation to the current, and to share it with their peers to give yet another source of information to prepare the students for this once in a lifetime trip. The goal of the course was to engage with as many aspects of Ghanaian culture as possible prior to being launched into it. Of course, as I told my students habitually, no book, or film will prepare you for the experience itself. But it will allow you to have context to support your on-ground engagement. Students with interests that aligned were put into groups of two or three and tasked with creating one blog post that covered each person\u2019s topic while connecting them with an opening and closing statement. I truly hope you enjoy their posts as much as I did when they presented them in class. The content is great, and their effort went beyond what was required of the project. Already, I have had several of my Ghanaian friends speak to how much they enjoyed reading my student\u2019s work, one person pointing out how much they learned about the history of Hip Life and High Life\u2014Big UPS to Sammie, Makenna and Daniel. I am very proud of their work in the blog posts, and even more proud of their work to prepare for the various aspects of our trip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A trip like the one we are taking, one that is the first in\nthe history of the University of Puget Sound, one that is also the most diverse\nfaculty-led study abroad in Puget Sound history, means there is a lot to be accomplished.\nThere is only one of me, and 17 students, so every student had a role. Students\nwere tasked as captains of certain areas related to the course. My greatest\nasset resided in the role of logistics captains. These students did more work\nthan can be stated\u2014simply wow. Big UPS to Anna and Lauren. Additionally, we had\ncaptains for our collaboration with a Non-Profit in Ghana-Glefe Youth Ghana- led\nby my colleague and friend, Ishmael Hammond who I met on my first trip to Ghana\nyears ago. We coordinated donations of materials to the organization that we\nare all taking with us in our suitcases. The student captains worked with\nIshmael to ensure that what he was needing, and desiring was what we worked to\nprovide. Additionally, the captains redesigned the Glefe Youth Ghana<\/a> website and\ncreated brochures. Big UPS to Makenna and Mara. Additionally, we had captains\nfor hospitality, self-care, health, accommodations, Twi Language, and Social\nMedia\u2014follow us on Instagram LoggersNGhana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d like to take a moment to mention again the collaborative\nwork with Glefe Youth Ghana we have been prepping for. Ishmael has skyped in to\nspeak with the students twice in the fall and he has been in direct communication\nwith the captains for the project throughout the semester\u2014and of course with\nmyself. We will visit the site of Glefe Youth Ghana on one of our weekends in\nGhana and will provide our services to support the final touches on the newly\nrenovated and expanded building by painting, and building several items for school\nmaterials storage. And of course we\u2019ll be unpacking all of the wonderful\ndonations folks from our extended communities have provided. We will document\nthe event for Ishmael\u2019s continued promotion of the organization and its goals\nto support literacy, to support care givers of children with disabilities, and to\nsupport youth empowerment through work training programs for example. Please\ncheck out the website for more information about the organization, and to see\nthe great work of Puget Sound students. Also please keep the organization on\nyour list for support in the future. They are doing the work. They are\ncommunity led and community focused. Our engagement has always been focused on supporting\ntheir growth and continued sustainability with our donations and donated time. The\norganization has been around since 2012 and we wish to support them in\ncontinuing for another 8 years and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As I write this post for you all, I sit in Accra waiting for\nmy students to join me in the next week. My prearrival has taken me to the northern\nregion of Ghana to prepare a potential new location for this study abroad trip in\nthe future. Highlights: Standing about 50 feet away from an elephant; Larabanga Mosque<\/a>\n(known as the oldest in west Africa); a visit to a remote village where Shea Butter<\/a> is made; and staying at a\nhotel within Mole National Park<\/a>. The\nupcoming trip will take students to Kumasi, Cape Coast, Winneba, and Accra the\ncapital of Ghana. We are very lucky to be joining in the Year of Return<\/a>\nfestivities. The year 2019 marked 400 years since the first slave ship landed\nin the U.S., and thus the Ghanaian government has marked it the Year of Return,\nasking for all those in the diaspora to return home. Prior to my arrival in\nGhana the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, has announced that in 2020 and forward\nthat the initiative will be, Beyond the Year of Return. It is never too late to\nreturn. Ghana is a gateway to Africa and I know that my students will enjoy\nthis experience and perhaps some will return to Ghana or explore other\ncountries on the continent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you for taking the time to read my post and the time\nyou will spend engaging with my students\u2019 posts. African American Studies is\nvery proud of this study abroad launch for the major. A majority of the\nstudents on this trip are either African American Studies majors or minors.\nPlease follow us in our journey and we will surely see you upon our return in\n2020!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Professor Brackett Akwaaba! Welcome! I wish to welcome you to our course blog dedicated to the miniature research projects created by students in the African American Studies Course: AFAM 310 African Diaspora Experience at the University of Puget Sound. …<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/fa19afam310\/files\/2019\/12\/houseboy-1.jpg\")
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