Mats Rosengren – Tuesday, November 7, 2017 A new understanding of knowledge – doxology as a rhetorical epistemology. Despite the intense debates, concerning the question of what knowledge is or can be, in the human- and social sciences over the last decades, we still have not seen a deep-going investigation of the possibilities opened up by epistemological and social constructivism. It may seem as if we are facing a double either/or-situation: Either we accept the traditional, classical notion of Knowledge as true, justified belief, or we have to commit to total relativism in epistemic matters. Or, the inverted version: either we accept that all we think we know is actually only habit and human, arbitrary construction or creation, or we commit to the classical, universalistic notions of Knowledge, Truths and Facts. Patrik Mehrens- Wednesday November 8, 2017 The Rhetoric of Narrative Film - Movies as a Way to Understand Contemporary Media Communication Film has often been described as a markedly rhetorical medium, especially because of its appeal to emotion and its multi-channel mode of communication. In this lecture, I will briefly outline three rhetorical dimensions of narrative film: cinematic projections of rhetoric, cinematic thematizations of rhetoric, and cinematic utilizations of rhetoric, with special attention to the latter. Particular focus will be given to the use of dramatic irony as one important rhetorical device in cinematic narration. Dramatic irony, i.e. the projection of ignorant characters on stage and in film, has traditionally been connected with strong emotional effects on the audience.
The first Deputy Speaker, Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu, has expressed grave concern about the growing phenomenon of indiscipline among the Ghanaian populace despite several enactment of laws in the country. He decried the attitude of some drivers failure to observe road traffic regulations; public officials who indulged in corrupt practices; politicians who engaged in acts of impunity; security officials inability to enforce the laws; among many others, as some of the indiscipline in the country.
He said following the exponential growth in the faculties of law in the country, many heads of agency or department in the public sector were receiving legal education and wondered “why the laws of the country are so often observed in breach.” Hon. Owusu stated these remarks during a roll call ceremony organized by the Faculty of Law to formally induct 63 students into the Faculty. Accordingly, he admitted that,” It appears the increase in the number of people obtaining legal education is inversely proportional to the number of people applying the law to our everyday activities.” In his view, legal education and practice should generate in every law graduate, academic or professional “a gargantuan sum of loyalty to the law”, noting that “At least that is what my legal education and practice has generated in me. I cannot suffer a breach of the law without consequences through due process”. Hon. Owusu, who is the Member of Parliament for Bekwai, suggested that legal education should, as part of its content, have courses and practices that deliver ethics and values which every law degree holder or professional lawyer should hold dear and be willing to die protecting. He underscored that law enforcement could increase the revenue stream of the national kitty and also reduce revenue losses, maintenance costs and many others. He added that loyalty to the law as a value advertised by every law graduate would thrive on purposeful programmes carefully inculcated in students and, pointedly nurtured and mentored to grow as a tool of law enforcement right from the beginning of legal education. He admonished the law students that their loyalty to their training should not end with the oath of Junior Member, but they should remind themselves with every content of the oath. He charged the students to be guided by character, competence and care in all their endeavours. “By all means be competent at the law, study hard, get all the values but be fair and honest in all your dealings with all persons and finally empathize with all people especially the people who are weak and vulnerable,” he advised. For his part, the Dean of the Faculty, Mr. Kujo E. McDave, congratulated the new students on their admission and urged them to take their studies seriously. He told the fresh students that their training was, therefore, to prepare them in a comprehensive way to enable them to place the requisite value on their clients and all persons they would deal with. Mr. McDave advised them to inculcate in themselves the nobility of rendering service to persons who may not be able to afford the prescribed professional fee. That, he noted, would ensure that their achievements as professional lawyers were not only just for their personal interest, but also to benefit the society at large. “So in your church, in your family, in your districts, in your interaction with humanity at large, endeavour to take up some cases that you will do free of charge: Pro bono cases”, he added. The ceremony- which saw His Lordship Justice George Koomson, Commercial Court, Accra, administer the oath to the students - was also used to reward deserving students on the Dean’s Honor list for their academic performance. The event was chaired by Prof. Francis Amuquandoh, the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.
The first Deputy Speaker, Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu, has expressed grave concern about the growing phenomenon of indiscipline among the Ghanaian populace despite several enactment of laws in the country.
He decried the attitude of some drivers failure to observe road traffic regulations; public officials who indulged in corrupt practices; politicians who engaged in acts of impunity; security officials inability to enforce the laws; among many others, as some of the indiscipline in the country.
He said following the exponential growth in the faculties of law in the country, many heads of agency or department in the public sector were receiving legal education and wondered “why the laws of the country are so often observed in breach.”
Hon. Owusu stated these remarks during a roll call ceremony organized by the Faculty of Law to formally induct 63 students into the Faculty. Accordingly, he admitted that,” It appears the increase in the number of people obtaining legal education is inversely proportional to the number of people applying the law to our everyday activities.”
In his view, legal education and practice should generate in every law graduate, academic or professional “a gargantuan sum of loyalty to the law”, noting that “At least that is what my legal education and practice has generated in me. I cannot suffer a breach of the law without consequences through due process”.
Hon. Owusu, who is the Member of Parliament for Bekwai, suggested that legal education should, as part of its content, have courses and practices that deliver ethics and values which every law degree holder or professional lawyer should hold dear and be willing to die protecting. He underscored that law enforcement could increase the revenue stream of the national kitty and also reduce revenue losses, maintenance costs and many others.
He added that loyalty to the law as a value advertised by every law graduate would thrive on purposeful programmes carefully inculcated in students and, pointedly nurtured and mentored to grow as a tool of law enforcement right from the beginning of legal education. He admonished the law students that their loyalty to their training should not end with the oath of Junior Member, but they should remind themselves with every content of the oath.
He charged the students to be guided by character, competence and care in all their endeavours. “By all means be competent at the law, study hard, get all the values but be fair and honest in all your dealings with all persons and finally empathize with all people especially the people who are weak and vulnerable,” he advised.
For his part, the Dean of the Faculty, Mr. Kujo E. McDave, congratulated the new students on their admission and urged them to take their studies seriously. He told the fresh students that their training was, therefore, to prepare them in a comprehensive way to enable them to place the requisite value on their clients and all persons they would deal with.
Mr. McDave advised them to inculcate in themselves the nobility of rendering service to persons who may not be able to afford the prescribed professional fee. That, he noted, would ensure that their achievements as professional lawyers were not only just for their personal interest, but also to benefit the society at large. “So in your church, in your family, in your districts, in your interaction with humanity at large, endeavour to take up some cases that you will do free of charge: Pro bono cases”, he added.
The ceremony- which saw His Lordship Justice George Koomson, Commercial Court, Accra, administer the oath to the students - was also used to reward deserving students on the Dean’s Honor list for their academic performance.
The event was chaired by Prof. Francis Amuquandoh, the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.
A two-day capacity training workshop on Guidance and Counselling has been organised for tutors and management of the Accra College of Education. The workshop which was organised by the Institute of Education in conjunction with the Counselling Services Centre of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) was aimed at enhancing the skills of the tutors to effectively deal with the numerous challenges students face in their studies. It was also to help the Counselling Unit of the College, hall tutors and academic counsellors to deal effectively with students’ academic work, career and social problems or challenges. As the mentor of the various Colleges of Education in Ghana, UCC through the Institute of Education has been organising series of seminars for tutors and all categories of staff of the Colleges. Opening the workshop, the Director of UCC Counselling Services, Prof. Godwin Awabil, noted that apart from financial problems, the major challenges facing teacher trainees were relationships and academic work. He noted that when the challenges of students were not effectively addressed, there would be negative psychological and educational consequences. He stressed that “The psychological consequences include depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, stress, hopelessness and suicidal ideations. The negative educational consequences include poor academic performance, repetition and withdrawal from School.” Prof. Awabil indicated that considering the high student enrolment, it was impossible for the College Counselling Committee/team to handle effectively all the cases students present. He explained that the workshop was therefore, designed to expose tutors of the College to the requisite skills in counselling to enable them to serve as paraprofessionals The Resource Persons, Prof. Linda Naa Djama Forde and Dr. J. O. Attram engaged the tutors in the following topics; Introduction to the concept of counselling; stages of counselling, guidance, counselling and advising Core conditions of counselling. Other topics were Ethical issues; Practical session group work; Counselling skills and Characteristics of the ideal helper.Participants also took part in the practicum session to demonstrate the knowledge acquired during the training. Students of the College also had opportunity learn about Study Skills and also interact with Prof. Awabil during a seminar session. Present at the training workshops were the Coordinator, Quality Assurance & Mentoring Unit of Institute of Education, Mr. Nicholas Kutor and Deputy Registrar, Dr. Kwaku Gyasi Badu.
The Institutional Affiliation Office in conjunction with the Centre for Teaching Support, has organised a training programme for assessors of the University of Cape Coast. Moderators or assessors are deployed to affiliated institutions to ascertain whether their operations of conform to the standards prescribed by the University or not. Opening the six-day workshop , the Director of Academic Affairs, Mr. Jeff Onyame, said there was the need to evaluate the work of UCC assessors at affiliated institutions to see where they fell short and provide remedies to these challenges. However, according to Mr. Onyame, in carrying out that duty, it has become necessary to use the same assessment procedure for all the institutions. “That is why we are bringing together 185 assessors here so we can all brainstorm to get uniformity in our assessment and moderation duties”, he stressed. Again, Mr. Onyame intimated that a lot of institutions were eager to be mentored by UCC, but there were a lot of issues to be ironed out so that their products do not come out as half baked. “A lot of private institutions are coming up, but looking at the work they do, they need to be looked at critically so that their products do not come out not up to scratch due to lack of quality assurance”, he added. Lead facilitator of the training programme, Prof. Douglas Darko Agyei, said the workshop would update participants on the work they do as assessors. “Our focus is to get the opportunity to discus and update our skills to mentor our affiliated institutions as expected of us”, he stated. Prof. Agyei who is also the Director of the Centre for Teaching Support, reiterated the need to have a common way of doing things in the assessment and mentoring of the affiliated institutions. He therefore urged participants to contribute to the discussion so they could come up with a common platform of doing assessment and moderation of both examination and research work at these institutions.
A Professor of Entomology, Prof. Peter Kwapong, says Bees create more employment opportunities and generate income as compared to some developing and developed countries
Prof. Kwapong also explained that the income generated out of the insect is higher as compared to that of some developing and developed countries.
“Many of the world’s most important cash crops are pollinator-dependent. They constitute leading export of developing countries and developed countries providing employment and income for millions of people”, he said.
“Bees are a source of multiple benefits to people well beyond food provisioning alone, contributing directly to medicines, biofuel, fibre, construction materials, musical instruments, art and crafts and as a source of inspiration for art, music, literature, religion and technology”, he noted.
The world-renowned entomologist, Prof. Kwapong of the Department of Conservation Biology and Entomology said this when he delivered his inaugural lecture. He indicated that “livelihoods based on beekeeping and honey hunting are an anchor for many rural economies and are a source of multiple education and recreational benefits in both rural and urban contexts”.
Speaking on the topic “Are Bees the Hidden engineers of Ghana’s Economy”, Prof. Kwapong said without insects, life would have been very difficult to bear since there would be no food available to eat, adding that “protein from insects are more than any other’.
Prof. Kwapong explained that bees were the most important of all insects and for that matter animal pollinators. “There are over 20,000 bee species all over the world and contribute immensely in the area of pollination leading fertilization and reproduction plants”. Regrettably, Prof. Kwapong said despite these contributions and their importance, bees face many challenges created by those who receive their help and have therefore, resulted in global decline in bee population and diversity. He pointed out that “87% of the world’s plants depend on bees for pollination, without bees 40% of crops will be reduced. Loss of bees could lead to deficiencies due to lower crop yield”, he said.
The eminent Ghanaian entomologist recommended that that the attention of the nation should be turned to the “Hidden Economic Engineers” (bees) God has given to mankind in the environment for the economic emancipation of communities and for the survival of people. Prof. Kwapong who has over 15 years of expertise and experience in Bees and pollination ecology has since 2005 established Stingless Bee Sanctuary to provide an alternative livelihood for the people living in the area of the Kakum Forest to prevent the over exploitation of the environment.
He has also trained 7 PhD students in bee pollination and ecology and a number of people in the 10 regions of the country.
He called on authorities to stop the mass spraying exercise being carried out by government since the chemicals cause a lot of challenges to the existence of bees.
A Professor of Entomology, Prof. Peter Kwapong, says Bees create more employment opportunities and generate income as compared to some developing and developed countries
Prof. Kwapong also explained that the income generated out of the insect is higher as compared to that of some developing and developed countries.
“Many of the world’s most important cash crops are pollinator-dependent. They constitute leading export of developing countries and developed countries providing employment and income for millions of people”, he said.
“Bees are a source of multiple benefits to people well beyond food provisioning alone, contributing directly to medicines, biofuel, fibre, construction materials, musical instruments, art and crafts and as a source of inspiration for art, music, literature, religion and technology”, he noted.
The world-renowned entomologist, Prof. Kwapong of the Department of Conservation Biology and Entomology said this when he delivered his inaugural lecture. He indicated that “livelihoods based on beekeeping and honey hunting are an anchor for many rural economies and are a source of multiple education and recreational benefits in both rural and urban contexts”.
Speaking on the topic “Are Bees the Hidden engineers of Ghana’s Economy”, Prof. Kwapong said without insects, life would have been very difficult to bear since there would be no food available to eat, adding that “protein from insects are more than any other’.
Prof. Kwapong explained that bees were the most important of all insects and for that matter animal pollinators. “There are over 20,000 bee species all over the world and contribute immensely in the area of pollination leading fertilization and reproduction plants”. Regrettably, Prof. Kwapong said despite these contributions and their importance, bees face many challenges created by those who receive their help and have therefore, resulted in global decline in bee population and diversity. He pointed out that “87% of the world’s plants depend on bees for pollination, without bees 40% of crops will be reduced. Loss of bees could lead to deficiencies due to lower crop yield”, he said.
The eminent Ghanaian entomologist recommended that that the attention of the nation should be turned to the “Hidden Economic Engineers” (bees) God has given to mankind in the environment for the economic emancipation of communities and for the survival of people. Prof. Kwapong who has over 15 years of expertise and experience in Bees and pollination ecology has since 2005 established Stingless Bee Sanctuary to provide an alternative livelihood for the people living in the area of the Kakum Forest to prevent the over exploitation of the environment.
He has also trained 7 PhD students in bee pollination and ecology and a number of people in the 10 regions of the country.
He called on authorities to stop the mass spraying exercise being carried out by government since the chemicals cause a lot of challenges to the existence of bees.
The Institute for Education Planning and Administration, IEPA, has launched a project to prepare school managements in the quest to bring change and continuous school improvement to basic schools.
Dubbed: “Adopt a School", the project is aimed at improving the capacity and confidence of school leaders, supporting schools to ultimately improve continuous learning and also providing community services.
Addressing a gathering at the launch of the project at the Komenda Edina- Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipal Assembly Hall, the Director of IEPA, Dr. Michael Amakye, said the project would cater for 92 schools in the Municipality. According to him, KEEA was benefitting from the project as the first municipal assembly in the country because of the already existing partnership between the IEPA and the Assembly.
Dr. Amakye noted that faculty members of IEPA would conduct needs assessment in the various schools and design programmes to build the capacity of heads, school management committee, teachers, and executives of the Parent-Teacher Association on how to work together to bring continuous change in schools in the Municipality. He added that the IEPA had the requisite human resources to run the programme and would soon extend the project to other districts in the Central region. “Our target is by the end of March 2018, we would have gone to all districts in the Central region and then we move to Greater Accra, Eastern, Western and the Northern regions," he said.
Dr. Amakye indicated that some faculty members of IEPA would be assigned to selected schools under the project to provide onsite support to the schools in various ways, including helping schools to develop roadmap towards high performance and also assisting school management to conduct staff appraisal meetings, among many others.
In a speech read by the Vice-Dean, School of Educational Development & Outreach, Prof. Christine Adu-Yeboah, on behalf of the the Provost of the College of Education Studies, Prof. Magnus Wilmot, lauded the initiative of IEPA and called on all stakeholders to make the project a success. He said research had shown that the by-product of a good school leader “includes attractive and high performing schools, improved schools and high learning achievement ". He added " Behind every high achieving school is a good school manager and vice versa".
Prof. Wilmot noted that providing training for different category of stakeholders, school managers and enhancing the roles of parents were vital tools for improving schools and students learning. He appealed to beneficiary stakeholders to capitalize on the project to network among themselves through sharing of ideas to enhance teaching and learning.
Transforming the healthcare sector is about equity not equality, the immediate past Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Gilbert Buckle, has said.
He noted that the distribution of health resources amongst medical facilities should purely be based on equity. “Transforming the health sector is about equity. Those who need more health care services should have access (to them). Health services is not about equality”, Dr. Buckle said, while addressing a public lecture at the SMS Auditorium. The lecture was on theme “Transforming the Health system for Improved Health Outcome: What and How ?”. Dr. Buckle noted that “transforming the health system is about a series of incremental changes, intentional changes, to make sure that anybody has the highest possible quality health care. Where quality is not defined by the beauty of the building or the latest of the technological equipment…” He added that the transformation of the healthcare sector would ultimately achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), where people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need while these services do not expose the user to financial hardship. According to him, a couple of years ago, there was a national campaign to eradicate buruli ulcer in some districts in the Eastern region. As the District Director of Health, he requested the Regional health authorities to channel the funds earmarked to eradicate the buruli ulcer to the other districts which were severely affected by the disease because his district and other three adjoining communities had not recorded the condition. However, he said, to his utter dismay, the Regional Director of Health Services told him bluntly that it was a national campaign against the condition and the resources needed to be shared equally amongst districts. The former CEO of Korlebu Teaching Hospital mentioned improved health outcomes and equity responsiveness, financial risk protection and efficiency as the four main goals expected from the health sector. He explained that functional challenges where health professional compete for roles in the healthcare sector was hampering the health transformation agenda, citing the case of medical assistants and physicians. He pointed out poor attitudes and behaviours of health officials towards their patients as another setback to the transformation of the health sector. Consequently, he called for the introduction of non-medical subjects such as Social Sciences, health seeking behaviour, basic economics, among others, to help change this negative trend in the healthcare delivery. He noted that the provision of healthcare and medicine was more felt in the hospitality industry than in pure healthcare. “The good attributes of healthcare and medicine are probably are now felt in the hospitality industry than in the pure healthcare. It is about the nice ward, clean bed, excuse me, thank you, sorry, may I help you, thank you for coming to us, how may I be of service to you are all missing,” he added. Dr. Buckle admitted that the execution of transformation was not easy to achieve because it required fundamentally far reaching changes in thoughts, mindsets and change in attitudes. He added that transforming the healthcare system called for humility amongst healthcare professionals in the discharge of their duties, stressing that “Transformation is about the people who should drive the change.” The Chairman for the lecture, who is also the Dean of the School of Medical Sciences, Prof. Francis Offei, thanked the speaker for the insight and called for the transformation of health facilities into hospitality service area and massive improvement of hospitals in the country to enhance quality healthcare delivery.
A lecturer at the Department of Optometry of the College of Health and Allied Sciences, Dr. Stephen Ocansey, has been awarded fellowship in the American Academy of Optometry (AAO). Dr. Ocansey who received the award at the Annual meeting of American Academy held from October 11-14, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois is the second Ghanaian to be awarded a Fellow of AAO.
The Academy 2017 Chicago was the 96th annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry. Highlights of the meeting included nearly 250 hours of continuing education (CE) courses, scientific presentations and an exhibit hall with more than 150 companies exhibiting. More than 7,700 optometrists, vision care professionals, vision scientists and optometry students from around the world attended this prestigious meeting.
Professionals who become Fellows of the Academy must complete a rigorous candidacy process. Candidates submit extensive written work and must also pass an oral examination. A panel of leading optometrists and vision scientists must approve both the written work and oral examination. Fewer than ten percent of practicing optometrists are Fellows of the Academy. Fellows of the AAO constantly strive for the highest professional standards. The American Academy of Optometry annual meetings are recognized as presenting the latest in research and information on patient and vision care. AAO enhances excellence in optometric practice by fostering research and disseminating knowledge in vision science through its journal, Optometry and Vision Science, and the continuing education presented at its annual meeting. Fellows of the Academy are committed to the premise that learning is a lifelong obligation of a professional, as is the commitment to expand the profession’s knowledge base through ongoing fellowship and exchange.