Vision statement:
Our vision is to provide excellence in music and dance education by offering innovative and timely courses and programs, delivered and administered by dedicated and competent faculty and staff.
Mission statement:
It is our mission to help students to develop their full intellectual potential and aesthetic sensibilities through
providing the space for the development of highly trained persons in music and dance performance;
providing the space for critical reflection and debate about music and dance and their social and cultural role;
seeking dynamic ways of restructuring programmes and projects to respond to contemporary needs of society;
undertaking relevant research and documentation in music and dance;
establishing linkages with institutions within and outside Ghana for the enhancement of the vision of the Department as well as the Faculty of Arts and the University as a whole.
History:
The Department of Music & Dance was established in 1975 to help fulfill the artistic and cultural needs of Ghana in particular and Africa as a whole, by training undergraduate students in Music and Dance and its related courses in the humanities.
Having undergone a number of reviews over the years, the current curriculum of the Department, designed to prepare its products to enable them function efficiently in contemporary Ghanaian society, includes the study of arts, popular, religious and traditional music. The Department offers various courses on theory, as well as practical courses in piano, voices, guitar and the study of African instruments.
Students who have graduated from the Department and offered single subject (Music only) are awarded the Bachelor of Music degree; while students who combine Music with any other subject offered in the Faculty of Arts are awarded the Bachelor of Arts (Music) degree.
The Academic Board gave approval for the commencement of a B.A. (Dance) Programme in 2009. The Department of Music was asked to host and nurture the new programme. The programme commenced in August 2010 when Dance was added to the subject combinations of students admitted into the Faculty of Arts.
Products of the Department mostly end up as Music educators teaching in the University, Secondary Schools and Colleges of Education, church organists, or choir masters in various Christian denominations and musicians. However, quite a good number of them too end up in other institutions such as Banks, Military services, and as Social workers.
The University Esuapon Band, established in 2004 as a resident Band, serves as a resource in support of teaching and research and also performs at social events organised in and outside the University campus. To ensure that our students are abreast with current trends in music teaching, the department now offers training in the use of computer programmes for compositions.
The Music Recording Studio, established with funds from the TALIF Project, has enhanced postgraduate work in music theory and composition. The studio also renders services to composers on and outside the University campus.
Core Values:
The placement of a high premium on inter-disciplinary research
To train students to achieve the highest standards possible
To be innovative in program structure to help students get the best in the changing global environment.
College/Faculty/School/Department:
Department of Music and Dance