The Department of Music and Dance recently hosted the second edition of the triennial Ghana Studies Association (GSA) Conference themed “Global Ghana” at the University of Cape Coast.

The conference provided a platform for over 100 scholars from around the world to debate key issues concerning Ghana in the global age, including social change, religion, economics, arts, culture, politics, and identity among others.

The keynote speaker for the conference, Prof. Ato Quayson, from the University of Toronto, Canada, delivered a presentation on “Global Ghana and the African Diaspora: Defining Liberation for the 21st Century”.

Lecturers from the Department of Music and Dance comprising the Head of Department, Dr. Florian Carl, Dr. Eric Debrah Otchere, and Prof. Isaac Richard Amuah were part of the over 80 speakers at the conference during the plenary sessions and presented findings from their research on “Christian Popular Music”, “Music Education” and “Performing Arts Education in Ghana respectively”.

The conference provided the platform for scholars around the globe to debate on key issues concerning Ghana on the following sub-themes:

Religion and Social Change in Ghana

Economics and “Culture since Independence

Ghanaian Emigrants and Immigration in the Global “West”

Praxis, Perspectives and Methods on Ghanaian Popular Music

Global Trade, Local Practices and Economic Development

Literature and Theatre in Creative Arts

Diaspora and Pan-Africanism 1 & 2

Islam: Politics, Identity, and Doctrinal Debates