Instructor: Dr. Albert Awedoba

Project: The Road to Development; An Exploration of Culture, Language, and Attitudes in Northern Ghana

This project will attempt to examine how different outlooks and cultures can contribute or hinder development in Ghana. The student will begin by thinking through a variety of issues, such as linguistic components of different peoples, issues of marriage and gender, the background of each villages' political environment, and issues of cultural identity and ethnicity. The student will study the Ghanaian attitude towards conservation and the environment, juxtaposing different villages' and tribes' approaches, outtakes, and mode of action. Several different forms of communication will be explored in attempt to communicate with individuals from countless backgrounds and ethnicities. Research in indigenous practices will also be key to this project, understanding how different cultures and attitudes affect issues of environmental preservation and determination. Political, economic, religious, cultural, and social factors will be considered when performing case studies.

The student will need to travel independently for this project, relying on public transportation to take them to northern Ghana. Staying in villages, the student will perform interviews and a case study to get a feel for the issues that they are studying.

Among several other questions, the following will be explored:

How does each individual construct their cognized environment?

What is "society," and what forms this notion?

How much are linguistic components or barriers an issue when looking at cultural and environmental development of a region?

How do different peoples define their environments?

How much does religion play a part in development issues?

How prevalent are practices of sustainable development in northern Ghana?

What areas of development could feasibly be improved upon, either by political change or foreign aid, etc.?