Blogging, PhD, Political, Sweden

>Blogging in Sweden

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I came across some interesting information about blogging in Sweden, compiled by the Swedish research institute World Internet Institute – I wonder where similar information about Ghana could be found?

In 2009:
– 400 000 Swedes had their own blog.
– 6 percent of all Internet users in Sweden had blogs and 37 percent read others’ blogs.
– 20 percent of Internet users 16–25 years are writing or have been writing a blog and 60 percent of users in the same age group read others’ blogs.

Amazingly, figures also show that a third of the group “young women” what ever that means, have at some point had a blog and that two out of three in this group read others’ blogs. The overall number of 400 000 blogs is also impressive.

Two thirds of bloggers (64 %) write about everyday life, one fourth (26 %) about a hobby or special interest. Only 6 % blog on politics and 4% about work.

I don’t know how I’d categorize my blog, as I feel I write on politics, special interests (blogging especially!) AND everyday life. Also I hope to blog more on work…I should maybe call it a work blog to be more unique…

On a more serious note, the World Internet Project which the Swedish research institute discussed above is a part of does not have any partner organizations in any African country! How can they then be called the “World” Internet Project? Even though there are no figures (?) for Africa and Ghana, I have the strong feeling there is room among the 44,3 million Internet users for much more blogging! (and mapping of the same phenomena!)

Pic: The Africa Facts courtesy of World Famous Design Junkies via Holli and Scarlett Lion, thanks!

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PhD

>A Degree in Digital Anthropology, Anyone?

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UNSPECIFIED - OCTOBER 10: In this photo illus...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Some exciting news was reported by the Culture Matters blog today here and it is just typical. Only four and a half years too late the graduate degree of my dreams come into being.

Just taste the exotic words D-I-G-I-T-A-L A-N-T-H-R-O-P-O-L-O-G-Y ! Then imagine yourself reading exciting blogs and analyzing Facebook for a living.
Here’s some information from the lovely institution University College London (UCL) putting forth this “so 2010!” program:

The new MSc in Digital Anthropology–begun in the Autumn of 2009–is well positioned for becoming a world leader in the training of researchers in the social and cultural dimensions of information technologies and digital media.

Digital technologies have become ubiquitous. From Facebook, Youtube and Flickr to PowerPoint, Google Earth and Second Life. Museum displays migrate to the internet, family communication in the Diaspora is dominated by new media, artists work with digital films and images. Anthropology and ethnographic research is fundamental to understanding the local consequences of these innovations, and to create theories that help us acknowledge, understand and engage with them. Today’s students need to become proficient with digital technologies as research and communication tools. Through combining technical skills with appreciation of social effects, students will be trained for further research and involvement in this emergent world.

More can be found on the UCL Anthropology website here.

Too late for me, but maybe just in time for you?

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PhD, Sweden

>Nobel Prize in Ghana

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Front side of an award medal in physiology or ...Image via Wikipedia

The 10th December every year is the day when the Nobel Prize is awarded. In my native Sweden, this is a festive day – “everybody” talks about the prize and follow the gala on TV. The medias are full of information about the laureates, their ground-breaking research – but also about the guests and their fashion, the Nobel menu and flower arrangements and the world class entertainment program. Also, students in Stockholm prepare, as they have a crucial role in the evening gala following the award ceremony.

I am proud to say the Nobel Prize was founded by a Swedish businessman, Alfred Nobel, and has become one of the most well known and respected academic prizes in the world. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, the other five (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Economics) in Stockholm as Norway and Sweden were in a union at the time of the establishment of the prize. Although it is a Swedish/Norwegian prize, prominent researchers and personalities all over the world are awarded every year. A prominent example is Kofi Annan who shared the Nobel Peace Price in 2001. Other African and diasporan laureates can be found here.

The full list of this year’s laureates – among them Barack Obama (Peace Prize) and Ellinor Ostrom (Economics) can be found here. The touching lecture by this year’s Literature laureate Herta Muller about the symbolic meaning of handkerchiefs and other things can be read here.

Jusr now, I will cook something very nice and complicated for myself – maybe even open a small bottle of bubbly I have on cooling and enjoy the festivities from behind my computer screen. Geographically far away from the Blue Hall, but in my imagination right, right there.

Skål!

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PhD

>Gallup World Poll Supports My Migration Research

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>Right now I am extremely excited as comparative evidence supporting my research is available from Gallup.

What I am interested in is why so many of the Ghanaian university students seems to want to leave the shores of Ghana.

What sets my research apart from a lot of other migration research is that I do not study the people who actually migrated, the returnees or the remittances/funds migrants send to their counties of origin. Instead I, along with other researchers such as Jorgen Carling who has written about Cape Verde, am interested in the migration aspiration or potential migration as Gallup names it in recent articles stemming from the Gallup World Poll. Looking at what people think could be looking at the causes for future movements as actions, especially those which requires planning and funding, are preceded by thoughts.

Gallup goes as far as calculating the impact on the population if people who were interested in migrating actually did (or could). Even though I think this particular calculation is suggestive rather than academically helpful as it adds flows together robbing them of their unique causes, it shows some interesting trends. Gallup’s Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI) shows that Ghana would loose and gain inhabitants resulting in a drop of 45% of its population! This while neighboring Cote d’Ivoire and Benin would drawback only 20% and 10% respectively. Why these differences?

Also, this newly presented data suggests – just like I have suggested in my research – that richer individuals are more likely to want to migrate compared to poorer individuals. This seems to be true for all income level countries, contrary to the common belief that people would like to migrate for pressing economic reasons. Similarly, evidence from China suggests that the higher your education, the higher your desire to migrate is. I have the hunch the same is true for Ghana.

Finally, it feels like a tap on the shoulder to read that Gallup’s Chairman and CEO Jim Clifton (read his whole article here) with all the information he has access to calls migration, my field of interest, “the great global dream” and predicts that

The evolution of ‘the great global dream’ is going to be the material of a million Ph.D. dissertations.

I know he is at least right about one such dissertation!

Pic: Dolled up African ladies thinking about migrating?

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PhD

>Strike in Public Universities in Ghana

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> Today came with the news of that Ghana’s two major universities, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and University of Ghana (UG) are closed due to strikes among the teachers. This immediately affects the mid-semester exams at these institutions and reportedly libraries also closed and students could be seen “roaming about in search of a place for research”, according to Joy FM.

When we discussed the situation at my workplace today, opinions varied from that teachers should continue to provide a service for paying students – to that government has had time to do the correct payments and should not be worrying already low payed lecturers with delays. I know for sure this is affecting a lot of people (including myself who is waiting to hear from UG about my PhD application) who re just trying to get an education.

I’ve heard friends talk about the university teacher strike in 1995 which lasted a whole year. Lets hope this will be solved quicker!

Pic: Graduating students at University of Ghana

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PhD

>Forward Ever, Backwards Never

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> Exhausted by the Nkrumah celebrations, I return to the blog with some less than monolithic notes about my daily life, hope thats ok…

Thursday and Friday are my days for research (Mon-Wed I teach and prepare for class or grade stuff) but so far very little research has been done since University of Ghana has not yet gotten back to me on my PhD application. I note my own naiveté in this post from 2007, when I thought the application process would be swift. Ha.

Here is the full story (well, minus all the trips I’ve taken to “check on my application”): I submitted in March. The university then extended the application period with a month. Sigh. Then the Graduate School went on vacation, then they had to check if my application was complete (it was), then it was sent to the department I wish to study at – Institute of African Studies. The semester started. Then their board met to discuss the graduate proposals, I believe that was on the 2nd of September, so now I don’t know what they are waiting for.

I intend to go there today to find out and push my fate. Forward ever, backwards never.

Then I’m having lunch with a very interesting friend and maybe a meeting with Gordon of Aedhotep Developments that I wrote on here.

Later in the afternoon, 3-5 PM there is a meeting on Women and ICT at Kofi Annan Center for Excellence (AITI-KACE). Lets see if I make it there, it does sound interesting.

In the pic, me at University of Ghana in March of last year after starting my application by beginning on my proposal…

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PhD, Promoting

>Website on Ghanaian Food

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> Through Gayle Pescud‘s post on Global Voices on Ghanaian cuisine “You Are Invited”, I stumbled across Betumi, an extremely well-researched website on Ghanaian foods, created by obruni cum expert Fran Osseo-Asare.

Osseo-Asare writes on many (all?) different aspects of Ghanaian foods – the culture surrounding it, how to make fufu, grilled tilapia and Fante kenkey, as well as the ceremonial uses of Oto etc. The website is complemented by a couple of books (which I have not seen in Ghana) and importantly also features a blog! Latest updated on Thursday on the Ghanaian breakfast served to the Obamas in Ghana on their visit in July.

Osseo-Asare beautifully summarizes the Ghanaian kitchen like this:

I think of Ghanaian cuisine as a kind of culinary jazz. The pepper, tomatoes, and onions, and possibly the oil, form the rhythm section. The stew is one musical form, like blues, the soup and one-pot dishes are others. Like a successful improvisation, the additional ingredients vegetables, seeds and nuts, meat and fish harmonize and combine into vibrant, mellow creations. While Ghanaian cuisine is very forgiving and flexible, there are certain “chords” or combinations that go together, and others that do not. Part of mastering the cuisine requires learning these chords and developing the sense of what goes with what: gari or fried ripe plantain or tatale (ripe plantain pancakes) with red bean stew; kenkey with fried fish and a hot pepper sauce like shito; banku with okra stew; chicken with groundnut soup; soup with fufu; palaver sauce with boiled green plantain or yams or rice.

Read my other posts on Ghanaian foods aka culinary jazz here.

Pic: Jazz in Accra in July 2009.

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Personal, PhD

>New Job, New Week

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> Last week, was my first at my new job.

As always when you start something afresh there is loads of information, faces and guidelines to take in

“you must create a new password”, “Hi, don’t you remember me?”, “you should park here” etc ad infinitum.

In this case there is also a class of 47 students as I will be teaching Expository Writing for freshmen, or first year students.

Already all this steady stream of new has provided me with the best quality sleep for a long, long time. And already I love my new job!

Pic: White board answers for “how do you become a better writer?” It says Reading, Interview, Listening, Vocabulary, Critical Thinking, Dictionary, Write more, Talking more.

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Personal, PhD

>What Do You Do?

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> I recently got the question:

“What Do You Do?” from a reader. (Thanks, Alison!)

“Good question”, I replied.

Because, truth be told, I don’t really know myself. This is by far the most common question people ask you in this modern day and age and when not employed, it is a question I’ve come to dread.

As my goal is getting back into academia, I try to practice writing as much as I only can, sometimes I write for free like here on the blog, sometimes as a freelance writer (most often I link to the Internet version of the publication here on the blog). I have come to really enjoy the journalistic process of pitching an idea, doing research including interviews and then do the write up and admire the result…

But practicing writing will only take you that far, so in March I applied for a PhD position at University of Ghana/Institute of African Studies and I’m hoping to hear from them any day now *crossing fingers*. I want to write about the aspiration to migrate – or not to – among university students in Ghana, an under-researched topic and at the same time a vital part of Ghanaian urban life.

But the lengthy explanations to follow the above stated question might finally be of the past as I recently landed a part time job as a lecturer at Ashesi College University, a liberal arts college with some very interesting goals and values that I earlier posted on here. Appropriately, I will be teaching writing.

Now, what do you do?

Pic: I write.

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PhD

>Ghanaian Names Return: A Trend?

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> Recently, Ghanaian traditional names seem to have gained popularity. FAF spotted it first here.

He writes:

A trend that I’ve seen lately though suggests that might be about to change in the next generation. I cant say I’ve done much research into this so it’s based largely of a few friends that I’d lost contact wiht suddenly popping up on Facebook and other places with the English names gone.

It’s nothing drastic like coming up with a whole new name, just simply dropping the English one and letting the usually Ghanaian middle names take precedence.

Victoria is now Nana Ama
Isaac is Nene
Franklin changed to Kojo Ohene
Raymond morphed into Paa Kojo
Dorcas likes to be called Nana Konadu
Bright is now Kwame

The phenomenon is jokingly called “Name Dropping”, by above mentioned blogger. Remember where you heard it first!

So, Ghanaians like their Ghanaian names – and why shouldn’t they?

As a foreigner living in this country I have also adopted one. I’m EwuraAma to some friends, neighbors, business contacts unhidden joy. Sometimes I use it beacuse it is practical. My Swedish name (Tagsa? Aiysha?) is often not heard right and NEVER spelled right – but other times it isn’t even about practicality, I just want to show people I care about Ghanaian culture and that I am trying my best to be a part of it.

At the other end, I also find it easier to remember Ghanaian names since they many times can be related to a weekday, which leads to a discussion “oh, so you are also born on a Saturday, then we’re twins!” or “I have a good friend who is also a Thursday born!”.

The only problem with this trend is that sometimes when I meet with friends half of us, both men and women, are called Nana!

Pic: Painting at the DuBois Center that I snapped some time back and I now feel illustrates this topic very well.

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PhD

>The New Liberia: Far From Budumburam

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> Just outside of Ghana’s capitol Accra lies Budumburam, the vast refugee camp for Liberians with was founded with the help of the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR in 1990. A volunteer describes the camp like this:

Spatially, the camp is divided into twelve zones, ten of which are in the main camp area and two on the other side of the main road from Accra. Beyond the entrance to the camp is the main square which is surrounded by small stalls. In the middle are the UNHCR notice boards, which are checked regularly in hope of resettlement placement in the U.S.
Around the main square are the principal public amenities such as the camp clinic. The two main streets leading from the square are lined with small shops, stalls, bars, video clubs and Internet cafes. In addition to the official camp zones, there are also four “Gaps”: areas outside of the officially recognized organization of the camp. Mostly young people who came without parents or other relatives inhabit the Gaps. Together they form a sub-culture based heavily on black American youth culture and Rastafariah identity. The Gaps tend to be shunned by most people in the mainstream camp.

Between midnight and 5am there is a self-imposed curfew at camp and there are neighbourhood watch teams who patrol the camp at night. Even if I were allowed to walk around camp at night I for sure would not as there are no electricity which means you can’t see shit and the camp it self is a enormous labyrinth of small streets and allies so the possibility to get lost is as big as it gets.

The water and sanitation facilities at the camp are poor, and together with waste disposal need urgent attention. Due to the poor and expensive sanitation facilities on camp, many residents are resorting to “The Gulf”, a patch of bushy land at the outer perimeter of the camp. This is a problem because the Gulf is where accounts of molestation, rape and murder are taken place.

What is going on in this camp is a real shame, from just driving by it looks like a gigantic slum that has been misplaced. When reading the account above, I realize it is worse. Luckily as of recently many NGOs, researchers and volunteers walk the camp and shed light on what is going on there.

What is going on in Liberia itself, and why you should go there for vacation is discussed in this personable Washington Post article. Reading it I realize I have a lot to learn about the new Liberia.

For instance, did you know they have Star beer in Liberia too?

Pic with the Liberia flag with embedded map borrowed from www.feedmypeople.org.uk.

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