A dissemination workshop on the Humanities and Education Required Courses (HERCs), hosted by the College of Humanities, was held on Wednesday, December 13th, 2023, at Maison Française, in the Reginald Amonoo Building. Dr. Donne Setor Novieto, Coordinator of the Spanish Section, School of Languages and a member of the project team, explained the purpose of the workshop, titled ‘What the HERC?’. He stated that the main objectives of the workshop were: to highlight the impact of the HERC programme on both students and lecturers, explore stakeholders’ perceptions and attitudes towards the programme and provide feedback on the programme after three years of its implementation for further recommendations.
In his remarks, the Provost of the College of Humanities, Prof. Daniel Frimpong Ofori, the Chairperson, indicated that the HERC initiative has allowed students to study areas of interest temporarily (for two semesters), in addition to the courses they were admitted to read at the University of Ghana. He stated that the first HERC dissemination workshop was intended to learn lessons and improve the implementation of the concept in the two colleges. The Provost added that once it takes firm roots, the concept would be recommended for introduction at the university level for all UG students to benefit from, given that the modern workplace now demands graduates with multidisciplinary backgrounds and skills.
Dr. Donne Setor Novieto, Coordinator, Spanish section, Department of Modern Languages
Prof. Daniel Frimpong Ofori, Provost, College of Humanities giving his remarks
Mrs. Josephine Araba Duncan Ofori, a project team member, provided a brief presentation on the methodology and results of the HERC survey. She explained that an online questionnaire was administered using Google forms and it generated a total of 1209 students’ and 68 lecturers’ responses respectively. The results among others showed that: the majority of faculty indicated
Mrs. Josephine Araba Duncan Ofori, Tutor (Spanish section), Department of Modern Languages
their liking for the HERC program and agreed that it should continue. Responses from students, on the other hand, indicated that although most of them were aware of the full meaning of HERC, only about half of them knew its purpose. An insightful question-and-answer session followed, moderated by Prof. Ildiko Csajbok-Twerefou, Russian section, Department of Modern Languages, with contributions from faculty present, including Mr. Solomon Kofi Amoah, Department of Sociology and Miss Emefa Dzan from the Department of Communications.
Prof. Ildiko Csajbok-Twerefou, Russian section, Department of Modern Languages, moderating the question-and-answer session
In his closing remarks, the Provost thanked the HERC team for their hard work in putting the report together and organising the dissemination workshop. He also encouraged the SRC to help the College in disseminating HERC related information. Present at the event were the Acting Dean of the School of Performing Arts, Prof. Awo Mana Asiedu, Dean of the School of Languages, Prof. Josephine Dzahene-Quarshie, Prof. Mavis Dako-Gyeke, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Prof. Charlotte Wrigley-Asante, head, Department of Geography and Resource Development.
A cross-section of participants at the event