A four-member delegation from the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), on Wednesday, 15th November 2023, called on Prof. Daniel Frimpong Ofori, Provost of the College of Humanities prior to this year’s Continental Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) which was held in collaboration with the University of Ghana. The team, led by Dr. Joanna Boampong, Head of the Department of Modern Languages, included the LASA President, Prof. Jo-Marie Burt from George Mason University, Prof. Anibal Pérez-Liñán, a council member of LASA from the University of Notre Dame and a Coordinator for this year’s congress, as well as Miss Magdalena Lopez, also from the University of Notre Dame.

                     Prof. Daniel Frimpong Ofori, Provost, College of Humanities, pictured with the delegation.

In welcoming the team to the College of Humanities and the University of Ghana, Prof. Daniel Frimpong Ofori expressed his pleasure at getting to meet the team in advance of the Continental Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), which was scheduled to take place later that day. He stated that the College of Humanities is the largest of UG’s Colleges with its students spread across schools, institutes and centres, which in his view, provided excellent avenues for mobility and joint research collaborations. The Provost, therefore, expressed his delight at the opportunity for the University of Ghana to collaborate with the originating universities of each team member and congratulated the association on its accomplishments, current projects, and future vision.

In response, Prof. Jo-Marie Burt provided a brief background of the association and acknowledged the pivotal role played by Dr. Joana Boampong in instituting LASA Africa. She indicated that the association has existed for over 55 years and is made up of over 12,000 academics from 70 different countries, with 45% residing in Latin America. Furthermore, the group, consisting of scholars from different disciplines, including economics, international relations, languages, and political science, conducts interdisciplinary research on diverse themes such as gender and environment. Hence, she was delighted at the prospects of strengthening the bond between LASA and the University of Ghana, as well as possibly facilitating exchange programs between George Mason University and the University of Ghana.  In sharing their experiences organising this year’s congress, Prof. Anibal Pérez-Liñán revealed that the primary obstacle was establishing connections with the community of African scholars; hence the team initially had reservations about receiving responses.  However, with this congress, they aimed to avert such future occurrences by using it as an opportunity to form stronger networks and relationships with their fellow African scholars.

   Prof. Jo-Marie Burt, President, LASA pictured with Prof. Daniel Frimpong Ofori, Provost, College of Humanities.

In her remarks, Dr. Joana Boampong, Head, Department of Modern Languages, mentioned that there are currently two students from the Modern Languages Department studying in Columbia. These students applied for external studies through the ISSTEC programme and are on scholarship, studying International Relations. Dr. Boampong also mentioned that last year, the University of Ghana hosted two academics from Columbia, who were accompanied by their Ambassador and expressed her hope of collaborating with institutions in Brazil in the near future.

Dr. Joana Boampong, Founding Director, Centre for Latin American Studies (CLAS); Head, Department of Modern Languages.