Larry W. Yarak
Associate Professor
Department of History
Texas A & M University
4236 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-4236
GHANA STUDIES COUNCIL | INTERNET LINKS | SEND E-MAIL
I am a historian of Africa. My research focuses on the Akan peoples of nineteenth-century Ghana (or, as it was known then, the Gold Coast). I am the founding editor of Ghana Studies, the journal of the Ghana Studies Council. I travel to Ghana regularly for research and pleasure, and have visited most of the surrounding West African states. I have also traveled in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe--beautiful countries with wonderful people, but very different from West Africa. While an undergraduate at Kalamazoo College (far too many years ago!) I spent my junior year at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. The photo at left was taken by a friend as we hitchhiked from Ibadan to the city of Benin in Nigeria in 1970--yes, that is (or was) me! It was this fantastic experience that led me to devote my career to studying and teaching about Africa. For more about my professional career, see my résumé (pdf document).
Here at Texas A&M I usually offer two courses surveying African history and a course on South Africa every year, and occasionally a course on World History since 1500, a seminar on Slavery in World History, or some other topic that I feel would interest students. For information about the Texas A&M Department of History, click here.
A sampling of the results my ongoing research into the history of the Ghanaian coastal town of Elmina:
Courses to be offered Fall Semester 2008:
- HIST 344: Africa to 1800.
- HIST 481: Seminar on the Atlantic Slave Trade.
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Ghana Studies Council and Ghana Studies
The Ghana Studies Council (GSC) is an international group of scholars specializing in the study of Ghana. GSC is an Associate Organization of the African Studies Association of the U.S. Recent GSC Newsletters are available online by clicking here, as well as announcements from the GSC Chair, Dr. Roger Gocking of Mercy College.
The GSC-sponsored journal, Ghana Studies, is published annually. Tables of contents of published volumes, subscription information and guidelines for manuscript submissions may be viewed by clicking here.
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Interesting Internet Links
Here are a few Internet sites relating to Africa:
A few sites relating specifically to Ghana:
- The Ghana Home Page. A very useful collection of documents, images and internet links regarding Africa's "Black Star", the first sub-Saharan African state to gain political independence from European colonial rule in 1957.
- JoyFM. One of several FM radio stations broadcasting in Accra, the Ghanaian capital. This web site maintains an excellent posting of (almost) daily news reports from Ghana.
South African sites:
- The ANC Home Page. An excellent collection of documents concerning the history and policies of the ANC and also a good starting place for exploring other South African internet sites.
- The Electronic Mail and Guardian. A weekly South African magazine with in-depth news articles and comment from one of South Africa's major independent news sources.
Sites of a politically progressive nature which I have found interesting and enlightening:
- The Nation. The Nation magazine's internet site, publishing hard-hitting and well-informed political reporting and commentary selected from the magazine's hard copy edition. One of the memorable events in my years at Texas A&M was the visit to campus of Nation journalists Christopher Hitchens (now no longer with the magazine) and Alexander Cockburn. Will they ever return? Perhaps Hitchens will be invited back, since he now supports the disastrous Bush policy in Iraq.
- Foreign Policy in Focus. A valuable source of reasoned critiques of US foreign policy. Highly recommended.
- Pacifica Radio. Alternative daily news reports and analysis which can be heard here in Bryan-College Station on KEOS-FM, 89.1. And while we're at it, why not check out the KEOS web site?
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Click here to send E-mail to Dr. Yarak
