Foreword
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2013
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Current Challenges with their Evolving Solutions in Surgical Practice in West Africa: A Reader
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•vii• Foreword The University of Ghana is celebrating sixty-five years of its founding this year. In all those years, lecturers and researchers of the university have contributed in quite significant ways to the development of thought and in the analyses of critical issues for Ghanaian and African societies. The celebration of the anniversary provides an appropriate opportunity for a reflection on the contributions that Legon academics have made to the intellectual development of Ghana and Africa. That is the aim of the University of Ghana Readers Project. In the early years of the University, all the material that was used to teach students came largely from the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe. Most of the thinking in all disciplines was largely Eurocentric. The material that was used to teach students was mainly European, as indeed were many of the academics teaching the students. The norms and standards against which students were assessed were influenced largely by European values. The discussions that took place in seminar and lecture rooms were driven largely by what Africa could learn from Europe. The 1960s saw a major ‘revisionism’ in African intellectual development as young African academics began to question received ideas against a backdrop of changing global attitudes in the wake of political independence. Much serious writing was done by African academics as their contribution to the search for new ways of organizing their societies. African intellectuals contributed to global debates in their own right and sometimes developed their own material for engaging with their students and the wider society. Since the late 1970s universities in the region and their academics have struggled to make their voices heard in national and global debates. Against a new backdrop of economic stagnation and political disarray, many of the ideas for managing their economies and societies have come from outside. These ideas have often come with significant financial backing channelled through international organizations and governments. During the period, African governments saw themselves as having no reason to expect or ask for any intellectual contribution from their own academics. This was very much the case in Ghana. •viii• Foreword The story is beginning to change in universities in many African countries. The University of Ghana Readers Project is an attempt to document the different ideas and debates that have influenced various disciplines over many years through collections of short essays and articles. They show the work of Legon academics and their collaborators in various disciplines as they have sought to introduce their research communities and students to new ideas. Our expectation is that this will mark a new beginning of solid engagement between Legon and other academics as they document their thoughts and contributions to the continuing search for new ideas to shape our world. We gratefully acknowledge a generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York that has made the publication of this series of Readers possible. Ernest Aryeetey Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana. Legon, August 2013 ...