University of Ghana English Department
Welcome to the Department of English at the University of Ghana. We are the premier university department that offers English in Ghana. Our programmes include a B.A. in English, as well as several graduate programmes including the regular M.A. and MPhil., PhD. and our newest addition: the M.A. in Contemporary English Studies sandwich programme which started in June 2014. Our graduate programmes offer options in either language or literature. We also run the University of Ghana-Carnegie Writing Centre which offers writing support for faculty and students.
University Of Ghana English Department About
It has been necessary to study the problems arising from the use of English as a Second Language and to build up both the material and the expertise to address them. Change in the Department has therefore been gradual. Indeed, until the 1980s, the Department’s programme retained an essentially metropolitan character as this was considered the best way to equip students with the requisite mastery of the Language. By the early 80s the gradual change had resulted in an expansion in our original offering in literature, which had been almost entirely based on the literature of the colonial metropolis, to reflect our position in a changing world. Thus a significant offering in Creative Writing, African and Diaspora Literatures, the New Literatures in English and American Literature was included.
In the year 2004, the Department did a major revision of its courses, under the leadership of Prof. K. A. Anyidoho, and came up with a new syllabus in English Studies. The new syllabus took into consideration various areas where English is required beyond teaching and research. This was done in order to meet the requirements of a job market in which competence in oral and written communication skills is becoming a premium in a new world. An unintended consequence is that our graduates are now found in many fields, including banks, as a result of their good communication skills.
Today, the Department’s New Syllabus for English Studies for the Bachelor of Arts degree gives students the opportunity to offer a variety of courses that the Department believes will prepare them to meet some of the demands or challenges of the job market.
Business and Expository Writing and Children’s Literature are some of the new specialisations which the department offers. Our African Literature courses are also very attractive to both local and foreign students. The courses have actually revived interest in our graduate programmes on which student enrollment is increasing significantly with a bias towards research in Ghanaian Literature or Comparative Studies in African and other Literatures.
In the 2009/2010 academic year, the Department of English implemented its revised syllabus for English studies. This revision was intended to:
- offer courses that meet the educational, economic, social, and political challenges of the country;
- offer programmes which students find rewarding as they pursue future career objectives;
- give students the requisite language/literary skills to make them effective in their job situation.
For Admission Requirements into the Department —>
University Of Ghana English Department Programs
We offer a wide range of exciting courses at the undergraduate level, both in literature and in language. These include:
· Ghanaian, African and postcolonial literature
· English, African-American and American literature
· literary theory
· practice in criticism
· film
· creative writing
· English in Ghana
· history of the English language
· pidgins & creoles
· expository writing
· business writing
· English as a second language
At the graduate level we offer equally diverse and provocative courses such as:
· oral communication in the mass media
· language in performance
· philosophy of language
· bilingualism
· second language acquisition
· corpus linguistics
· public speaking and speech writing
· linguistic models of language analysis
· oral literature
· the epic in world literature
· comparative literature
· literary theory and criticism
· the novel
· culture and arts criticism
· auto/biographical writing
· writing and representation
· imperial/colonial discourse
· popular genres
Our internationally known faculty members include linguists, translators, creative writers, performing artists, literature specialists and writing support scholars. We publish a broad variety of scholarly, editorial and creative writing: ranging from translations from German and Danish on the slave trade, to studies of oral literature, Ghanaian literature and African literature, to codifying Ghanaian English, to language and migration in Ghana.
Department Profile:
· Undergraduate BA programme offers three options: single major, combined major or minor
· Regular MA, MPhil. & PhD. programmes offer options in language or literature with a focus on any of the specific areas mentioned above
· MA Sandwich offers concentrations in Arts/Criticism/Pedagogy, or Business/ Communication/Media
· UG-Carnegie Writing Centre offers Writing support for faculty and students at various stages of their writing projects – from planning and drafting to editing
· Enrolls over 700 undergraduate and 53 graduate students
· Funded Departmental team research projects, including “Nation and Narration” and “Codifying Ghanaian English”
· Editorship of Legon Journal of the Humanities, UG’s flagship journal of the arts
Please peruse our website to find out more about what the Department of English encompasses, and/or let our faculty and staff know how we can help you.
University Of Ghana English Department Contact
Contact Us
Department of English
University of Ghana
Legon
P. O. Box LG 129
Legon, Accra
Ghana
Tel: +233 (0) 302 503043
Intercom: Head of Department Office – 6163
General Office – 6227
email: [email protected]