Overview
Akwaaba (welcome) to Ghana – Destination Africa! The country of Ghana is hard to put into words: there is the music, the football, the languages, the food, the democracy, the traffic, the fruit, the market women, the kente, the gutters, the water, the electricity, the pride, the smiles, the poverty, the clubs, the beach, and the amazing people.
There is nowhere more central to U.S. history than Africa. The many tribes of sub-Saharan Africa built societies with wealth from gold, salt, diamonds and oil. A myriad of exports from Africa continues to influence business and artists worldwide. Destination Africa which focuses on Ghana seeks to highlight the country’s emerging markets; the ever changing economic development paradigms; political evolution and its integration into the global systems. Students will experience first-hand that Ghana the namesake of West Africa’s first great empire is rife with opportunities to learn and serve.
Join the continent for two-weeks to explore and admire the emerging vibrant, pioneer-type hot businesses from how the use of technology; discovery of oil and new capital markets have impacted and spurred Ghana’s economic growth. Ghana famous for its rich history and culture will inspire you. From Accra the capital with a population of over 4 million people to Legon the home of African dance and drumming learn the history and witness Ghana’s shining example of stability and progress whilst absorbing its optimism unseen on CNN. Understand how Ghana reconciles progressive thinking with traditional values and embrace its natural beauty while visiting a simple fishing village turned vibrant city. More importantly Destination Ghana lays the foundations for a much better appreciation of Africa’s complex and multifarious problems and hopefully creates the basis for thoughtful suggestions for solutions to them.
Calendar
This is a 14-day trip (with two travel days) that is to take place in the beginning of January during the Winter Break. The tentative dates are January 1-14, 2012.(Tentative)
Fees
The program fee of approximately $2,500 USD (approx.) will cover all domestic travel within Ghana, hotel accommodations, and most meals. Group airfare will be arranged at an estimated cost of $2,000 (approx.) roundtrip.* A $500 deposit will be due on October 1st. Students will be assessed tuition during the Spring Semester for IB 3580. (Round trip airfare from New York to Accra. Other destinations will incur an additional fee.)
Transfer of Credit
Transfer of credit will be arranged for non-Temple students enrolled in the IB 3580 Special Topics: Destination Ghana course. The Fox School of Business & Management is AACSB accredited.
Academic Style
While in Ghana you will communicate in English but you will build conversational skills in Twi, the most commonly spoken local language. Central to the design of Destination Africa is its pivotal use of one nation as the specific site of activities, and its strategy for shaping and understanding the African experience from the micro-level conditions of Africa’s villages to the macro-level structures of Africa’s global relationships. A key to the enquiry is the gradual move from conventional classroom activity to direct, applied, collaborative study of Ghanaian community, the issues its people face, and the ways they manage their multiple intersections with sub-national, national continental and global realities.
Documentation
Students must have valid passport and visa in order to travel to Ghana. The visa process takes approximately two weeks and can be done by mail. It is recommended that you obtain your visa one month prior to departure to Ghana.
Currency, Money and Banking
The official currency is the cedi. Traveler’s checks in U.S. Dollars should be exchanged in banks or exchange bureau to avoid high fees because very few businesses will accept them.