In Ghana (Akan Twi) we say that "Ti koro nko agyina" which literally means that "One head (person) does not hold council.". We also know that two is often better than one. In this context, I am delighted to announce that I am now recruiting for a postdoctoral researcher as many hands makes light work. … Continue reading Vacancy Notice: Postdoctoral researcher for ‘Tourism’s intersection with slavery and colonial heritage in the context of cultural memory politics’
For those who missed out on 'The Calabash Onder de Bigi Bon' event from last December, I am excited to announce the we have scheduled a number of screening dates of the documentary film. We are calling this The (Mini) Calabash 2025: Keti Koti edition as June is the month of commemoration of the abolition … Continue reading The (mini) Calabash 2025: Documentary Screenings for Keti Koti Month
Collaborate and contribute to a monumental tapestry about the Dutch Slavery past. From Tuesday 27 May to the first week of July is the Cultural Geography Chair Group at Wageningen University and Research the host and coordinator for the making of a piece of the tapestry of the project ‘Threads of our Dutch Slavery Past’. … Continue reading Join in at Wageningen! Threads of our Dutch Slavery Past (Draden van ons Nederlands Slavernijverleden) – Gelderland edition
It's wonderful to see this book is finally out and I am pleased to have contributed a chapter to this important collection. The book comes out of a 2-day conference from 2021. This was the first academic conference that I attended in the Netherlands after the move from Sheffield and the first in-person conference after … Continue reading [New book chapter published!] Making an Embodied Absence Present: Tourism and the Cultural Imaginary of Slavery and Colonial Heritage in the Netherlands
Where does one draw the line between the personal and the professional in the fieldwork context? Is the researcher self the same as the ‘normal’ self? And I write ‘normal’ in quotation marks because what is ‘normal’ and what is ‘not normal’ about the self? How much entanglements do we engage in as researchers between … Continue reading Namib Notes IV: When the field becomes personal and the personal becomes the field
This fact took me entirely by surprise: the land size of Namibia is about 3.5x the land size of Ghana. It was a wow moment for me, especially given that there are some 33 million people in Ghana while Namibia has just under 3.5 million according to their most recent census. I was having a … Continue reading Namib Notes III: From Katutura to Matutura: place names and (post)colonial spatial planning
On my first Monday of fieldwork, I managed to be up bright and early in order to catch the Free Guided Walking Tour of Windhoek. It was an interesting tour led by a young lady (Yvette) who had just started in this role back in February. She took us along the main highlights of downtown … Continue reading Namib Notes II: Aweh!, mind those Robots! Yoh! before you turn into Pap!
Well, it's technically not too windy but Windy Windhoek does make for a nice alliterative title for the post - if you get what I mean :). While it might not be too windy, Windhoek is quite the hilly city which can only be good for my love of walking. I arrived in the storied … Continue reading Namib Notes: Welcome to Windy Windhoek
1st April is beginning to feel like one of my favourite dates. Some pretty significant milestones of my professional life has been marked by this 1st April date - and it's no joke 😉 This is especially in relation to my academic career trajectory in the Netherlands. Prior to my transition from being a professional … Continue reading FRICTIONS starts today!: lift-off time for my ERC Starting Grant project (Frictions of space: the generative tensions of slavery and colonial heritage tourism)
For this year, I happily accepted the invitation to deliver the keynote for the UU Heritage Lecture and the Dr. Albert van der Zeijden Thesis Award event organised yearly by Utrecht University and the Dutch Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage (KIEN). https://www.immaterieelerfgoed.nl/nl/activiteiten/uitreiking-dr-albert-van-der-zeijdenscriptieprijs-heritage-lecture There is still time to register for this upcoming event taking place in exactly three week's time … Continue reading “Selling the past to remember it”: Upcoming keynote at Utrecht University Heritage Lecture & Thesis Award event (11 April 2025)
Emmanuel Akwasi Adu-Ampong 