This is a short article I wrote (without the cartoons) for the University of Sheffield Doctoral Times Magazine. The final formatted version has been published and accessible from here https://www.flipsnack.com/Tuostimes/doctoral-times-issue-17.html (Pg. 13) It was during my undergraduate days in Ghana that I developed the romantic idea of becoming an academic. At that time, I saw being … Continue reading Reflections on the PhD journey: an academic life story
Academic Musings
Academic Christmas presents come early.
Finally, the wait is over. Sometimes, good things come in multiples and in quick succession 🙂 After months, years of hard work of revise-resubmit, some fruits have began to appear in December. The past three weeks have seen some publications came to full light. Now they look like proper published articles with the right elements. There are … Continue reading Academic Christmas presents come early.
What is the summary of your PhD thesis?
As I edge ever closer to the submission date of my PhD thesis, I can now relax a bit. I can afford to look back on a bizarre incidence that happened to me on Thursday 29 September, 2016. I had a scheduled meeting with my supervisor in the late afternoon but I decided to go … Continue reading What is the summary of your PhD thesis?
Metaphors we fly by: 2 weeks at the University of Surrey
How time flies! (that is a metaphor right there but I will get to that later). With a mixture of sadness and gladness, today is my last day in Guildford where I have been on a research visit to the University of Surrey for the past two weeks. It has been a very good and productive … Continue reading Metaphors we fly by: 2 weeks at the University of Surrey
Researcher Reflexivity in Planning Research: My view from Elmina, Ghana*
As a Ghanaian keenly interested in the development of my country I feel very frustrated most times when I think of the considerable abuse of power coupled with the systemic and structural constraints to innovative thinking among planners and policy makers. Within this context of yearning for development in Ghana, the conduct of my fieldwork … Continue reading Researcher Reflexivity in Planning Research: My view from Elmina, Ghana*
100 key research questions for the post-2015 development agenda: a research paper
I am please to announce the publication of a new research article that identifies 100 key questions to be considered in the context of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In March, 2015 I wrote a short blog post about a working paper that was published as part of a research project I was involved in … Continue reading 100 key research questions for the post-2015 development agenda: a research paper
Forcing the butterfly out of a cocoon: institutional formation and change in developing countries
In the first week of June, 2015 I attended a tourism research conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania organised by ATLAS Africa. For my presentations titled “Today is party A, tomorrow is party B”: the politics of the tourism-poverty nexus in Ghana I made the argument that the state is critical for tourism development and … Continue reading Forcing the butterfly out of a cocoon: institutional formation and change in developing countries
The pain, pain and some joy of transcription
Unlike mainly quantitative research that rely on the cliché of number crunching, interviews as used in qualitative research allow one to get access to a wealth of information that can provide insights over and above what the numbers tell. This makes the use of interview data in research a joy. However, the very joy of … Continue reading The pain, pain and some joy of transcription
On the making of academic country experts in international development
Just last week Thursday 12th March, 2015, I attended the 6th Annual Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID) Postgraduate Conference here at the University of Sheffield. This year's theme was “Reflecting on development: Global narratives, local realities” with a number of interesting PhD student presentations. A thought-provoking keynote address by Prof. Diana Mitlin raised a number of … Continue reading On the making of academic country experts in international development
Emmanuel Akwasi Adu-Ampong 