During this past summer I was in Ghana for fieldwork as part of my VENI research project. It was such a rewarding and challenging time in the field. I made copious observational notes and wrote my reflections on a daily basis during this time. However, since returning to the Netherlands and given the hectic start … Continue reading Lift every voice and sing: sound, emotion and affect in the fieldwork encounter
I am delighted to say that as from today 1st April, I am taking up a new position as a Lecturer in Cultural Geography at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. In many ways this feels like the closing of a circle for me and the family. Then again, it might just be the closing of … Continue reading Hello Wageningen, Hello Geography! We meet again…
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
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
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*
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
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
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
“Oh, so you are a planner” “Will you go and work as a planning officer when you complete?” “Hurry up and come help plan our country” These are some of the most common comments I tend to get when I inform people that am doing a PhD at the Department of Town and Regional Planning, … Continue reading Why I am an unplanned PhD planner
Emmanuel Akwasi Adu-Ampong 