The 2013-14 academic year got off to an exciting start with an important symposium to commemorate our 10th anniversary celebration. In cooperation with NYU Florence, NYU’s School of Medicine, and our local partner institution, the University of Ghana, Legon, we hosted the symposium, “Healing Environment and the Creative Arts.” The symposium was organized to create awareness of the immense role the creative arts play in wellness and in healing.
Speakers at the symposium included Dr. Cheryl Heaton, the Director of the NYU Global Institute of Public Health, who is also the Dean of Global Public Health, NYU. Dr. Richard Ingersoll from NYU Florence presented a paper on therapeutic gardens. Dr. Sammy Ohene, Chair, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ghana Medical School spoke about traditional and modern healing in patient-doctor relationships. The local and international speakers explored important questions including how to define a positive healing space, how to provide a balanced healing relationship between patient and healer, and how to identify healing forces or measure healing outcomes. The event was well attended and well received, and we recently published a collection of the abstracts, which is available here (PDF).
During the fall semester, thirty-two students in Accra had the opportunity to select from seventeen courses taught by local part-time faculty and a visiting faculty member from NY. The courses included language study, literature, creative writing, music, film, public health, psychology, sociology, anthropology, history and metropolitan studies. The site welcomed a new faculty member, Dr. Alice Boateng, who took over the Internship Seminar and Fieldwork course.
In addition to their experiences in the classroom, most students participated in academic internships and volunteer or community service activities. These activities involved working at special schools, health facilities, microfinance institutions, government departments, non-for-profit organizations, and media outlets. Service learning is a flagship program of NYU Accra and provides valuable opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the local society.
NYU Accra also welcomed the Center for Technology and Economic Development (CTED), a research center at NYU Abu Dhabi, which has just opened a facility across the road from NYU Accra. CTED focuses on the development of innovative and cutting edge technologies that can significantly impact economic development with a specific focus on problems faced in under-developed areas around the world.
Based in Abu Dhabi, CTED now maintains branches in New York, Accra, and soon Addis Ababa. CTED plans to involve both undergraduates at NYU Accra and resident Ghanaian scholars in its research activities.