International Storytelling: Ghana

CCI undergraduate and graduate students taking this semester-long course with CCI professors Mitch McKenney, Suzi D’Enbeau and Tiffany Alexander spent spring break 2017 in Accra, Ghana, researching, writing, designing and producing multimedia stories related to aspects of the Ghanian culture.  One project focused on:

Queerness in Ghana

To better understand the complexities and perceptions surrounding this social issue, CCI graduate students Kelsey Husnick and Daniel Socha, advised by Dr. D’Enbeau, spent two weeks on the ground in Ghana interviewing 16 men and women of different religious backgrounds about their perceptions of queerness, Ghanian laws about queer individuals, and United Nations discourses about queer individuals. The impetus for this research project was a desire to better understand perceptions of queerness in Ghana. Ultimately, the CCI researchers hope their work will not only extend theoretical considerations of how policy and practice intersect but also inform better practices and policies for queer rights advocacy in Ghana.  

"Our trip to Ghana allowed me the opportunity to develop skills for researching in international settings. This project inspires me to continue research that is intertwined with social change and practical application,” said Socha.

"To complement this research, Daniel and I are also writing a feature story about LGBTQ advocacy leaders in Accra. My undergraduate degree is in journalism, and I want to use that background and media as a platform to translate academic research into content that is easily digestible by the public. I hope this is the first of many such international projects, as I get ready to start a doctoral program in the fall,” Husnick added.