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| Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences |
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| Activities - JB Danquah Lectures |
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| The J. B. Danquah Memorial Lecture
Series was instituted in 1968 in memory of a foundation
member of the Aca-demy, Dr Joseph Boakye Danquah,
who died in prison in February 1965, fighting for
freedom in all its manifest-ations. Described as
the 'doyen of Gold Coast politics', J. B. Danquah
was a lawyer, statesman, philosopher, scholar, novelist,
dramatist, and journalist. In the words of Mr. Justice
Nii Armaah Ollennu, Chairman of the Interim Council
of the Academy in 1967, "As a statesman of the first
rank, J. B. Danquah's indomitable courage and his
relentless fight against tyranny and oppres-sion
to the very last day of his life, will remain a
shining example to all lovers of freedom." The event
consists of a series of three lectures delivered
by either a fellow or a distinguished non-fellow.
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Dr. J.B. Danquah B.A.,
LL.B., PH.D. (LOND)
Foundation Fellow of the Academy |
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The themes for the Danquah Memorial lectures
were originally restricted to fields like law,
history, philosophy and literature, disciplines
whose study occupied the greater part of J. B.
Danquah's academic pursuits.
His Excellency W. B. Van Lare, a foundation member
of the Academy, who at the time was Ghana's High
Commissioner to Canada, and had had a long and
distinguished career at the bench, delivered the
maiden Danquah memorial lecture in 1968. The lecture
was on the topic, 'The Law, Human Rights and the
Judiciary.'
The Danquah Memorial Lecture series remained
within the domain of the humanities, until 1976,
when Professor F. T. Sai gave the first science
lecture on an otherwise humanities dominated platform.
Out of the 38 lectures given so far, twelve have
been on scientific themes.
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Some of the themes treated under
Danquah Memorial Lectures include 'Humanizing Science
and Technology;' 'Traditional Medicine in Ghana:
Practice, Problems and Prospects;' 'The Search for
Anti-HIV Drug - The Present Position;' 'Ghana: A
Nation in Crisis;' 'The Evolution of Medical Education
in Ghana from 1880-1960;' 'Biological Nitrogen:
Is it a Supplement or an Alternative to Nitrogenous
Fertilizers;' 'Land, Tenure Reform and Sustainable
Agriculture in Ghana;' 'Education in Ghana: A Tool
for Social Mobility or Social Stratification;' 'Reflections
on the Constitution, Law and Development" and 'Training
the Next Generation of Scientists.' Rev. Professor
K. Bediako gave the 2004 Danquah |
| Memorial Lecture series on the theme 'Religion, Culture and Language in Intellectual Development - A New Appreciation of the Legacy of Dr. J.B. Danquah'. In 2005, Emeritus Prof. Samuel Ofosu-Amaah addressed the theme: 'The Origins of Disease and the Future of Our Health'. |
| Prof. Kwesi Yankah, Honorary Secretary,
will mount the rostrum in February 2006, to give
the 39th in the series of J.B. Danquah Memorial
Lectures on the topic 'Education, Literacy and Governance
– A Linguistic Inquiry into Ghana’s Burgeoning Democracy'. |
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