Ohio Northern University faculty member Robert Waters, assistant professor of history, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to travel to Ghana and gain firsthand involvement with a region he has researched and written about extensively.
Beginning in July, Waters will spend five months teaching two history classes and conducting research at the University of Ghana. Waters has taught numerous courses on African history and politics, and he has written a book, “Historical Dictionary of United States Relations with Africa.”
In following his previous research pursuits, Waters plans to study Ghana’s development with an emphasis on the nation’s relations with the United States. He is scheduled to interview former Ghana President Jerry Rawlings, among other individuals who have been central to the nation’s growth.
As an outcome from the experience, Waters looks to write several scholarly articles centered on the research he will undertake.
Ghana has an intriguing history.
“Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence, which it achieved in 1957,” Waters said. “Consequently, it was the most influential country in Africa, and other countries on the continent looked to it as a leader. At one time, Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, tried to create a United States of Africa, which would have been similar to the United States of America.”
Waters’ Fulbright continues a trend of recent Fulbright-related academic endeavors at ONU. Faculty member Katherine Krynak, assistant professor of biology, was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Ecuador during spring 2017. Recent college of law graduate Ann Mulhern was selected for a Fulbright-Clinton Public Policy Fellowship in Timor-Leste’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries beginning in fall 2016.
Further, Waters’ wife, Sarah Waters, Ph.D., associate professor in ONU’s music department, wrote a Fulbright grant that led to ONU hosting Benjamin Ayittey, the artistic director of the Ghana Dance Ensemble, during the 2015-16 academic year. She also was a Fulbright Scholar during the 1999-2000 academic year.
The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by then-Sen. William Fulbright of Arkansas. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Currently, the Fulbright Program operates in more than 60 countries worldwide.
