Kwesi Yankah (PhD)
Emeritus Professor: Linguistics & Communication
Professor Emeritus Kwesi Yankah combines accomplishments of three kinds: he has written important linguistic and social analyses of African folklore; he is a public intellectual and essayist with a large following in Ghana; and he has been a significant educational administrator. His works on royal oratory in Ghana, on proverb praxis, and the significance of literacy are widely read and appreciated. He was an important newspaper columnist over many years. Having served as pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, and then as Vice Chancellor at Central University, he went on to serve as Ghana’s Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education.
Leadership
- African linguistics and sociolinguistics.
- Oral traditions and communication in African societies.
- African humanities and cultural studies.
- Traditional communication and the role of the okyeame in Akan society.
- Folklore and globalization’s impact on African oral traditions.
- Proverbial symbolism and visual communication in African cultures.
- Power dynamics in formal speech and oratory.
- Public intellectualism and the politics of knowledge production in Africa.
- Yankah, K., ‘Beyond the Political Spider: Critical Issues in African Humanities.’ (2021) African Humanities Series, NISC.
- Yankah, K., ‘Speaking for the Chief: Okyeame and the Politics of Akan Royal Oratory.’ (1995) Indiana University Press.
- Yankah, K., ‘African Folk and the Challenges of a Global Lore.’ (1998) 37(3) American Folklore Society Journal 303.
- Yankah, K., ‘Power and the Circuit of Formal Talk.’ (1994) 31(1) Journal of Folklore Research 65.
- Yankah, K., ‘Visual Icons and the Akan Concept of Proverb Authorship.’ (1994) 7(2) Journal of African Cultural Studies 119.
- Ph.D. in Linguistics, Indiana University, USA (Awarded the prestigious Esther Kinsley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation).
- Master’s Degree in Linguistics, University of Ghana, Legon.
- Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, University of Ghana, Legon.
