The Ghana Gold study tour is an annual program that will take 16 students to Ghana for two weeks in January. The tour will be led by four Tufts professors, one University of Ghana lecturer, and two staff (both graduates of Tufts with ANW minors) and will have 11 focused learning modules.

"Gold" as the focus for analyzing Ghana's corporate social responsibility programs: The Ghana Gold study tour examines how the notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is being constructed, deconstructed, contested and reconstituted in the context of Ghana’s gold mining industry. The tour will explore the various and sometimes conflicting meanings of CSR as it is broadly embraced by different segments of the business world, Ghanaian, and transnational civil society. Concepts to be addressed within the context of CSR include: Social Accountability and Transparency, Sustainable Development, Gold as a Commodity Money, and Cultural Agency. These concepts contextualize and problematize the overarching CSR framework.

With the University of Ghana at Legon as the starting point, the road map will follow the trail of governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations in Accra, the nation’s capital; Extra Gold mining company in the rural town of Kwabeng; the palace of the King of the Asante Region in Kumasi; the AngloGold Ashanti mining company in Obuasi; and the Elmina Slave Castle — providing opportunities to confer with mining executives, industrial and independent gold miners, geologists, trade unionists, environmental lawyers, epidemiologists, mining and irrigation engineers, environmental NGOs, an aqua-ecologist, Asante royals, government officials, politicians, technocrats, policy analysts, a creative artist, and university specialists. The planning tour visited the eleven sites that will be core curriculum for the study tour.

Ghana Gold Personnel

Who is the Ghana Gold Study Tour For?

First year and sophomore students in both the School of Arts and Science and the School of Engineering at Tufts are the target audience for this study tour. The aim is to provide students with exposure to Africa early on in their academic careers. This is the stage at which students can most benefit from the opportunity to develop a coherent, forward-looking perspective on their curricular and extracurricular experiences at Tufts.

The ANW program is using the study tour format as one of the structural elements in its curricular offerings. All students who participate in the tour must take a GhanaGold colloquium in the Spring semester. In addition, curriculum development opportunities with relevant courses in departments including Anthropology, Art History, Economics, English, Environmental and Civil Engineering, Community Health, Geology, Political Science, Sociology, and Urban and Environmental Policy will be identified. A list of introductory level courses in these departments will establish a baseline for eligibility.

Tufts students are known for their interest in international studies and civic engagement. This tour combines both of these elements, allowing students to visit Africa not as tourists but as engaged global citizens.

A limited number of seats will be available for other interested parties.