Samuel Boateng, PhD Candidate and Teaching Fellow in Jazz Studies in the Department of Music, received one of the inaugural Immersive Dissertation Research Fellowships (IDRF). These fellowships incentivize and support dissertation projects that involve substantial professional development and will likely result in dissertation formats other than the conventional proto-monograph.

We met to discuss his project, “Jazz Sustainability in Ghana: Performance, Space, and Representation in Urban Africa.”

We first talked about how he was collaborating with institutions and communities in Ghana as part of his dissertation project. In 2018, when he “couldn’t find anything about the contemporary jazz scene” in Accra, he decided to work with musicians, clubs, journalists, and radio stations to help create and curate the Adepa Jazz Collection archive at the J. H. Kwabena Nketia Archives at the Institute of African Studies-University of Ghana, Legon. He donated some of his own research and recordings to university. 

He also worked with +233 Jazz Bar & Grill, a venue where the “best jazz groups in Ghana perform” and which hosts the International Jazz Day in partnership with UNESCO. This club also has a weekly slot for all-female bands and is open to young bands, highlife, and more. The club has “a way of documenting its own recordings,” but Samuel also recorded rehearsals, performances, and meetings.

Additionally, Samuel is working with the private archive of Nii Noi Nortey at Anyaa Arts Center and Library to add duplicates to the Adepa Jazz Collection as backup.

We then talked about how his research could lead to a multi-media dissertation. Boateng has been working on a 25 to 35-minute documentary film on jazz history, sustainability, and performance in Ghana that could possibly be incorporated into his dissertation. Now, with the Immersive Dissertation Research Fellowship funding, he hopes to return to Ghana and collect additional footage. He said the IDRF funding “changes the scope and number of people to be involved” in the film and will “help draw in other people to work with.” Additionally, “whole bands could be present for an interview,” or he could travel to older bands’ locations. Other benefits of the funding are that the quality of the film could be higher and that “the film can bring international attention to the work of musicians and their collaborators on the Ghana jazz scene.”

We concluded by talking about the Humanities Engage project overall. Boateng pointed out that, in fields like music, film, and dance, “the process of producing a document,” such as a dissertation, “involves other things than just a writing or reading in a library.” Therefore, he appreciated that the “goals of the fellowship are so broad.” 

This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Michele Krugh, PhD 
Project Coordinator, Humanities Engage 

March 30, 2020

Learn about all the Immersive Dissertation Research Fellowships