Socialist De-Colony: Black and Soviet Entanglements in Ghana's Cold War
Led by the charismatic Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana won its political independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. It precipitated both the dying spiral of colonialism across the
African continent and the world's first Black socialist state. Utilising materials from Ghanaian, Russian, English, and American archives, Nana Osei-Opare offers a provocative and new reading of this defining moment in world history through the eyes of workers, writers, students, technical-experts, ministers, and diplomats. Osei-Opare shows how race and Ghana-Soviet spaces influenced, enabled, and disrupted Ghana's transformational socialist, Cold War, and decolonization projects to achieve Black freedom.
The Colloquia series at WashU's Department of History features scholarly talks by historians from both within and outside the university.
These events highlight ongoing research and foster academic dialogue on a wide range of historical topics. These lectures are open to the public and are designed to promote intellectual exchange and interdisciplinary inquiry.
This year's History Colloquium series brings together scholars working across disciplines to examine how crises are known, constructed, manufactured, and managed across different historical and contemporary contexts.