Amponsah, Nana-Akua

Dr. Nana-Aka Amponsah
Adjunct Assistant Professor, History
Email: namponsah@uncfsu.edu

EDUCATION

  • Jan. 2016 – May – Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies – University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT
  • Aug. 2008 – Dec. 2011 – Ph.D.: University of Texas at Austin, TX 
    • Major: African History
    • Minor: African Diaspora/Global History
    • Dissertation Title: Colonizing the Womb: Women, Midwifery, and the State in Colonial Ghana
  • Aug. 2006 – Dec. 2007 Master of Arts in History – Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS
    • Honors: Best Master’s Thesis Award
  • Aug. 2005 – May 2006 – Bachelor of Arts in History – Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Goodwell, OK  
    • Honors: Summa cum laude, President Honors Roll
  • Sept. 2000 – Dec. 2003  B. A. Student [Transferred] – University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana 
  • Aug. 1992 – Sept. 1995  Post Secondary Teacher’s Certificate ‘A’ – Abetifi Teacher Training College, Abetifi/University Of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana 

RESEARCH/TEACHING AREAS

  • African History 
  • African Diaspora 
  • Global History
  • Women, Gender, and Sexualities
  • Reproductive/Global Health
  • Oral History  
  • History and Memory

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

  • Jan. 2020 – Present - Adjunct Professor - Dept of IGPH, FSU-Fayetteville 
  • Jan. 2017 – Present - Adjunct Professor - History Department, UNC-Wilmington
  • Aug. 2012 – Dec. 2016 - Assistant Professor - History Department, UNC-Wilmington   
  • Aug. 2011 – May 2012 - Visiting Professor - History Department, St. Andrews Presbyterian College
  • Jan. 2011 – Dec. 2012 - Instructor – Virtual College History Department, Fort Hays State University
  • Aug. 2009 – May 2010 - Graduate Teaching Assistant - History Department, University of Texas at Austin
  • Aug. 2006 – Dec. 2007 - Graduate Teaching Assistant History Department, Fort Hays State University 
  • Nov. 1995 – Feb. 2003 - Elementary School Teacher Ghana Education Service, Ghana

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

  • Aug. 2018 – Present -  Physician Assistant - Coastal Carolina Neuropsychiatry 

RESEARCH GRANTS/FELLOWSHIPS/AWARDS

  • Nov. 2013 - Outstanding Service Award, TOFAC, Nigeria
  • March 2013 - Junior Scholar Excellence Award, UT-Austin
  • Feb. 2013 - Global Citizenship Grant, UNCW Office of International Programs
  • May 2011 - he Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, Summer
    • Research Grant, UT-Austin
  • Aug. 2010 - History Department Graduate Fellowship, UT-Austin
  • May 2009 - The Patrice Lumumba Research Fellowship in African History, UT-Austin
  • May 2009 - Research Grant for Doctoral Dissertation, UT-Austin 
  • Aug. 2008 - University of Texas Graduate School Diversity Fellowship, UT-Austin

PUBLICATIONS 

Articles

  • “Examining Health Determinants and Outcomes of Older Adults Across Ghana’s North-South Divide,” Journal of Public Health Policy. Vol. 46 (2025): 127-138.
  • “Native Midwives and the Transformation of Midwifery in Colonial Ghana,” Zambia Social Science Journal Vol. 21 (2014): 32-51.
  • “Childbirth Traditions in Ghanaian Immigrant Women’s Memory,” Women’s Studies An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 42.1 (2013): 53-77.
  • “Preserving the Heritage of the People: Local Historical Societies of the American West and their Contributions to the History of the Region,” Heritage of the Great Plains, Vol. XLII .2 (Winter 2010): 5-18.

Book Chapters and Encyclopedia Entries

  • “Beyond the Boundaries: Toyin Falola on African Culture,” in Afolabi, Niyi. Toyin Falola: The Man, the Mask, the Muse (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2010).
  • “Recovering Our Histories: Memoirs as Historical Source,” in Standing on African Ground: Critical Thoughts on A Mouth Sweeter than Salt edited by Tushabe wa Tushabe (Durham: NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2014). 
  • “Denkyira,” in African Kingdoms: An Encyclopedia of Empires and Civilizations, edited by Saheed Aderinto (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC/CLIO, 2013)
  • “Women and Local Government in Africa: Gender, Resistance, Empowerment” co-authored with Janet Serwah Boateng, in The Palgrave Handbook of African Women’s Studies, edited by Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso and Toyin Falola (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).

Books

  • Women, Gender, and Sexualities in Africa (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2013), co-edited.
  • Beyond the Boundaries: Toyin Falola and the Art of Genre-Bending (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2013), edited. 
  • Women’s Roles in Sub-Saharan Africa (Women’s Roles through History) (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2012), co-authored with Toyin Falola.

Book Reviews 

  • Review of Indigenous Medicine and Knowledge in African Society (New York: Routledge, 2007) by Kwasi Konadu. African Studies Quarterly, Vol. 10, Issue 4 (Spring 2009).
  • Review of Recent Themes in the History of Africa and the Atlantic World: Historians in Conversation (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2008) by Donald A. Yerxa, ed. African Studies Quarterly, Vol. 10, Issue 4 (Spring 2009).
  • Review of James Sidbury, Becoming African in America: Race and Nation in the Early Black Atlantic (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007). Journal of Pan African Studies.
  • Review of Giles-Vernick, Tamara and James L.A. Webb, Jr., eds. Global Health in Africa: Historical Perspectives on Disease Control (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2013). African Studies Quarterly – Forthcoming. 
  • Review of Heaton, Matthew M. Black Skin, White Coats: Nigerian Psychiatrists, Decolonization, and the Globalization of Psychiatry (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2013). African Studies Quarterly – Forthcoming.  

CONFERENCES/PRESENTATIONS

  • Jan. 2 – Jan. 5, 2015 - Attendee - American Historical Association Conference, New York City
  • Nov. 21 – Nov. 23, 2013 - Chair/Presenter -African Studies Association Conference, Baltimore, MD
    • Topic: “Migrations, Movements and Re-creations: Toyin Falola’s Ibadan as a Template.”/ “Global Migrations, Movements and the Marginalization of Africa: Domestication of Science and Technology - in the Mother Tongue as the Way Forward.”
  • Nov. 17 – Nov. 19, 2011 - Attendee - African Studies Association Conference, Washington, DC
  • Nov. 11 – Nov. 13, 2010 - Presenter - National Women’s Studies Association Conference, Denver, CO
    • Topic: “Re-making Ghanaian Motherhood in Colonial Ghana.” 
  • Feb. 29 – Mar. 2, 2008 - Presenter - Missouri Valley History Conference, Omaha, NE
    • Topic: “Tradition and Modernity: The History of Family Planning in Ghana.”
  • Feb. 28 – Mar. 3, 2007 - Presenter - Missouri Valley History Conference, Omaha, NE
    • Topic: “Ute Indians and the Southwest Slave Trade.”

PROFESSIONAL/VOLUNTARY SERVICES

  • Nov. 2013 – Present - Editorial Board -African Histories and Modernities series, Palgrave Macmillan
  • Oct. 24, 2013 - Lecture - UNCW Upperman Center Africana Studies Series
    • Topic: “I Like your Skin Color: The Functionality of Skin Bleaching among African Women.”
  • Aug. 26, 2013 - Lecture - UNCW Osher LifeLong Learning Institute
    • Topic: Reproductive Politics in Ghana.
  • Oct. 12, 2013 - Convener - African History Conference, “Beyond the Boundaries: Toyin Falola and African Historiography. University of North Carolina Wilmington.
  • Mar. 26 – Mar. 28, 2010 : Co-Coordinator - The 10th Annual Africa History Conference on “Women, Gender, and Sexualities in Africa,” University of Texas at Austin, TX. 
  • Mar. 27 – Mar. 27, 2010 : Coordinator - African Feminist Series, African and African American Center, University of Texas at Austin, TX
  • Mar. 27 – Mar. 29, 2009 : Volunteer - Africa History Conference, University of Texas at Austin, TX
  • Nov. 14 – Nov. 16, 2008 : Volunteer - Making Race, Making Health Conference, University of Texas at Austin, TX

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS/AFFILIATIONS

  • May 2018 – Present -American Academy of Physician Associates
  • Aug 2012 – Present - United Nations Association, Coastal Carolina Chapter 
  • Jan. 2010 – Present - National Women’s Studies Association 
  • Jan. 2010 – Present - African Studies Association