Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies

Nana Abena Amoah-Ramey, Ph.D., is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the IU Department of African American & African Diaspora Studies (AAADS). She currently serves as Coordinator of Student  Services for the Hutton Honors College’s Culture and Health Study Abroad  Program, from which  IU sends Study Abroad students to Ghana every other year. She also serves as a Commissioner on the City of Bloomington's Commission on Women's Status (BCSW).

In 2016, Dr. Amoah-Ramey earned her Ph.D. degree from the flagship Bloomington campus of Indiana University in African American & African Diaspora Studies (AAADS) with a minor in African Studies and a focus in Ethnomusicology. Her  undergraduate and M. Phil degrees in Ethnomusicology are from Ghana’s premier university, the University of Ghana. She received  part of her graduate education from  the Hanover’s Music and Theater University in Germany.

Dr. Amoah-Ramey’s research interests lie in African American & African Diaspora Literature as well as   African Popular Music and Cultures, Gender Roles and Representations, Diversity & Internationalization Innovative Teaching Pedagogies.

Dr. Amoah-Ramey’s first book, titled “Female Highlife Performers in Ghana: Expression, Resistance, and Advocacy, is published by Lexington Books. It is an expert account of the history and innovative challenges and progress, which have led to increased contributions of female performers in Ghana’s Highlife musical tradition. She is also the author of several review essays in refereed Journals, including a recently published article, titled “Biographies of two African American Women in Religious Music: Clara Ward and Rosetta Tharpe.” Her current  research and publishable projects are based on a comparative study of the similarities, continuities, and differences between popular female musicians in Africa, the American black diaspora, and selected geo-cultural international locations.

Dr. Amoah-Ramey, popularly known as Nana, is a proud recipient of the “Living Legend Award” of the Tau Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority Incorporated, a fellow of  the Transformative Learning Collegium at the Center for Teaching and Learning Services, and a Study Abroad Award recipient of  the Hutton Honors College for  Faculty training for Study Abroad training funded by the U. S. Department of State’s Capacity Building Program, all received in 2019 from  Indiana University.