Prof Emerita Akosua Adomako Ampofo, a Sociologist and Professor of African and Gender Studies at the University of Ghana, has called for teaching and learning to be made meaningful to everyday life.

She said changing times required lecturers to adopt innovative approaches, including music, film, theatre and satire in cartoons, to better communicate with students.

“We need to also change the way we teach and learn. We can use other means to communicate with our students – music, Hiplife, film, theatre and satire in cartoons – because if they see it, they feel it,” Prof Emerita Ampofo said.

She was speaking at the Anton Wilhelm Amo Lecture 2025 on the theme: “Where are the therapeutic intellectuals? Popular culture and autobiographical narratives for justice and healing.”

The lecture, held in honour of Anton Wilhelm Amo, an academic luminary from Axim, sought to bring older and contemporary philosophers into conversation on reforming and rebuilding the academy.

Prof Emerita Ampofo said universities, students and lecturers had changed over the years, making traditional teaching methods less effective across disciplines.

She noted that subjects such as sociology and philosophy were often questioned for their relevance, stressing the need to teach in ways that allowed students to experience learning meaningfully.

She said using popular culture would not create boredom, but rather build confidence by helping learners connect knowledge to real-life situations, especially children who struggled with long classroom sessions and heavy texts.

“These are means to be more intellectually therapeutic because they allow engagement with students and help lecturers understand them better,” she said.

The Anton Wilhelm Amo Lecture 2025, the fifth in the series, also highlighted Amo’s legacy as the first African to earn two PhDs and his strong stance against slavery despite being taken to Europe as a child.

The lecture served as a reminder to the academic community and the public of Amo’s identity, scholarship and enduring contribution to intellectual freedom.