On April 28, 2022, Arts & Health @ NYU and NYU Accra in partnership with the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, the Office of Global Programs, Office of Alumni Relations, NYU Center for the Humanities, and the Steinhardt Arts and Humanities Initiative presented the first in a series of conversations with faculty and community partners exploring the health benefits of the arts.
Arts + Health @ NYU Accra highlighted the central role of arts in health and healing in a Ghanaian context. It featured a keynote by Dr. Ama de-Graft Aikins, professor of social psychology and British Academy Global Professor at University College London's Institute of Advanced Studies, who illuminated the influence of indigenous arts-based healing practice in present-day public health campaigns including recent projects on Covid-19. Guest speakers included Kinna Likimani, founder of Nsona Books, and Dr. Kodjo Senah, associate professor of sociology at the University of Ghana.
The discussion included the expansion of research in health and the arts, as well as the considerations in broadening the professional scope of health and care to incorporate and uplift indigenous art practices. Dr. de-Graft Aikins stated that “the arts shouldn’t be seen as an added feature to health communication and health behavior, but as a core feature because the arts tap into imagination, memory, emotions, thinking, embodiment and sociality.”
Opening remarks were offered by Dr. Jack Knott, Dean of the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, Dr. Nisha Sajnani, founding co-director of Arts & Health @ NYU, and Frankie Edozien, Director of NYU Accra, with guest discussant Christopher Bailey, Arts and Health Lead, for the World Health Organization.
Arts & Health @ NYU is a university-wide initiative with a mission to advance research, practice, and understanding about how the arts contribute to our physical, mental, social, public, and environmental health. You can watch the full conversation here.
