About

Stephan F. Miescher is a professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a Ph.D. from Northwestern University obtained in 1997. His research focuses on the history of nineteenth and twentieth-century West Africa, particularly Ghana. His work explores themes such as gender, masculinities, development, technology, and oral history in Africa. Miescher's first book, 'Making Men in Ghana,' examines the history of masculinities through life histories of eight men, while his recent monograph, 'A Dam for Africa: Akosombo Stories from Ghana,' investigates Ghana's largest development project, the Akosombo Dam completed in 1965. He is currently working on a new project about the ecologies and infrastructures of Ghana's Volta Lake. Miescher has also engaged with historical questions related to gender, sexualities, development, Africa's environments, and oral history practices. His scholarly contributions include editing volumes, articles, and a documentary film, and he has received recognition such as the Sidney M. Edelstein Prize and nominations for other awards. Miescher is actively involved in academic leadership and fellowship activities, including serving as a senior research fellow at the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Law
• Ecology
• Environmental planning
• Physics
• Environmental resource management
• Engineering
• Archaeology
• Geography
• Quantum mechanics
• Fishery
• Environmental ethics
• Philosophy
• Environmental science
• Water resource management

Selected publications

• Stephan F. Miescher. A Dam for Africa. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2022. 598 pp. Maps. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $50. Paper. ISBN: 9780253059956.

  African Studies Review · 2024-12-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Ghana’s Volta River Project

  2024-01-01

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Ghana: Akosombo Dam disaster reveals a history of negligence that continues to this day

  2023-11-21

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Ndubueze L. Mbah. Emergent Masculinities: Gendered Power and Social Change in the Biafran Atlantic Age. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2019. 309 pp. List of Illustrations. Appendix: Lineage Charts. Glossary. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $34.95. Paper. ISBN: 978-0821423899.

  African Studies Review · 2023-01-19

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Ndubueze L. Mbah. Emergent Masculinities: Gendered Power and Social Change in the Biafran Atlantic Age. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2019. 309 pp. List of Illustrations. Appendix: Lineage Charts. Glossary. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $34.95. Paper. ISBN: 978-0821423899. - Volume 66 Issue 1

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Energy Justice in Global Perspective: An Introduction

  Media+Environment · 2022 · 5 citations

  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Sociology

  By Javiera Barandiarán, Mona Damluji & 3 more. The introduction to the 'Energy Justice in Global Perspective' stream, in which the articles advance a just global energy transition by centering voices and epistemologies of historically marginalized groups.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Dam for Africa

  Indiana University Press eBooks · 2022-07-12 · 24 citations

  book1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Ghana's Akosombo Dam, Volta Lake Fisheries & Climate Change

  Daedalus · 2021 · 11 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Geography
  • Water resource management

  Abstract In Ghana, the Pwalugu Dam in the Upper East is in the final planning stage. Whereas promoters of Ghana's first dams emphasized the need for generating electricity to modernize and industrialize the new nation, the planners of Pwalugu have focused on water issues. Due to climate change, droughts have had a devastating impact on local agriculture. The dam's primary purpose is an irrigation scheme and flood control. This essay historicizes these concerns by revisiting the Akosombo Dam, Ghana's largest hydroelectric dam, completed in 1965. The discussion juxtaposes personal recollections of dam-affected communities with reports by administrators, biologists, and social scientists. The essay draws on government records, scientific studies about Volta Lake, and oral histories. Ultimately, it argues, builders and administrators of the Akosombo Dam failed to address most water issues, despite ample knowledge about their existence. One hopes that these shortcomings will not be repeated in the Pwalugu project.

  PublisherDOI

• Acknowledgments

  Duke University Press eBooks · 2020

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science

  Completing a book is a monumental task that, while solitary, is never accomplished alone.I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people and organ izations that were a part of making this study pos si ble.This study would not have been pos si ble without the financial support of numerous funding organ izations.

  DOI

• Masculinities

  2018-08-31 · 1 citations

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• From Pato to Parlor.

  Global and European Studies Institute (GESI), Universität Leipzig · 2018-01-09

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Vom pato zur Wohnstube. Häuslichkeit, männlichkeit, religiöser Raum und alternative Archive im Ghana des 20. Jahrhunderts Die Missionare, die vor 150 Jahren im heutigen Südwest-Ghana ankamen, fanden eine Form häuslicher Architektur vor, die weitgehend von Gender-Prinzipien geprägt war. Jeder, der es sich leisten konnte, baute in seinem Gehöft einen auf drei Seiten geschlossenen Plattform (pato), wo er Besucher empfangen konnte. Ebenfalls wichtig war der Raum, in dem die sakralen Hocker der matrilinearen Ahnen aufbewahrt wurden. Mit der Ausbreitung des Christentums im frühen 20. Jahrhundert entstand eine neue Klasse gebildeter Männer, die zwar im Einklang mit den Forderungen der Missionare zusammen mit der Ehefrau und den Kindern in einem Haus wohnten, aber innerhalb davon eine Stube hatten, die einen männlichen Raum darstellte. Sie übernahm sowohl die Funktion des sakralen Hockerraums (sie war mit christlicher Ikonographie geschmückt und diente unter anderem als Gebetsraum) als auch die des Besucherraums. Dieser Wandel in der Architektur widerspiegelte den Übergang zu einem neuen Männertypus

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Peter J. Bloom

  20 shared

• Angela Impey

  16 shared

• Ken Hillis

  16 shared

• Sarika Chandra

  Fordham University

  16 shared

• Lisa V. Alexander

  UNSW Sydney

  16 shared

• Emily Cheng

  Presbyterian Hospital

  16 shared

• Joanna At

  University of the Witwatersrand

  16 shared

• Ashley Lucas

  University of Johannesburg

  16 shared

Labs

• Department of History, UC Santa BarbaraPI

Awards & honors

• Senior Research Fellow, Merian Institute for Advanced Studie…
• Co-Convener, Andrew F. Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar on t…
• Co-Editor, Ghana Studies Journal, 2008-2013
• Co-Director, University of California African Studies Multi-…
• UC President's Fellowship in the Humanities, 2010-2011