Dr. Reginald A. Bess, past president of the College Language Association, past president of the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies, and professor of World Languages, Afro-German Literature, and Afro-Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies, has been invited to lecture at the University of Acra in Accra, Ghana in conjunction with the 2026 International Conference on Afro-Hispanic, Luso-Brasilian, and Latin American Studies to be held August 4-8, 2026. The lecture is titled “Race and Identity in the Life and works of the Afro-Cuban Poets Nicolas Guillén and Nancy Morejón.”
During his ten-day stay (July 31, 2026-August 10, 2026), he will visit the city of Kumasi, the cultural center of the ancient Asante civilization, and to Sharma, the burial site of Dr. Anton-Wilhelm Amo, the first Black African to earn the Ph.D. degree (University of Wittenberg, Germany, April 17, 1734). To prepare for these visits, Dr. Bess has been studying TWI, the language of the Ashante, and GA, the language of the Akan.A frequent Guest Columnist of the Carolina Panorama newspaper, Dr. Bess is a member of several linguistic, literary, political, and social organizations, and is a Life Member of the NAACP (Gold Status) and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. (Lifetime Achievement Awardee, Columbia Alumni chapter).