The West African Research Association (WARA) held its annual summer institute in partnership with the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, July 17 through July 31, 2005. The institute, which was titled “The Changing Dynamics of Memory and Community in West African History and Anthropology”, was directed by Professor Sandra Greene, who is the chair of the Cornell University History department. WARA Summer Institutes are intensive multi-disciplinary programs aimed at enhancing the capacity of US-based faculty to teach about West Africa. By bringing together faculty from a range of institutions in the US as well as West Africa, the WARA Summer Institute serves to facilitate scholarly exchange between colleagues, thus broadening the perspectives and understandings of participants and their ability to convey accurate and nuanced perspectives on the history of West Africa and its ongoing relationship with its Diasporas. The twelve participants at the institute represented universities in the United States, as well as the University of La Laguna in the Canary Islands, the University of Lagos, and the University of Ghana.