A workshop for junior researchers to be hosted by the Society of Caribbean Research (SoCaRe) and the Institute of Romance Languages at the Leibniz Universität Hannover (Germany).

January 23-25,  2013 (Application deadline July 31)
Hannover, Germany

The workshop aims to provide an opportunity for junior researchers (especially doctoral and postdoctoral candidates) to present their projects and engage in interdisciplinary cooperation on current perspectives regarding decolonial gender issues within Caribbean Research. Presentation languages are English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

See full CFP here for more information.

Please send paper abstracts (300 words) to juniorresearch@caribbeanresearch.net by July 31, 2012.

50th Anniversary Conference
University of Glasgow

May 10-11, 2013 (Abstracts due by October 31, 2012)

Regularly cited as one of the great sports books of the twentieth
century, C.L.R. James’ Beyond a Boundary (1963) is, by his own
famous definition, about far more than cricket. Developing a concern to
understand sport as part of a much wider social and political context (a
concern first articulated in his earlier writings for the Glasgow Herald),
James’ study is part-autobiography, part-historical study and partpolitical-
call-to-arms written against the backdrop of the decolonisation
struggles. His reflections thus reach out into a critical account of racism
and imperialism, into wider questions of aesthetics and popular culture,
and into the struggle for revolutionary social change which was the
enduring concern of his life. Crucially, James insisted that such
questions were not simply of concern to academics or to experts, but
were also a central part of what drew ordinary men and women to
sport.

Much loved, and widely read, James’ study has also been the subject of
searching criticism: he has been accused, among other things, of a
failure of critical judgement in relation to cricket’s role in the moral
framework of empire, of a lack of attentiveness to gendered
inequalities, and of a naïve faith in the spontaneity of popular political
resistance.

This conference is convened on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of
the publication of Beyond a Boundary, with the intention of both
celebrating and questioning, drawing out the book’s intellectual
legacies and identifying the issues it leaves unanswered. We would
welcome original papers dealing with any aspects of Beyond a
Boundary. These might include:

• critical engagement with or reinterpretation of James’ arguments
• studies of the production and reception of the book itself
• interpretations, via James, of contemporary sport
• reflections on the transnational responses to James’ text
• discussion of Beyond a Boundary within James’ wider corpus and in relation to his political practice
• papers reporting on the use of James’ insights and methods in social research, in teaching, in journalism or in political activism.

Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to Andy Smith:
andrew.smith.2@glasgow.ac.uk by October 31, 2012.

In keeping with James’ own practice, we would ask potential speakers to avoid unnecessary technical jargon,
and to prepare papers intended for a general audience.

Already confirmed keynote speakers for the conference are Mike
Brearley (former England Test captain and previously President of the
British Psychoanalytic Society), and Wai Chee Dimock (Department
of English, Yale) and Robert A. Hill (History, UCLA and C.L.R.
James’ Literary Executor).

An International Conference

Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies
Florida State University, 14-16 February 2013

Confirmed speakers: Arnold Antonin, J. Michael Dash, David Geggus, Dany Laferrière, Kettly Mars, Rodney Saint-Eloi. Bob Shacochis

Conference artist: Édouard Duval Carrié

Special closing event: Dany Laferrière at 60, a celebration

Despite its long periods of economic and political isolation, Haiti has always been an important global center, and a particularly modern entity. Born out of the anticolonial struggles of displaced peoples, an amalgam of diverse languages and cultures, it is quintessentially and irrevocably a creation of global modernity. In the earliest days of the nation, Haiti was not considered by its leaders as an anomalous state or an accident of history, but as an integral part of the Americas and of the broader world. Haiti was the center of a new energy that upset established orders across the globe, throwing up a set of challenges, changes, and paradoxes, the effects of which can still be felt to this day. In Haiti’s subsequent history, it has remained a global center, and its triumphs and struggles and their implications and meanings have always overflowed their immediate temporal and spatial contexts. Refusing to be seen as an aberration, a freak of history, Haiti and its meanings still exceed and go beyond its Caribbean borders, and have shaped the history and culture of the broader Americas and the world in significant, if often hidden and obscured ways. Moreover, contemporary globalization continues to have a significant impact on Haiti as it adjusts and responds to the political and social upheaval of the past decade.

This conference develops questions explored in the events organized by the Leverhulme Trust-funded Oxford Caribbean Globalizations project. Its aim is to bring to light Haiti’s role in shaping history, culture, politics and thought beyond its borders and throughout its history. Importantly, too, we aim to understand how the broader developments in global history and associated processes of globalization have impacted on Haiti. The global frame incorporates other frames, including the Caribbean, the Americas, and the Atlantic World; and we also invite proposals that consider Haiti’s position in any of these other geographical, continental and regional frames. Most generally, we welcome proposals for papers that offer new understandings of Haiti’s place in the world, and the world’s place in Haiti. The conference is interdisciplinary, and we encourage proposals for single papers and panels that offer innovative new approaches that relate to the following, non-exhaustive list of possible themes:

• The Revolution as a global event
• Haiti’s natural history and environmentalism
• Aristide and the Global Left
• Haitian music in the diaspora
• Haitian religion in the diaspora
• Global religious movements in Haiti
• Haitian visual art and its global presence
• Global commerce and its effects on Haiti
• Haiti in global literature
• Haiti in travel writing
• Haiti in film
• Global aid organizations and Haiti
• Global responses to disasters in Haiti
• The 2010 earthquake and its after-effects

To submit a proposal for a paper or a panel, please visit the following page: http://www.fsu.edu/~icffs/haiti_call_paper.html

Deadline for submissions: September 14, 2012.

For further information, please contact Martin Munro, mmunro@fsu.edu or Charles Forsdick, C.Forsdick@liverpool.ac.uk

The Question of the Social Sciences
A Small Axe Essay Competition

Small Axe is keen to encourage work in the critical and interpretive social sciences. We are interested in the ways in which such disciplines as anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology seek to grapple with the regional and diasporic Caribbean. This interest stems partly from the fact that the social sciences have been central, historically, to the construction of the “Caribbean” as an object of scholarly inquiry, and central therefore to what we understand the problems are that require investigation and interpretation. But in the past several decades there has been a considerable disciplinary upheaval (engendered by the rise, for example, of poststructuralism, postcolonial studies, and cultural studies) such that the character of the social sciences has altered, and perhaps also social science modes of engaging and constructing the
Caribbean. Continue reading The Question of the Social Sciences

From Nelson Maldonado-Torres, CPA President:

This is to let you know that we have extended the deadline for submitting paper, panel, round table, and workshops proposals for the CPA 2012 conference at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine to this coming Wednesday April 4th.  The original deadline was tomorrow March 31st.  The conference will be on July 19th to 21st.  News of accepted proposals will be sent by April 22nd.

Proposals can be submitted in multiple areas, including, epistemology, phenomenology, race and gender analysis, slavery, liberation, decoloniality, women of color feminism, political thought, and arts, literature, and the aesthetic, among others.

The CPA 2012 conference is sponsored by the Department of Liberal Arts and the Office of the Deputy Principal at the University of West Indies, St. Augustine, in Trinidad.  The main organizer is Dr. Paget Henry, Brown University.

Confirmed participants include:  Mireille Fanon Mendès France, Lewis R. Gordon, Jane Gordon, Paget Henry, Charles Mills, Michael Monahan, Catherine Walsh, and Nelson Maldonado-Torres, among others.

For more information go here: http://www.caribbeanphilosophicalassociation.org/CPA_2012.html

CFP: Abstract due April 1, 2012; full paper due May 1, 2012. See below for full details.

Conference on The Indian Diaspora in St. Vincent and the wider Caribbean
June 1-3, 2012
Convener: The St. Vincent Chapter of GOPIO International

Continue reading Indian Diaspora Conference in St. Vincent

The Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, 2012 edition, is now open for submissions. Entries must be submitted by 31 May 2012.

The CFP may be downloaded here. Details below and at  http://www.ttfilmfestival.com/submit/

Continue reading Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival

A conference on Caribbean Poetry will be held at Homerton College and the Faculty of Education from 20–22 September 2012.

Speakers and performers include John Agard, Beverley Bryan, Kei Miller, Mervyn Morris, Grace Nichols, Velma Pollard, Olive Senior, Dorothea Smartt.

Topics include:

• Caribbean poetry and the word
• Origins and histories of Caribbean poetry
• Critical engagement with the work of individual poets e.g. the work of
• Derek Walcott / Kamau Brathwaite / Lorna Goodison…
• Re-reading Caribbean poetry
• Caribbean poetry and music
• Ecocriticism and Caribbean poetry
• Caribbean landscapes
• Poetry as emancipation
• Caribbean British poetry
• Approaches to learning and teaching Caribbean poetry
• Migration and location in Caribbean poetry
• Gender in Caribbean poetry
• Caribbean poetry and postcolonial theory
• Caribbean poetry and the curriculum

For more details, see the CFP below and the Caribbean Poetry Project website.

CPP – The Power of Caribbean Poetry

***Please note, the deadline has been extended to March 2012.

Narrating the Caribbean Nation:  A Celebration of Literature and Orature
Convened by Peepal Tree Press at Leeds Metropolitan University
14th – 15th April 2012

Peepal Tree Press is pleased to announce that a two-day conference, Narrating the Caribbean Nation: A Celebration of Literature and Orature, will be held on 14-15th April 2012 at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. The conference will celebrate the Silver Anniversary of Peepal Tree Press and highlight the contribution of its own authors and other Caribbean and Black British writers to contemporary world literature. Continue reading Narrating the Caribbean Nation

Call for Papers
Caribbean Studies Association
37th Annual Conference
May 28-June 3, 2012

Le Gosier, Guadeloupe

en français/en español

The Caribbean Studies Association issues a call for papers for its 37th Annual Conference with the theme “Unpacking Caribbean Citizenship: Rights, Participation and Belonging.” We invite scholars, practitioners in the humanities, social sciences, public policy and members of civil society organizations whose works focus on the wider Caribbean and its diasporas to submit abstracts of approximately 250 words or less for research papers and presentations. We also welcome graduate student submissions and multi-lingual panels. Continue reading Caribbean Studies Association, 37th Annual Conference

El Museo’s Simposio

Caribbean: Crossroads of the World
El Museo del Barrio, New York
October 2012

Deadline for submissions is January 15, 2012.

El Museo del Barrio seeks submissions for El Museo’s Simposio, organized in conjunction with the exhibition Caribbean: Crossroads of the World.  The two-day symposium is conceived as an inter-disciplinary public program that enlists a range of fields including art history, history, ethnic studies, visual and performance studies, ethnomusicology, philosophy, religious studies, political science and economics. Continue reading Caribbean: Crossroads of the World

The College English Association, a gathering of scholar-teachers in English
studies, welcomes proposals for presentations on Caribbean Literature for
our 43rd annual conference.
The Association welcomes individual and panel presentation proposals that address
Caribbean literatures in general, including-but not limited to-the following
possible themes: Continue reading Caribbean Literature at the CEA

Conference, 5-7 July 2012, Kingsville, Texas

Texas A&M University-Kingsville

Susan Roberson kfslr00@tamuk.edu

Keynote Speaker: Gustavo Pérez-Firmat, Columbia University

Continue reading Exploring the Global Caribbean through Literary and Theoretical Texts