CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Photo Archive

Below is an excerpt from the press release announcing the CUNY Dominican Studies (DSI)’s launch of “First Blacks in the Americas,” a digital photo archive (via Flickr) of images from the colonial Dominican Republic.

The original press release was posted on 17 December 2012 and can be accessed here.

The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute at The City College of New York (CUNY DSI) announced today that it has made accessible on the Internet an extensive collection of photographs of places and monuments from early colonial times of the Dominican Republic.

The searchable collection, titled “First Blacks in the Americas,” contains more than 2,900 photographs, organized in 57 sets, of historic monuments built during the Dominican Republic’s colonial period. These buildings, churches, houses and sites of industrial and artisan production date to when what is today the Dominican nation began to develop as the first colony of the Spanish empire in the Americas.   Continue reading CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Photo Archive

Critical Caribbean Studies: Spring 2013

Below are announcements for Spring 2013 events to be held by Critical Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. For more information about any of these events, contact Donavan Ramon (donavanramon@gmail.com).

 

1) CRITICAL CARIBBEAN STUDIES, THEORY AND THE DISCIPLINES BROWN BAG SERIES:

THE CALENDAR FOR THE SPRING 2013 BROWN BAG SERIES is as follows (unless otherwise noted, all Brown Bag events are at noon in the CCS seminar room in Corwin B, Douglass campus):
February 20: Strategic Meeting of CCS Affiliates @ noon
February 27: Visit @ noon with H. Adlai Murdoch, author of CREOLIZING THE METROPOLE: MIGRANT CARIBBEAN IDENTITIES IN LITERATURE AND FILM (Indiana UP, 2012) — (in conjunction with his lecture at 4:30, 2/27, organized by Nelson Maldonado Torres and the Critical Caribbean Studies, Theory and the Disciplines Cluster);
March 13: Talk @ noon entitled “Archipelagic Colonial Spaces: The Spread of Disciplinary Institutions in Puerto Rico and the US Insular Territories,” by Lanny Thompson, author of IMPERIAL ARCHIPELAGO: REPRESENTATION AND THE RULE IN THE INSULAR TERRITORIES UNDER US DOMINION AFTER 1898 (U of Hawaii Press, 2010) — (in conjunction with his lecture at 4:30, 3/13, in the Pane Room, Alexander Library, organized by Yolanda Martinez San Miguel and the Archipelagic Studies and Creolization Cluster);
March 27: Talk @ noon entitled “Notes Toward Decolonizing ‘Gender’: Conversations in Methodology” by Xhercis Mendez (Binghamton, PhD student) — organized by Yolanda;
April 17: Discussion @ noon of paper titled, “Archipelagic Diaspora, Geographical Form, and Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God,” by ” Brian Russell Roberts, author of ARTISTIC AMBASSADORS: LITERARY AND INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION OF THE NEW NEGRO ERA (U of Virginia Press, 2013) — (in conjunction with his classroom visit and discussion of “Archipelagic American Studies” at 4:30, 4/15, organized by Michelle Stephens and the Archipelagic Studies and Creolization Cluster);
April 24: Talk @ noon by Jean Beauchamp (University of Paris 8, PhD student, Political Philosophy) — organized by Donavan Ramon and the Graduate Affiliates Group;

 

2) CCS LECTURES:

In addition to the lectures by H. Adlai Murdoch (2/27), Lanny Thompson (3/13) and Brian Russell Roberts (4/ 15):

Monday, February 11th, 6:15 pm, Murray Hall 207, College Campus: Yarimar Bonilla and the Caribbean Colonialities Cluster are trying to bring self-described multi-media historian Vincent Brown, author of THE REAPER’S GARDEN: DEATH AND POWER IN THE WORLD OF ATLANTIC SLAVERY (Harvard UP, 2010), to give a lecture on his use of GSI and other mapping technologies for his work in the archives tracking Caribbean rebellions and his work in the digital world more broadly.

 

3) CCS ONE DAY CONFERENCE: NEW DIRECTIONS IN CARIBBEAN SOUND

Friday, April 26th: Carter Mathes and the Caribbean Aesthetics, Poetics and Politics Cluster, with the help and co–sponsorship of Carlos Fernandez and CLAC, are organizing an intellectual gathering that brings together Caribbean Studies scholars working in the fields of music and sound studies to present their scholarship and engage in a day of conversations regarding the aesthetics and politics of sonic culture, music, and performance within and emanating from the Caribbean archipelago.

 

4) CO-SPONSORED CONFERENCES:

Also put on your calendars these spring conferences on Caribbean material that CCS is helping to sponsor:

i) March 7-9: Writing Through the Visual/ Virtual: Inscribing Language, Literature and Culture in Francophone Africa and the Caribbean (organized by Renée Larrier (CCS member) & Ousseina Alidou at the Center for African Studies);

ii) March 28-29: Curating Guantanamo (organized by Andy Urban, American Studies).

iii) April 12: Re-visiting Images and identities: Thirty years of Puerto Rican Literature (organized @ Rutgers University–Newark by Yolanda Martinez San Miguel and

A Different Imagination of the Caribbean

A visit by film director and scholar Patricia Mohammed to Rutgers University, New Brunswick
November 27 – 29

Activities include:

Tuesday, November 27
Ruth Dill Johnson Crockett Building Conference Room, 162 Ryders Lane

6:30 p.m
Reception

7:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m
Film screening and conversation with the Director, Patricia Mohammed. “Windows to the Past”-22 mins and “The Sign of the Loa”-20 mins, both edited by Luke Paddington

Moderator: Anjali Nerlekar (AMESALL) Continue reading A Different Imagination of the Caribbean

Against Recovery?: Slavery, Freedom, and the Archive

Friday, November 30th – Saturday, December 1st
King Juan Carlos Center
New York University
53 Washington Square South

An interdisciplinary conference that aims to foster discussion and debate about how emerging methods and archival practices in the study of slavery and freedom can generate new ideas about black political narratives in the Americas. We bring together scholars whose work asks what happens if we do not look to the archive as merely a space of recovery and vindication, but as one in which we can glimpse the multiple ways our subjects might have fashioned blackness and imagined futures that do not sit easily with more common historical narratives of progress and continuity.

Space is limited. To register, email againstrecovery@gmail.com.  In your RSVP, please indicate if you will/will not be attending the works-in-progress seminar and/or Friday lunch.

Schedule below. Continue reading Against Recovery?: Slavery, Freedom, and the Archive

The Theory of Haiti with David Scott

Tuesday, November 13
1:30pm

As part of the program of events related to Nottingham Contemporary’s current exhibition, Kafou; Haiti, Art and Vodouleading post-colonial theorist David Scott will present a talk entitled The Theory of Haiti.

In his talk, Scott will explore the political implications of how Haiti’s past is conceived in relation to the present and future through a reconsideration of C. L. R. James’s masterpiece of anti-colonial history, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution. A post-lecture discussion, which will open up to responses from the audience, will be led by Christian Høgsbjerg.

The talk will be broadcast via Nottingham Contemporary’s Website.

 

 

 

2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

The 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is now open for entries.

Deadline for submissions: 4 December 2012

The Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000 – 5000 words). Submissions must be made by the author of the short story.

Regional winners receive £1,000 and the overall winner receives £5,000.

For more details, visit:
http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/prizes/commonwealth-short-story-prize/2013-prize/

Inter-American Foundation (Doctoral) Fellowship Program

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) Fellowship Program: Doctoral Fellowships

Deadline for application: January 22, 2013

From the IAF announcement:

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) was created in 1969 by the United States Congress to fund the self-help initiatives of the organized poor in Latin America and the Caribbean and the groups that directly support them. To complement its work, the IAF fellowships provide support for Ph.D. candidates from United States universities to conduct dissertation research in Latin America and the Caribbean on topics related to grassroots development.

IAF’s Fellowships are intended to increase awareness of grassroots development efforts while building a community of professionals and scholars knowledgeable in the subject. Fellows examine the efforts of the rural and urban poor to improve their lives, their methods of organization and production, and the policies and programs designed to alleviate their poverty. Funding is for between four and 13 months. The Inter-American Foundation expects to award up to 15 Doctoral Field Research Fellowships in 2013.

For more information and to apply, please visit www.iie.org/iaf

The Accursed Circumstance: Virgilio Piñera Conference

The Accursed Circumstance:
Virgilio Piñera Centennial Conference at Stony Brook University
Nov 8-9, 2012

Nov 8
, 1:00pm – 4:15pm
Stony Brook Univ, Main Campus
Wang Center, Lecture Hall 1


Nov 9
, 9:30am – 8:00pm
Stony Brook -Manhattan
387 Park Avenue South, 3rd Floor
(entrance at 101 East 27th Street)


With the participation of
 Gerard Aching, Mariana Amato, Thomas Anderson, Jorge Brioso, Lena Burgos-Lafuente, Ana María Dopico, Abilio Estévez, Licia Fiol-Matta, Javier Guerrero, Noel Luna, Modesto Milanés, Antonio José Ponte, Juan Carlos Quintero-Herencia, José Quiroga, Enrique del Risco, Rafael Rojas, Aurea María Sotomayor.

Caribbean Writers at the Brooklyn Book Festival

Caribbean writers will be represented at the Brooklyn Book Festival this Sunday, September 23. Below are the panels featuring Caribbean writers. Of special note are the 2pm and 3pm panels (in the Community Room) focused on Caribbean writing. More information available at the Brooklyn Book Festival’s site.

10:00 A.M. Home Is Not A Place. Four authors read and discuss their books whose protagonists are challenged to create and negotiate their identity in a new homeland–a journey fraught with confusion, rebellion and uncertain outcomes. Graphic novelist Leela Corman (Unterzakhn), and authors Patricia Engel (Vida), Luis Alberto Urrea (Into the Beautiful North) and Jose Manuel Prieto (Nocturnal Butterflies of the Russian Empire). Moderated by Tiphanie Yanique (How to Escape from a Leper Colony). At Saint Francis Screening Room (180 Remsen Street).

11:00 A.M. Another Fine Mess You’ve Gotten Me Into.  Marie-Helene Bertino (Safe as Houses), Karen Thompson Walker (The Age of Miracles) and Earl Lovelace (Is Just a Movie)plop their characters into almost unbelievable, surreal situations. Join us as they discuss the inspiration behind these settings. Moderated by Anderson TepperVanity Fair. At Saint Francis Auditorium (180 Remsen Street).

12:00 P.M. Rewriting HistoryJamie Manrique (Cervantes Street), Esmeralda Santiago(Conquistadora) and Ellis Avery (The Last Nude) read and discuss their historical novels, filled with vivid characters ranging from Avery’s Parisian lovers and Santiago’s nineteenth century love triangle to Manrique’s fictional account of the life of Miguel de Cervantes, author of the classic Don Quixote.  Moderated by Albert Mobilio. At Brooklyn Historical Society Library (128 Pierrepont Street).

12:00 P.M. Characters on Characters. Best-selling literary lions Walter Mosley, Edwidge Danticat and Dennis Lehane discuss their unforgettable characters and the darkness that often enshrouds them. The program will also feature short readings. Moderated by Harold Augenbraum of the National Book Foundation. At Brooklyn Borough Hall Courtroom (209 Joralemon Street).

2:00 P.MLiterary Lions. Readings by award winning authors Pete Hamill (Tabloid City),Edwidge Danticat (Create Dangerously) and Paul Auster (Winter Journal). Whether their point of view is a palimpsest of Brooklyn fiction or set in other places, they have each lived in Brooklyn and been influenced by it. Followed by Q & A. Introduced by Johnny Temple, Publisher, Akashic Books and Chair of the Brooklyn Literary Council. At Saint Ann and the Holy Trinity Church (157 Montage Street).

2:00 P.M. Calabash Presents. Jamaica’s legendary Calabash International Literary Festival celebrates 50 years of Jamaican independence with readings by premier Jamaican-born novelists and poets Chris John Farley (Kingston Noir), Jacqueline Bishop (Snapshots from Istanbul), andIshion Hutchinson (Far District). Moderated by Calabash co-founder Kwame Dawes. At Brooklyn Borough Hall Community Room (209 Joralemon Street).

3:00 P.M. BOCAS Presents. Trinidad’s groundbreaking annual NGC Bocas Literary Festival comes to Brooklyn to celebrate 50 years of Trinidad & Tobago independence with readings by Earl Lovelace (Is Just a Movie), Victoria Brown (Minding Ben) and Anton Nimblett (Sections of an Orange). Moderated by Nicholas LaughlinBOCAS organizer and editor of the CaribbeanReview of Books. At Brooklyn Borough Hall Community Room (209 Joralemon Street).

3:00 P.M.  Location, Location, Location. Colin Channer (Kingston Noir), Mark Leyner (The Sugar Frosted Nutsack) and Jessica Hagedorn (Toxicology) discuss themes of violence, drug use and crime in the very different locations of Jamaica, Dubai and Manhattan’s West Village. It just goes to show that almost every place in the world is united by the dark and devious. Moderated by Brigid HughesSt. Francis McArdle (180 Remsen Street).

 

 

Caribbean: Crossroads of the World

A multi-site Caribbean Art exhibit running June 12, 2012 – January 6, 2013. (New York Times review here). Different installations at each site:

 

 

 

 

 

JUNE 14 – OCTOBER 21, 2012
The Studio Museum in Harlem
144 West 125th Street
Wednesday, June 13
6pm–7pm Members’ Preview
7pm–9pm Opening Reception
RSVP to 212.864.4500 x 257 or rsvp@studiomuseum.org

 

June 12, 2012 – January 6, 2013
El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
Thursday, June 14
7pm–9:30pm
Members’ Reception and Viewing
RSVP to 212.660.7171 or rsvp@elmuseo.org

 

June 17, 2012 – January 6, 2013
Queens Museum of Art
Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Saturday, June 16
6pm–9pm
Opening Reception
RSVP is not required

 

Assistant/Associate Professor with specialty in the Americas

Job Opening:

Assistant or Associate Professor – Social Sciences (Tenure track) with speciality in the Americas

The Department of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at the City College Center for Worker Education/CUNY invites applications for an Assistant or Associate Professor (tenure track) in the Social Sciences, to start on or about September 1, 2012 (Subject to budgetary approval). Field of specialization open, but candidates for this position should be actively engaged in researching and teaching in one or more of the following areas: immigration, globalization, urban studies, labor, and/or educational policy, with an emphasis on the intersections of gender, race, and class in the Americas. The successful candidate will be able to integrate theory and practice in an interdisciplinary curriculum. Continue reading Assistant/Associate Professor with specialty in the Americas