Conference: Reconsidering Caribbean Diaspora
Date and Time
Conference website: http://reconsideringdiaspora.wikispaces.com/
Friday, Sept. 28th
- 4:00 PM Conference registration opens.
- 5:30 PM Keynote address by Robert A. Hill (UCLA).
- 6:30–7:30 PM Roundtable discussion with Harvard Scholars to follow.
- 7:30–8:30 PM Beer and wine social.
Saturday, Sept. 29th: Panel Discussions
9:00 AM
- 1A. Legacies of Independence—Robert A. Hill, Moderator
- 1B. When the Spirits Travel—Vanessa K. Valdés, Moderator
11:00 AM
- 2A. Understanding the Caribbean-Canadian Diaspora—Karen Flynn, Moderator
- 2B. Contested Identities, Building Community—Leonard Brown, Moderator
1:30 PM
- 3A. The Archive of Woman—Régine Jean-Charles, Moderator
- 3B. Roots of Independence—Adam Ewing, Moderator
3:30 PM
- 4A. Africana Political Thought—Tony Bogues, Moderator
- 4B. Sacred Politics and Public Space—Peggy Levitt, Moderator
Panels Moderated by: Anthony Bogues (Brown), Leonard Brown (Northeastern), Régine Jean-Charles (Boston College), Adam Ewing (Johns Hopkins), Karen Flynn (University of Illinois), Peggy Levitt (Wellesley), Vanessa K. Valdés (CUNY Graduate Center)
Description
2012 marks the anniversaries for several watershed moments in the histories of the Caribbean, particularly for people of African ancestry. August is the 50th anniversary of liberation from British rule in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Additionally, this year Cubans will celebrate the Bicentennial of the Aponte slave and free black rebellion, inspired by Haitian independence and led by Jose Antonio Aponte in 1812. Finally, theCentennial of the Massacre of 1912 in Cuba will also take place this year, an event which devastated the Partido Independiente de Color and resulted in the mass execution of several thousand Black Cubans in Oriente Province. These events serve as an entry point for examining evolving bonds between postcolonial states and their historic and contemporary diasporas.
In an increasingly globalized world, diasporas have become the norm rather than the exception. Nowhere does this ring more true than in the Americas, where communities hail from Central and Western Africa, from Western Europe, South and East Asia, as well as the Arabian peninsula. The recognition of such diverse origins provides an opportunity to investigate the limits and possibilities of past and postmodern concepts of “diaspora.” In reflecting on these historical developments in a contemporary moment, we ask: How can we place students and scholars doing work around older notions of diaspora in conversation with those thinking about the term in new and complex ways?How do physical landscapes and soundscapes change when people leave, and also when they return to a geographic space? What is to be made of retained and altered languages, artistic legacies and religious traditions? How do the intellectual histories of transnational social movements like Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association dialogue with more contemporary notions of political philosophy today? Finally, how do concepts of “home” fit into all of these conversations? Many scholars agree that globalization has challenged traditional notions of sovereignty infundamental ways, and by looking at questions of independence, religion, immigration, deportation, social movements, folklore and cultural inheritance through the lens of diaspora, this conference will allow us to put a wide range of topics and methodological approaches in deeper and optimistically more revelatory conversations.
This conference made possible by: The W.E.B. DuBois Institute, Charles Warren Center, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Department of African and African American Studies, Department of History, Program on American Studies, Program on Global History, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.
Speaker:
Robert A. Hill, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of California at Los Angeles.
Chairs:
Peggy Levitt, Associate. Co-Director, Transnational Studies Initiative, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Harvard Kennedy School; Chair; Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Wellesley College.
Anthony Bogues, Harmon Family Professor of Africana Studies; Director of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, Department of Africana Studies, Brown University.
Leonard Brown, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, African American Music History, Jazz Studies, Department of Music, Northeastern University.
Régine Michelle Jean-Charles, Assistant Professor of French Romance Languages and Literatures, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, Boston College.
Adam Ewing, Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University.
Karen Flynn, Assistant Professor, Department of African-American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Vanessa K. Valdés, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, The City College of New York; Faculty, The Center for Latin American, Carribbean and Latino Studies, The Graduate Center, City University of New York.