Interdisciplinary Caribbean Network
Please see the 3 proposals below which form the strategy for developing the community of
Caribbean and postcolonial research at Glasgow University.
1. Caribbean Discussion Group
Launched in April 2009, the Caribbean Discussion Group brought together postgraduates and
staff who are researching issues related to the Caribbean, from across departments and
faculties, to meet in a friendly and supportive interdisciplinary environment. The series of 10
weekly meetings attracted interest from researchers at Glasgow University and beyond: the
email group now has 40 participants from as far afield as Edinburgh, Brighton, Newcastle, New
York and Israel.
The 10 meetings proved to be a popular initiative with an average attendance of 10 people. The
overwhelmingly positive comments on the feedback forms suggest the strengths of the
Caribbean Discussion Group were as follows:
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The genuinely interdisciplinary nature of discussions involving researchers from the
Arts Faculty and LBSS. Participants came from Archaeology, Geography, English
Literature, French, Spanish, Politics and History.
The mix of staff and students in an open and supportive environment in which the
organisation, chairing and advertising of the meetings is student-led, and discussions
can be continued in the informal atmosphere of the PGC.
The openness of the group to non-academics. We had speakers and participants from
the Glasgow Anti-Racist Alliance (GARA), freelance researchers and interested
individuals. This openness increases the impact of such a group in the wider community
outside academia.
The level of skills work provided by the CDG is extensive. The project management of weekly
meetings, their wide publicity, and ensuring their smooth running- from dealing with room
changes and powerpoint projectors to providing water- is an instructive learning curve.
Postgraduate students have also been very positive about the networking opportunities the
group provides. One particular example was an Archaeology student whose own dissertation
was inspired in new directions by a Theatre Department Lecturer of Performance Studies.
Papers were also delivered by postgraduate students who reported the advantages of preparing
for and delivering their ideas publicly.
We are seeking funding to continue this series of meetings. There will be 13 meetings held
fortnightly from November to June. Brian Pollitt (ex-head of Latin American Institute at Glasgow)
and Sarah Barber (Senior Lecturer in History at Lancaster University) have both already
requested to give papers.
Publicity Posters- $15x13= $195
Catering
$40x 13= $520
Visiting Speakers $300x (perhaps 3) = $900
Total
$1615
2. Black History Month October 09
As a result of last semester’s Caribbean Discussion Group meetings, we were invited by the
organizers of Glasgow’s Black History Month to submit a proposal for events to take place
during this year’s programme. It was decided to arrange a special series for this and to ask for
full backing from the University in order to increase the profile of BHM and make Glasgow
University a main centre of activities. Initial feedback has been positive from the Arts faculty
Associate Dean, Vassiliki Kolocotroni, and the Clerk of Senate, Andrew Nash and Graham Caie.
Susan Stewart has offered to help with publicity. It is proposed to have a series of 6 events
throughout the month of October1. Willy Maley (prof English Lit) on Black Scottish Writing.
2. Michael Morris (myself-English Lit PG) on Scottish Litertaure and Caribbean Slavery.
3. Stephen Mullen (History PG) on Glasgow University, Slavery and Abolition.
4. David Howard (Prof Geography Edinburgh Uni) on connections between the port of
Leith and Jamaica.
5. A screening at Gilmorhill cinema of an African film with combined talk, Q+A by David
Murphy (Prof French Stirling Uni and his PhD student, Lizelle Bischoff).
6. A poetry reading by a panel of Glasgow Asian authors, many of whom are graduates of
the GU Creative Writing Masters.
Co-ordination of this will be three-way between the Interdisciplinary Caribbean Newtork,
Monica Callaghan of the Hunterian Museum, and GARA. In order to increase the impact of such
a series on the wider community and establish Glasgow University as an intellectual centre of
anti-racism, it is proposed to advertise the meetings widely outside of academia. The meetings
are open to the public and people must feel welcome there. It is proposed we take an advert
out in the Herald newspaper once we have finalised dates and times. The venue could be
important, perhaps the Charles Wilson, Medical Building or DACE.
Publicity- $500
Catering- $ 400
Venue - $300
Janitor Hire- $100
Total$1300
(Please note funding is also being sought from One Glasgow and the Arts Faculty)
3. Caribbean Enlightenment Conference 8th-10th April 2010
The idea for a conference grew from the Caribbean Discussion Group last semester. The two
main organizers are Michael Morris and Lorna Burns (Glasgow Uni Post-doc). Other PGs have
volunteered to help with organisation closer to the time. The proposed conference will be part
of the wider development of an interdisciplinary forum for Caribbean Studies at the University
of Glasgow: providing a platform for researchers to bring their work into dialogue with other
postgraduates, academics and professionals from across the UK and abroad, while offering the
opportunity to strengthen and promote the ongoing development of the Interdisciplinary
Caribbean Network at Glasgow.
Aims and Objectives
Thematically, this conference will bring together a wide range of interdisciplinary perspectives
around the common issue of ‘Caribbean Enlightenment’ with the aim to encourage a
reassessment of the various ways in which the site of the Caribbean, with its writers, artists,
revolutionaries, and diverse peoples, has adapted and questioned the legacies of the
Enlightenment. It is a core aim of this conference that this focus on Enlightenment values should
not be merely historical, but that contemporary perspectives on Enlightenment themes will be
fostered. Further, as part of the dissemination of research around the theme of Caribbean
Enlightenment, an edited collection of essays drawn from issues raised by the conference and its
keynote speakers will be developed during 2010 and edited by the conference organizers.
This conference aims to foster dialogue across disciplines and will invite discussion from a
range of perspectives, from postgraduate to senior academics and independent researchers. In
particular, we aim to foster dialogue between the often segregated fields of Anglophone and
Francophone Caribbean Studies by inviting keynote speakers that reflect the diversity of subject
perspectives in the field. Plenary lecturers from high-profile academics in the field of Caribbean
Studies will provide the opportunity to focus the conference themes, encourage participation
from a wide range of academics and researchers, and provide a forum for postgraduates to
develop important research networks.
The Call for Papers was circulated on 17/08/09 and we have secured three very high profile
keynote speakers: J. Michael Dash, Prof of French, Social and Cultural Analysis, New York
University; Paget Henry, Prof of Sociology and Africana Studies, Brown University; and Nick
Nesbitt, Senior Lecturer in French, Centre of Modern Thought, University of Aberdeen. The
Wolfson Medical Building will be used for sessions with a meal at Oran Mor.
Funding is also being sought from the Arts Faculty, LBSS and AHRC.
Summary Budget
Conference Venue, inc janitors (University of Glasgow) £4,663
Advertising
£120
Printing/delegates pack
£200
Catering and hospitality
£3500
Dinner venue hire
£650
Hospitality (Sat evening)
£740
Plenaries
£4500
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Total expenditure
£14,373