General Information

History

The Caribbean Literary Studies Group started in 1999 with the goal of creating imaginative and productive spaces to hold discussions about Caribbean Literature, Culture and the Arts. The group is made up of graduate students (M.F.A., M.A., and Ph.D.), alumnae, faculty and other interested parties from the University of Miami community and the Greater Miami area who have a serious interest in topics related to Caribbean culture.

Images used with the permission of the Gallery of West Indian Art

CLS wishes to continue the presence of bold and active scholarship began by the Caribbean Writers' Summer Institute which ran at the University of Miami from 1991-1996. Following the CWSI, the English Department was accepted into the UWI Consortium and hosted the XVIth Annual Conference on West Indian Literature.

The group's major advisor is Dr. Sandra Pouchet Paquet (Professor of English). Dr. Patricia Saunders (Assistant Professor of English), Dr. Timothy P. Watson (Assistant Professor of English), Dr. Lillian Manzor (Associate Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures), and Dr. Marc Brudzinski (Assistant Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures) are affiliated faculty members. Since 1993, the University of Miami has seen a steady increase in the number of graduate students interested in Caribbean Literary and Cultural Studies.

CLS facilitates Caribbean scholarship by hosting group activities including guided discussion groups on Caribbean texts and theories, scholarly presentations, film screenings, and talks by guest speakers.

In September, 2000, CLS hosted an academic conference with the cooperation and support of several University Departments and Programs: Contextualizing the Caribbean: Redefining Approaches in an Era of Globalization. Over 120 scholars attended the three-day congress, which included keynote lectures by Peter Hulme and Carole Boyce Davies and readings by writers Zee Edgell and Elizabeth Nunez. In March 2003, CLS co-hosted the XXIInd Annual Conference on WestIndian Literature, Caribbean Currents: Navigating the Web and the Word. This conference featured over 25 panels with a little over 100 scholarly presentations and included a keynote address by Kamau Brathwaite and readings by Margaret Cesaire-Thompson and Olive Senior. Our next major conference, Calypso and the Caribbean Literary Imagination co-sponsored with the Historical Musem of South Florida, took place in March 2005. The three day conference featured panel and film presentations, and keynote addresses by M. NourbeSe Philip, Gordon Rohler and Earl Lovelace. We have announced our call for papers for our upcoming 2007 "The Asian Experience in the Caribbean and the Guyanas: Labor, Migration, Literature and Culture." The deadline for submissions is June 30, 2007. Applications for the conference can be accessed from the website.

Affiliations

Envisioning Caribbean studies as a discipline enriched by its connections with Colonial and Postcolonial Studies, Cultural Studies, American Studies, Atlantic Studies, Transnational Studies, Comparative Literatures, History, the Fine Arts, and other academic foci, the Caribbean Literary Studies Group fosters an interdisciplinary approach to reading the literatures of the Caribbean. CLS is located in the Department of English and enjoys the active support of the Dean of Arts and Sciences.

CLS is also a Center for Latin American Studies niche group (2000-present). Gratefully, we acknowledge our affiliation with the African-American Studies Program, the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, the Humanities Colloquium, the Department of History, and the Creative Writing Program.

Useful Links

Caribbean Cultural Studies: www.caribbeanculturalstudies.com
Small Axe: www.smallaxe.net

About

The CLS site went live in June of 2002. It reflects an organizational template that intends to be far-reaching and open-ended in scope. An internet-base enables current and former CLS scholars and academics and students worldwide to use technology as a platform for learning and convening discussions related to Caribbean Literary Studies.

The site is a multi-media platform developed by the Otto G. Richter Library Digital Media Lab Staff for CLS during the academic year 2001-2002. It takes advantage of the latest in streaming media internet technology and will house the CLS program including video archives, photographic archives (forthcoming), organizational information, conference and special event information. The CLS website is also the site for the scholarly journal Anthurium: A Caribbean Studies Journal

CLS wishes to thank Jeff Barry, Fabian Rodriguez and the staff of the Digital Media Lab who helped make this website project possible: Bryanna Herzog, Cristina Montano, and Santiago Loo.

Administration