Reminder:  Deadline upcoming!

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The Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute at Tulane University, in conjunction with the Stone Center

for Latin American Studies, is pleased to announce Virtual Caribbeans, to be held in New Orleans,

Louisiana February 27 - March 1, 2008.

 

The definition of the Caribbean as primarily a geographical region is no longer viable. Through the

movement of its peoples, cultures, and languages, we also make or find the “Caribbean” elsewhere.

It has become an imagined community beyond geographic contours, while simultaneously retaining

an immediate materiality that impacts the everyday experiences of Caribbean (and non-Caribbean)

subjects. Taking the guayabera as the ubiquitous emblem of Caribbeanness, this conference will offer

a space for the exploration of manifestations across various media, technologies and performances.

Due to a unique history that features French, Spanish, African, Canadian, and other immigrant

influences, as well as a legacy of traffic in peoples, cultures, dialects, and products from the West

Indies and the circum-Caribbean, New Orleans provides an ideal site for these explorations. Join us

in what is often called the northernmost point of the Caribbean.

 

Proposals for papers and panels are invited in a wide range of areas including, but not limited to:

􀂃 Configurations of the Caribbean in cyberspace

􀂃 Filmic and other visual Caribbeans

􀂃 Listening to the Caribbean

􀂃 Tangible sites of Caribbeannness created through migrations and diaspora communities

􀂃 Portable Caribbeans

􀂃 Performance and stagings of the Caribbean inside and outside its geographical confines

 

We invite proposals that examine particular case studies and phenomena or rethink conventional

narratives. Proposals for individual papers or 3-4 person panels should include a 300-word abstract

and detailed personal information (name, mailing address, email, phone/fax, institutional affiliation) for

each participant. Panel proposals should also include a separate top sheet identifying the panel title,

panel organizer and a 200-300 word panel description. Please email proposals by November 15,

2007 to [log in to unmask] Accepted papers and panels will be announced by December 1, 2007.

 

Further details will be available on line at http://cuba.tulane.edu.  

 

Confirmed speakers include 

Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Columbia University, the author of Boricua Pop: Puerto Ricans and the Latinization of American Culture and None of the Above: Puerto Ricans in the Global Era. 

 

Alina Troyano, a playwright, performance artist and teacher, the author of I, Carmelita Tropicana: Performing Between Cultures. 

 

Among other conference speakers are: Robin Moore, José Muñoz, and Ela Troyano (who brings her newest film La Lupe to the screen of Virtual Caribbeans!).

 

Conference Organizers:

 

Prof. Ana M. López, Director

Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute

[log in to unmask] 

 

Prof. Marilyn Miller

Department of Spanish and Portuguese

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