Carolyn Cooper
Carolyn Cooper is a recently retired professor of literary and cultural studies who taught at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica for thirty- six years. In 1968, she was awarded the Jamaica Scholarship (Girls) to do her B.A. in English at Mona. On completion of the degree in 1971, she won a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) fellowship to do her MA at the University of Toronto. She received fellowships from the University of the West Indies and the University of Toronto to do her PhD, which she completed in 1977. After teaching for five years at Atlantic Union College, a small private college in New England, Dr. Cooper returned to UWI in 1980. There she taught courses on Caribbean, African-American and African literature as well as popular culture. Her innovative course, “Reggae Poetry,” which is offered by the Department of Literatures in English, continues to attract students from across the faculties as well as international students. In 1992, Professor Cooper conceived the International Reggae Studies Centre and provided intellectual leadership for this far-reaching enterprise for more than a decade since its institutionalisation at Mona in 1994 as the somewhat diminished Reggae Studies Unit. She initiated the annual Bob Marley Lecture in 1997 as well as a hugely popular series of talks by an array of reggae/dancehall artists, other industry experts and academics including Lady Saw, Buju Banton, Tony Rebel, Queen Ifrica, Luciano, Capleton, Ninjaman, Gentleman, Louise Frazer-Bennett, Jeremy Harding, Mikey Bennett, Brent Clough and Lez Henry. The premier academic accomplishment of the Reggae Studies Unit is the establishment of an innovative, inter-disciplinary undergraduate degree programme in Entertainment and Cultural Enterprise Management. The brainchild of Kam-Au Amen, the first MA graduate in Cultural Studies at UWI, Mona, the degree remains one of the most popular in the Faculty of Humanities and Education. In the 1980s, Professor Cooper was a member of the Women’s Studies Working Group at Mona which laid the foundation for the cross-campus Institute of Gender and Development Studies. As Campus Co-ordinator, she initiated the founding of the Association of Women’s Organisations of Jamaica (AWOJA). A well-known media personality in Jamaica, Professor Cooper writes a weekly column for the Sunday Gleaner that she posts on her bilingual blog, “Jamaica Woman Tongue.” In the 1990s she wrote a bilingual column for the Jamaica Observer. She has appeared in several documentaries on Caribbean culture produced by a wide range of local and international media houses such as Television Jamaica, B. World Connection (Guadeloupe), Al Jazeera English TV, the BBC, National Public Radio (USA), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and ARD TV (Germany). Professor Carolyn Cooper remains a public intellectual committed to widening debates on cultural politics beyond the walls of the university.
REFEREED ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS BOOKS
Sound Clash: Jamaican Dancehall Culture at Large. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004; rpt 2005.
Noises in the Blood: Orality, Gender and the ‘Vulgar’ Body of Jamaican Popular Culture. London: Macmillan Caribbean, 1993; rpt 1994; 2003. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995; rpt 2000; 2008 (electronic).
BOOK CHAPTERS
“Erotic Maroonage: Embodying Emancipation in Jamaican Dancehall Culture”. Yanique Hume and Aaron Kamugisha, eds. Caribbean Popular Culture: Power, Politics and Performance. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2016, 79-86. Presented at the Emancipation Bicentenary Symposium, Yale University, November, 2007
“‘Disguise Up De English Language’: Turning Linguistic Tricks in Creole- Anglophone Caribbean Literature”. Supriya Nair, ed. Teaching Anglophone Caribbean Literature. Modern Languages Association, 2012, 155-167.
“African Diaspora Studies in the Creole-Anglophone Caribbean: A Perspective from the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica”. Tejumola Olaniyan and James H. Sweet, eds. The African Diaspora and the Disciplines, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2010, 279-297. Presented at a symposium on “African Diaspora Studies and the Disciplines,” University of Wisconsin, Madison, March 2006
“‘I Shot the Sheriff’: Gun Talk in Jamaican Popular Music.” Charles Springwood, ed. Open Fire: Understanding Global Gun Cultures. Oxford & New York: Berg, 2007, 153-164. Excerpted from the chapter “‘Lyrical Gun’: Metaphor and Role Play in Jamaican Dancehall Culture” in Sound Clash. Presented at the 30th Annual Conference, Caribbean Studies Association, Santo Domingo, May 2005
“‘Come to Jamaica and Feel Alright!’: Marketing Reggae As Heritage Tourism.” Chandana Jayawardena, ed. Caribbean Tourism: More Than Sun, Sand and Sea. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2007, 222-233. An expanded version is also published as “‘Welcome to Jamrock’: Reggae Tourism and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica.” Kenneth Hall and Rheima Holding, eds. Tourism: The Driver of Change in the Jamaican Economy? Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2006, 358-374.
“‘Meck West Indies Federate’: Celebrating the Arts of Regional Integration in the Poetry of Louise Bennett.” Kenneth Hall and Denis Benn, eds. Caribbean Imperatives: Regional Governance and Integrated Development. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2005, 31-51. Edited version of the journal article, “‘West Indies Plight’: Louise Bennett and the Cultural Politics of Federation.” Social and Economic Studies 48.4 (1999) : 211-228.
“Writing Oral History: Sistren Theatre Collective’s Lionheart Gal.” Gaurav Desai and Supriya Nair, eds. Postcolonialisms: An Anthology of Cultural Theory and Criticism. Oxford: Berg, 2005, 169-177. Reprint of a 1989 Kunapipi journal article; also republished in Noises in the Blood.
“Mix Up the Indian with All the Patwa: Rajamuffin Sounds in ‘Cool’ Britannia.” Christine G.T. Ho and Keith Nurse, eds. Globalisation, Diaspora & Caribbean Popular Culture. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2005, 119-140. First published in Sound Clash.
“‘A Whole Ton-Load a Lie’: Doing Ethical Research in the Creole/Anglophone Caribbean,” published electronically in 2005 in the Proceedings of the 1st Caribbean Ethics Conference, University of the West Indies, Mona, April 28-30, 2005.
“‘Mama, Is That You?’: Erotic Disguise in the Films Dancehall Queen and Babymother.” Barbara Bailey and Elsa Leo-Rhynie, eds. Gender in the 21st Century: Caribbean Perspectives, Visions and Possibilities. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2004, 262-280. Republished in Sound Clash.
“Dancehall Dress: Competing Codes of Decency in Jamaica.” Carol Tulloch, ed. Black Style. London: V & A Publications, 2004, 68-83. Incorporates material from Sound Clash.
“Hip-hopping Across Cultures: From Reggae to Rap and Back.” Verene Shepherd and Glen Richards, eds. Questioning Creole: Creolisation Discourses in Caribbean Culture. Kingston: Ian Randle & Oxford: James Currey, 2002, 265- 282. First published as “Raggamuffin Sounds: Crossing over from Reggae to Rap and Back.” Caribbean Quarterly 44.1 & 2 (1998) : 153-168. Also republished in Sound Clash.
“Virginity Revamped: Representations of Female Sexuality in the Lyrics of Bob Marley and Shabba Ranks.” Kwesi Owusu, ed. Black British Culture and Society. London: Routledge 1999, 347-357. Revised version, with a new title, “Slackness Personified,” published in Sound Clash.
“‘Sense Make Befoh Book’: Grenadian Popular Culture and the Rhetoric of Revolution in Merle Collins’ Angel and The Colour of Forgetting.” Janice Liddell and Yakini Kemp, eds. Arms Akimbo: Afrikana Women in Contemporary Literature. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1999, 176-188. Expanded version of “Grenadian Popular Culture and the Rhetoric of Revolution: Merle Collins’ Angel.” Caribbean Quarterly 40.2 (1995) : 57-70.
“Du Reggae au Ragga: Que Reste-t-il de la Contestation?” [“From Reggae To Ragga: What’s Left of the Protest?” Translated from English by the Publisher]. Alain Darre, ed. Musique et politique: Les répertoires de l’identité. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 1996, 281-288. First presented at a Forum on “Music and Society,” 23rd Annual Cultural Festival of Fort-de-France, Martinique, July 1994.
(Co-author Hubert Devonish) “A Tale of Two States: Language, Lit/Orature and the Two Jamaicas.” Stewart Brown, ed. The Pressures of the Text: Orality, Texts and the Telling of Tales. Birmingham: Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham, 1995, 60-74. Revised version, with a new title, “The Dancehall Transnation,” published in Sound Clash.
“‘Resistance Science’: Afrocentric Ideology in Vic Reid’s Nanny-Town.” E. Kofi Agorsah, ed. Maroon Heritage. Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad: University of the West Indies Canoe Press, 1994, 109-118.
“‘Something Ancestral Recaptured’: Spirit Possession as Trope in Selected Feminist Fictions of the African Diaspora.” Susheila Nasta, ed. Motherlands. London: The Women’s Press, 1991, 64-87.
“Afro-Jamaican Folk Elements in Brodber’s Jane and Louisa Will Soon Come Home.” Carol Boyce-Davies and Elaine Fido, eds. Out of the Kumbla: Caribbean Women and Literature. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 1990, 279-288. First published as “The Fertility of the Gardens of Women.” New Beacon Review 2 & 3 (1986) : 139-147.
“Unorthodox Prose: The Poetical Works of Marcus Garvey.” Patrick Bryan and Rupert Lewis, eds. Marcus Garvey: His Life and Legacy. Institute of Social and Economic Research & Department of Extra-Mural Studies, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica 1988, 113-121. First published in The Black Scholar 19.1 (1988) : 26-32.
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES
“Professing Slackness: Language, Authority and Power Within the Academic and Without,” E-Misférica 12.1 (2015). Inaugural Professorial Lecture, University of the West Indies, Mona, September 2003
“‘Mek Wi Talk Bout de Bottom a de Sea’: Mutabaruka's Submerged Poetics,” Caribbean Quarterly, 59.2 (June 2013) : 113-121. Presented at the Inaugural Rastafari Studies Conference, UWI, Mona, August 2010
“Islands Beyond Envy: Finding Our Tongue in the Creole-Anglophone Caribbean,” Caribbean Quarterly, 59.1 (March 2013) : 1-17. 6th Edward Baugh Distinguished Lecture, University of the West Indies, Mona, November 2012
“Caribbean Fashion Week: Remodeling Beauty in ‘Out of Many One’ Jamaica,” Fashion Theory, 14.3 (July 2010) : 387-404. An earlier version, “Caribbean Fashion Week: Creolising Beauty in the African Diaspora,” presented at the Conference on “Cosmetic Cultures: Beauty, Globalization, Politics, Practices,” Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, University of Leeds, June 2009. Also presented as a Plenary Lecture at the 28th annual University of the West Indies Conference on West Indian Literature, University of Guyana, April 2009
“‘Pedestrian Crosses’: Sites of Dislocation in ‘Post-colonial’ Jamaica.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. 10.1 (March 2009) : 3-11. Keynote lecture, Association of Cultural Studies Crossroads Conference, University of the West Indies, Mona, July 2008
“No Woman, No Cry: Rita Marley’s Feminist Fable.” Bim: Arts for the 21st Century. 1.2 (May-October 2008) : 30-38. Presented at the “Global Reggae” conference, University of the West Indies, Mona, February 2008.
“The Tourist and the Native: Rewriting Myths of Conquest in Lucy and Last Virgin in Paradise.” Lucayos 1 (Spring 2008) : 21-32. Revised version of a paper presented at the 19th Annual Pacific Islands Studies Conference, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, September 1994.
“‘What the Backside All You Want?’: Interrogating Rastafari in Derek Walcott’s O Babylon!” Journal of West Indian Literature 15.1 & 2 (November 2006) : 196- 201.
“At the Crossroads – Looking for Meaning in Jamaican Dancehall Culture: A Reply.” Small Axe No. 21 (October 2006) : 193-204.
“Enslaved in Stereotype: Race and Representation in Post-Independence Jamaica.” Small Axe No. 16 (September 2004) : 154-169.
“Race and the Cultural Politics of Self-Representation: A View from the University of the West Indies.” Research in African Literatures 27.4 (1996) : 97-105.
(With Paulette McDonald) “Dancehall Revisited/Kingston.” Review: Latin American Literature and Arts 50 (1995) : 29-31.
“‘Lyrical Gun’: Metaphor and Role Play in Jamaican Dancehall Culture.” The Massachusetts Review XXXV. 3 & 4 (1994) : 429-447. Republished in Sound Clash.
“‘Only a Nigger Gal!’: Race, Gender and the Politics of Education in Claude McKay’s Banana Bottom.” Caribbean Quarterly 38.1 (1992) : 40-54. Paper presented at the Ninth Ibadan African Literature Conference, Nigeria, March 1990
“Disarming Women: Sexual Politics in Neville Dawes’ Interim.” Journal of West Indian Literature 2 (1987) : 55-66.
“‘Noh Lickle Twang’: An Introduction to the Poetry of Louise Bennett.” World Literature Written in English 17.1 (1978) : 317-27.
“A Language Beyond Mimicry: Language as Metaphor and Meaning in Derek Walcott’s Oeuvre.” The Literary Half-Yearly xxvi.1 (1985) : 23-40.
PEER-REVIEWED CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
“‘Vile Vocals:’ Exporting Jamaican Dancehall Lyrics to Barbados.” Funso Aiyejina and Paula Morgan, eds. Caribbean Literature in a Global Context, San Juan: Lexicon Trinidad Ltd., 2006, 195-223; previously published in Sound Clash.
“The Oral Witness and the Scribal Document: Divergent Accounts of Slavery in Two Novels of Barbados.” Mark McWatt, ed. West Indian Literature and Its Social Context, Barbados: Department of English, U.W.I., Cave Hill, 1985, 3-11.
EDITED SPECIAL ISSUES OF REFEREED JOURNALS
“Branding Jamaica: Popular Culture in ‘Postcolonial’ Context,” Editorial with Alison Donnell, Special Issue on Jamaican Popular Culture, Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 6.1 (2004) : 1-9.
“Guest Editorial,” Social and Economic Studies 47.1 March (1998) : 1-4. Special Issue on Reggae Studies.
“‘Something Torn and New’: The Grenada Revolution.” Guest editorial, Caribbean Quarterly 40.2 (1995) iv-vi.
NON-REFEREED PUBLICATIONS BOOK
Global Reggae. Editor. Canoe Imprint, University of the West Indies Press, 2012.
BOOK CHAPTERS
“Introduction: Jamaican Popular Music A Yard and Abroad.” Carolyn Cooper, ed. Global Reggae. Canoe Imprint, University of the West Indies Press, 2012, 1-19.
“Reggae Studies at the University of the West Indies.” Carolyn Cooper, ed. Global Reggae. Canoe Imprint, University of the West Indies Press, 2012, 301-314.
BOOK REVIEWS & FOREWORDS
“‘Word, Image, Rhythm to Shape Our World’: Gathering Stones With Esther Phillips,” Bim, Vol. 3 No 1, Nov. 2009-Feb. 2010, 94-101.
Review of Who Am I? The Untold Story of Beenie Man by Milton Wray, Jamaica Journal, 32. 2 & 3 (2009) : 127-129.
“Foreword” to Bob Marley: The Man and His Music. Eleanor Wint and Carolyn Cooper, eds. Kingston: Arawak Publications, 2003, xxvi-xxviii.
“Outernational Reggae,” Foreword to Ellen Köhlings and Pete Lilly, “Reggae on the Move: Reception & Production of Reggae Music in Germany.” Occasional Paper # 1, International Reggae Studies Centre, University of the West Indies, Mona, 2003, i.
“Foreword” to Tereza Richards, Reggae, Rastafari and Popular Culture: A Bibliography. Special Issue Caribbean Quarterly, 1999, 3.
Review of Christian Habekost, Verbal Riddim: The Politics and Aesthetics of African-Caribbean Dub Poetry. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1993. New West Indian Guide/Nieuwe West-Indische Gids, 71.1&2 (1997) : 151-153.
“Fos Wod” [Foreword] to Vivien Morris-Brown, The Jamaica Handbook of Proverbs. Mandeville: Island Heart Publishers, 1993, iii-iv; “A Note on ‘Fos Wod’” and an English translation, 192-194.
“The Romance of Politics.” Review of Zee Edgell, In Times Like These. London: Heinemann, 1991. Caribbean Review of Books, No. 4 (1992) : 16, 29; 30.
“Unstaggering Considerations.” Review of Velma Pollard, Crown Point and Other Poems. Leeds: Peepal Tree Press, 1988 and Considering Woman. London: The Women’s Press, 1989. Caribbean Quarterly 37.4 (1991): 58-61.
“Introduction.” Earl Lovelace, The Dragon Can’t Dance. London: Longman, 1988, 9-21.
“Perverse Romance.” Review of Valerie Belgrave, Ti Marie. Oxford: Heinemann, 1988 and Erna Brodber, Myal. London: New Beacon Books, 1988. Third World Quarterly 11 (1989) : 289-93.
Review of Michael Smith, It a Come. London: Race Today Publications, 1986. Journal of West Indian Literature 1.12 (1987) : 94-97.
Review of Caryll Phillips, The European Tribe. London: Faber, 1987. Wasafiri 6/7 (1987) : 45-46.
“Foreword” to Elean Thomas, Word Rhythms from the Life of a Woman. London: Karia Press, 1986, xii-xvi.
“Rural Landscapes.” Review of Olive Senior, Summer Lightning. London: Longman, 1985. Race Today (1986) : 23-24.
Review of Louise Bennett, Selected Poems. Mervyn Morris, ed. Kingston: Sangster’s, 1982; rpt. 1983. Jamaica Journal 16.2 (1983/84) : 52.
POPULAR PUBLICATIONS (SELECTED)
“Who Is Jamaica?” The New York Times, August 6, 2012, A 17.
“Remembering Ras Dizzy,” Jamaica Journal, 31.3 (2008) : 59-61.
“Notebook” newspaper essay on Bob Marley, Newsday, (New York), February 6, 2005. (Invited columnist).
“Zensur Auf Jamaika.” [“Censorship in Jamaica,” translated from English by Ellen Köhlings & Pete Lilly] Riddim [Germany], March, April, May 2002, 59.
“Fire Pon Di Education Green Paper.” The Gleaner, April 15, 2000, A8.
“Nicely Does It: The Unique World-view Aesthetics of a Jamaican Craftsman.” Skywritings, Issue 129, August 2000.
“Punany Powah.” Black Media Journal [UK], No 2, Spring 2000, 50-52.
“Penis Envy?” Lifestyle Magazine, January/February 1994 : 9-10.
“Emergency (Un)dress.” Lifestyle Magazine, July/August 1993 : 42.
“There’s a Browning in the Ring! Tra-la-la-la-la?” Lifestyle Magazine, November/December 1992 : 25-26.
“Getting the Hell Out! (Of Divorce).” Lifestyle Magazine, September/October 1992 : 42.
“The Male Centrefold: How Will Real Men Measure Up?” Lifestyle Magazine, January/February 1992 : 8-9.
“Success Makes You Sexy. Or Does It?” Money Index, November 10, 1987 : 34- 35.
“Peter Tosh Interview.” Pulse Magazine, June, 1984: 12, 14-15, 32.
KEYNOTE/PLENARY LECTURES AT ACADEMIC CONFERENCES
“Christopher Columbus Is a Damn Blasted Liar”: Post-colonial Thought In Reggae/Dancehall Poetics”, International Conference, “What is Postcolonial Thought?”, University of the Antilles, Schoelcher Campus, Martinique, November 23-25, 2015. Paper presented via SKYPE. An earlier version presented at “Black Radical Thought, Pedagogy and Praxis: conference in honour of Rupert Lewis”, Department of Government and the Centre for Caribbean Thought, University of the West Indies, Mona, October 2013.
“Glocal Reggae: Jamaican Popular Music and the Politics of Cross- cultural Communication”, Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR Europa) Congress, Tallinn, Estonia, September 2012. Also presented at the Matías Romero Institute, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico, February 2014.
“‘We’re More Than a Beach, We’re a Country’: Exploring the Linkages between Tourism, Culture and the Creative Industries in a Caribbean context,” 2nd International Tourism Conference, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, January 2012
“‘The Unity is Submarine’: Circuits of Culture in the ‘Transterritorial’ Caribbean,” 6th International Symposium of the Center for Caribbean Studies in Brazil (CECAB), University of Sao Luis, Maranhao, Brazil, November 2010
“Cross Talk: Jamaican Popular Music and the Politics of Translation,” 21st Annual Conference of the New Literatures in English, Bayreuth University, May 2010
“‘Reggae University’: Rototom Sunsplash and the Politics of Globalising Jamaican Popular Culture,” International Reggae Conference, University of the West Indies, Mona, February 2010
“Burying Miss Lou: Contested Rites of Passage in Contemporary Jamaica,” Conference on Louise Bennett, University of the West Indies, Mona, January 2008
“Dancehall Philosophy: Erotic Movement Shifting the Geography of Reason,” Annual Conference, Caribbean Philosophical Association, University of the West Indies, Mona, July 2007
“Torrid Zones: Sexual Politics in Jamaican Dancehall Culture,” Annual Conference, British Forum for Ethnomusicology, Winchester University, March/April 2006
“From Beowulf to Bounty Killa: Or How I Ended Up Studying Slackness,” Annual Conference on West Indian Literature, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, March 2006
“Pleasure in the Word: Remembering Why We Got Into Literature Programming Etc. in the First Place,” British Council Seminar, “Animating Literature,” University of the West Indies, Mona, July 2005 “(W)uman Tong(ue): Writing a Bilingual Newspaper Column in ‘Post- colonial’ Jamaica,” European Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies Conference, University of Copenhagen, March 2002. Also presented at the University of Munich, American Studies Programme, November 2002. First presented at the Society for Caribbean Linguistics Conference, University of the West Indies, Mona, August 2000
INVITED CONFERENCE/SYMPOSIUM/SEMINAR PAPERS
“‘Magic In Kingston Town’: Urban Roots of Creative Jamaica”, Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University, September 2016
“Rebel Music”: Bob Marley’s Rhythms of Resistance”, Colloquium on Cultural Diversity in the Caribbean, Casa de las Americas, Havana, May 18-22, 2015
“Looking For Hot Sex (and Romance): African/Black Diaspora Studies and the Humanities”, Colloquium on the African and Black Diaspora: The State of the Field and Future Directions”, Depaul University, May 2014
"Stealing the Show: Arts of Deceit in the Entertainment Industry", Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) regional conference on "Intellectual Property and the Creative Industries," February 2014
“Skin-bleaching: Contested Identities in Contemporary Jamaica,” 1st International Scientific Conference, “Dying to be Beautiful?”: Body Image, Eating Disorders and Health in the Caribbean,” University of the West Indies, Mona, Western Jamaica Campus, January 2012
“The Melody of Africa and the Rhythm of Europe: Cultural Subversion in Rex Nettleford’s Mirror Mirror,” The Hugh Lawson Shearer Trade Union Education Institute Symposium, “The Sage Has Come of Age,” UWI, Mona, April 2010. Popular version presented at the Rex Nettleford Memorial Panel, The St. Martin Book Fair, June 2010
“Slackness Embedded With Culture,” Symposium on Caribbean Popular Music, University of Pennsylvania, February 2008
“An Envoy From/To An Outpost: Loosely Talking Theory In the Creole/Anglophone Caribbean,” Conference on Post-Colonial Theory, Princeton University, September 2005
“‘Self Searching for Substance’: The Politics of Style in Earl Lovelace’s A Brief Conversion and Other Stories,” Earl Lovelace 70th Birthday Conference, UWI, St. Augustine, July 2005
“‘It’s A African Ting’: Rituals of Remembering in Jamaican Dancehall Culture,” Pan-African Bookfest, Fort Lauderdale, April 23, 2005
“In Another Key: Discordant Female Voices in the Caribbean Literary Canon,” Symposium on “Women and Others,” University of Alabama, March 2005
“Erotic Disguise: Un/dressing the Body in Jamaican Dancehall Culture,” Third Annual Graduate Student Conference, “Dance Under Construction,” University of California’s Departments of Dance, UC Davis, April 2001
“Lady Saw Cuts Loose: Female Fertility Rituals in Jamaican Dancehall Culture,” Dancing in the Millennium Conference, jointly hosted by Congress on Research on Dance; Dance Critics’ Association; Society of Dance History Scholars; National Dance Association, Washington, D.C., July 2000. Revised version published in Sound Clash
“‘No Matter Where You Come From’: National Origin and Racial Identity in Pan-Africanist Reggae,” Twelfth Annual All-African Students Conference, York University, Canada, May 2000 “‘Lick Samba’: Cultural Synergies Between Brazil and Jamaica,” Jamaica Promotions (JAMPRO) Symposium on “Cultural Synergies and Business Opportunities between Brazil and Jamaica: The Case of Music and Book Publishing,” Kingston, May 2000 “Border Clash: The Politics of Location in Jamaican Dancehall Culture,” Conference on “Transitional Identities,” Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat, Mainz, Germany, April 2000 Panelist, “Corridors of Culture,” Inroads: The Americas Conference, Miami- Dade Community College, September 1998 “Contested Identities in Contemporary Caribbean Literature: Erna Brodber’s Louisiana,” The Humanities Institute, State University of New York, Stony Brook, March 1998
“The CNN Effect in the Caribbean,” North South Media Encounter, Geneva, May 1997 “One Love?: The Cultural Politics of Reggae Tourism,” Conference on “Heritage Tourism & Caribbean Development,” University of the West Indies, Mona, March 1995
“Globalization, Transnationalization and Regional Particularities: A Jamaican Perspective,” Canadian Council of Area Studies Learned Societies Conference, Ottawa, November 1994
“Loosely Talking Theory: Oral/Sexual Discourse in Jamaican Popular Culture,” Society for Caribbean Studies Conference, U.K., July 1993
“Cultural Implications of Marketing Reggae Internationally.” Symposium on “Reggae Music as a Business,” presented by Eagle Financial Network, Trafalgar Development Bank, National Commercial Bank, in association with Sandosa Ltd & Specs/Shang Muzik, Jamaica Conference Centre, Kingston, November 1992
“‘The Great Man Can No Longer Just Get Up and Go’: Jamaica Kincaid, Christopher Columbus and the Paralysis of Patriarchy,” The “Encounter of Worlds” Conference, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine/Government of Trinidad and Tobago, January 1992
“Africana Studies Within the African Diaspora, Problems and Prospects: A Caribbean Feminist Perspective,” Association for the Study of Afro- American Life and History Conference, Washington, D.C., November 1991
“Spirit Possession as Cultural Metaphor in Erna Brodber’s Myal,” Conference on African Discourse, Oxford Centre for African Studies, Jesus College, Oxford University, July 1989
OTHER CONFERENCE/SYMPOSIUM/SEMINAR PAPERS (SELECTED)
“Dem Naa Go Tired Fi See Bob Marley Face: Imagining the Legend In the International Reggae Poster Contest”, 34th annual West Indian Literature Conference, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, October 1-3, 2015. First presented at the 3rd International Reggae conference, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, February 2015
“‘I Hope You Do Not Enjoy This Book’: Vybz Kartel’s Disturbing The Voice of the Jamaican Ghetto,” 39th annual Caribbean Studies Association Conference, Mexico, May 26-3. First presented at the 2nd International Reggae conference, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, February 2013
“‘Too Black, Too Strong’: Imagining Haiti in Caribbean Popular Culture,” 25th annual Haitian Studies Association conference, Haiti, November 2013
“Deporting Portia: Creole Language Politics in the Jamaica Labour Party’s Advertising Campaign for the 2011 General Election in Jamaica,” 37th annual conference of the Caribbean Studies Association, Guadeloupe, May 2012
“‘One of a Handful Still Alive’: Strains of Resistance in the Fiction of Jamaica Kincaid,” 13th International Conference of the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars, Paramaribo, Suriname, May 2012. Also presented at the 2nd Conference on Ethnicity, Race, & Indigenous Peoples in Latin America & the Caribbean, University of California, San Diego, November 2011. First presented at the 30th annual West Indian Literature Conference, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, October 2011
“Dancehall Fictions: Macka Diamond’s ‘Roots’ Novels,” 29th Annual West Indian Literature Conference, UWI, Mona, April 2010
“‘Emancipate Yourselves From Mental Slavery:’ The Genesis and Institutionalisation of the International Reggae Studies Centre at the University of the West Indies,” Ford Foundation Consultation on “The State of Cultural Enterprises in the Caribbean,” Port of Spain, Trinidad, June 2000 nd “The Video Version of Noises in the Blood,” 2 International Conference on “Oral Literature in Africa,” University of Ghana, Legon, October 1995
“Turning History Upside Down: Louise Bennett and the Cultural Politics of Migration,” Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies Conference, University of the West Indies, Mona, August 1992 Revised version published in Noises in the Blood.
PUBLIC LECTURES (SELECTED)
“‘Disguise Up De English Language’: Louise Bennett’s Anansi Poetics”, 2016-2017 Michael Baptista Lecture, Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), York University, November 2016
“‘Mek Wi Talk Bout di Bottom of the Sea’: Submerged Narratives in Caribbean Literature and Popular Culture”, James R. Johnston Distinguished Lecture, Dalhousie University, October 2016. An abbreviated version also presented as a keynote lecture at the 35th annual West Indian Literature Conference, Jamaica, October 2016
“‘The Unity Is Submarine’: Submerged Narratives in Caribbean Literature and Popular Culture,” annual lecture, Africana Studies Program, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, October 5, 2015. An earlier version presented as a keynote lecture at the 5th Graduate Student Conference, Department of English, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, March 2014
“Sound Clash: ‘Slackness’ Versus ‘Culture’ In the Dancehall”, Festival of Fort-de-France, Martinique, July 12, 2015
“Louise Bennett: Dat Cunny Jamma Oman”, 8th annual Louise Bennett- Coverley Reading Festival, Fort Lauderdale, February 2015.
“‘Mek West Indies Federate’: Celebrating the Arts of Regional Integration in the Poetry of Louise Bennett,” Independence Lecture, Embassy of Jamaica, Washington, D.C., August 2010
“One Unified Co-operative Sector for Competitive Advantage.” The Everard Dean Memorial Lecture, 51st Annual International Convention of the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, June 2008
“No Matter Where You Come From: Pan-African Consciousness in Caribbean Popular Culture,” The 2nd Annual Anatol Rodgers Memorial Lecture, College of the Bahamas, November 2007. Revised version of 2000 Conference Keynote Lecture, cited above.
“Welcome to Sunsplash: Reggae Tourism and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica.” Florida International University, July 2006
“Celebrating the Arts of Regional Integration in the Poetry of Louise Bennett and Derek Walcott.” The Inaugural Cherrie Orr Memorial Lecture, hosted by the Jamaica/St. Lucia Community, Castries, St. Lucia, June 2006
“Sweet and Sour Sauce: Sexual Politics in Jamaican Dancehall Culture.” The Annual Cheddi Jagan Lecture, Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, York University, Toronto, October 2005. An earlier version presented in the Public Lecture Series, “Gender and Caribbean History,” Department of History, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, April 2000 “‘Mi No Talk Like Foreigner’: Mother Tongue and Body Language in Jamaican Dancehall Culture.” 2005-2006 Presidential Lecture Series, Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, September 2005
“Dancehall Culture in Jamaica,” International Week, Dillard University, New Orleans, April 2005 “Rhythms of Resistance: The Role of Music in Caribbean Consciousness,” Annual Emancipation Lecture, Broward County Libraries Division, Fort Lauderdale, August 2004
“Counterfeit Currency?: Gilding Bob Marley’s Image in Jamaica Today,” The Bank of Jamaica, Kingston, February 2003
“Erotic Disguise: (Un)dressing the Body in Jamaican Dancehall Culture,” The Annual Walter Rodney Lecture, Centre for Caribbean Studies, Warwick University, November 2002 “‘Write it Dung Inna Yu Rememberance’: Living the Legacy of Paul Bogle Today,” The Annual Paul Bogle Lecture, hosted by the Paul Bogle Foundation, St. Thomas, October 2002 “Politics and Poetry in the Creole/Anglophone Caribbean,” The Ottilie Stafford Poetry Collection Lecture Series, Atlantic Union College, October 1999
“Cultural Continuities Between African America and the Caribbean,” African American History Observance Guest Speaker, The Export-Import Bank of the United States, February 1996
“Sexual Politics in Jamaican Popular Culture,” University of the South Pacific, Fiji, October 1993
“Institutionalising Women’s Studies at the University of the West Indies,” University of Papua New Guinea, November 1993
“Identity Politics in Jamaican Popular Music,” University of Papua New Guinea, November 1993
Lecture tour of Australian universities (Queensland, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne), on Noises in the Blood: November 1993
“Jamaican Popular Culture,” Hiroshima Peace University, Japan, November 1993
“Literature and the Figgerin’ Other – A Caribbean Perspective,” Afro- American Intellectual History Seminar, Program for Assessing and Revitalizing the Social Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, December 1990
“Afro-Jamaican Folklore Elements in Contemporary Jamaican Literature: Louise Bennett and Erna Brodber,” Fall Lecture Series, Center for Afro- American Studies, & the Center for the Study of Women and the Women’s Studies Program, University of California (Los Angeles) November 1985
ACADEMIC AWARDS
1999 Mona Academic Research Fellowship; A Research Assistant, supervised by the primary fellow, was appointed to undertake the work on the project, “Jamaican Popular Music: Oral History and Curriculum Development.” Award extended for the 2003-2004 academic year and the research done by the primary fellow.
1996 Visiting Scholar, Center for African-American Studies, Institute of American Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, January-June
1993 Fellow, Salzburg Seminar, “Literature as a Political Force,” Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg, Austria, July
1992 Association of Commonwealth Universities Academic Exchange Fellowship, “Institution Strengthening through Curriculum Development: Women and Development Studies,” University of the South Pacific, Fiji, Sep-Oct, 1993
1991 Ford Foundation Visiting Scholar, “Africana Studies within the African Diaspora,” Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University, October
1991 British Council Grant to present a paper at the Motherlands Symposium, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London University, September
1988-89 British Council Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship, to complete Noises in the Blood, Centre for West African Studies, Birmingham University, U.K.
1984 Fulbright-Hays Senior Fellowship, “Migrant Black Women and Social Change: Toni Morrison and Paule Marshall,” Department of English, Howard University, Washington, D.C.,” April-November
1982 Commonwealth Foundation Fellowship to present a paper, “The Rhetoric of Politics,” at the Ibadan African Literature Conference, Ibadan University, Nigeria
INTER/NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
MEMBERSHIP ON INTER/NATIONAL BOARDS
2006-07 Member, Board of Directors, Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO)
2006- Member, Board of Directors, Development Partners and Management International Limited, Kingston
2014 Chief Judge (Non-Fiction), The BOCAS Literary Festival, Trinidad and Tobago
2005-10 Member of the Orientation Committee for the Third World Festival of Black Arts, held in Dakar, Senegal in 2010
2004 Member, International Organising Committee 1st Conference of African Intellectuals and the Diaspora Dakar, hosted by the African Union
2001-06 Member, Board of Directors, The Calabash International Literary Festival, Jamaica
2012- Member, Copyright Working Group, Jamaica Intellectual Property Office, Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Government of Jamaica
2001 Member, University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s Task Force advising on the UN Conference on Racism
2000-2001 Member, Steering Committee of the Museum for the Development of Popular Jamaican Music, Institute of Jamaica
2000-01 Member, National Steering Committee UNCTAD/WIPO Music Industry Project, Ministry of Industry, Commerce & Technology, Government of Jamaica
1994-95 Chair, Advisory Committee, the Jamaica Music Awards
1992 Member, Panel of Judges, the Guyana Prize for Literature, Georgetown, Guyana
1989-90 Member, Panel of Judges, The Commonwealth Prize for Fiction, Canada-Caribbean Division, Guelph University, Ontario, Canada
1983-84 Member, Panel of Judges, Literary Competition, Jamaica Cultural Development Commission
MEMBERSHIP ON EDITORIAL BOARDS
2014- Member, Advisory Board, The Black Scholar
2004-06 Associate Editor, Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies Routledge
1999- Regional Editor (Caribbean), Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, Routledge
1994-96 Contributing Editor, Caribbean Studies Newsletter Caribbean Studies Association