“Caribbean without Borders: Beyond the Can[n]on’s Range” is the theme for the Fifth Graduate Student Conference, which will take place March 19-21, 2014, at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras. Dr. Carolyn Cooper will be the guest speaker. The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2013.

Description: One of the most salient issues in Caribbean studies is the region’s linguistic and cultural fragmentation as a result of European colonization. More than five centuries later, the islands and countries of the Caribbean still echo such malady. The title of the conference, “Caribbean without Borders” is a call towards unity, a unity that in the words of Kamau Brathwaite “is submarine.” In the past, nations’ borders were established based on the distance a cannon ball was able to cover when fired from land to sea. It is time that we go beyond the cannon ball distances out into uncharted territories in Caribbean studies.

The conference welcomes graduate student papers/presentations in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Creole, and any Caribbean language on the literatures, languages and cultures of the Caribbean with a focus on revisiting, re-viewing, re-envisioning, re-reading, re-interpreting, and re-creating a Caribbean aesthetics that looks to submarine unity and defies spatial, temporal and social borders.

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to: freedom, slavery; Creole languages and heteroglossia; literacies and education; conspiracy, rebellion, marronage, revolution; migrations, movements and diaspora; Gender, desire, and sexuality; place and politics; violence; oral/aural traditions and the role of memory; performance arts, cinema; religion, religiosity; borders, frontiers, margins; popular culture; language and power; language and identity; Caribbean drama, poetry, and fiction; history, alternative histories; and carnival.

If you are interested in being considered as a presenter, please send a 250-300 word abstract, 50- word biography, university affiliation, and e-mail address. Presenters will be notified on the status of their acceptance by January 15th, 2014.

Please send submissions or inquiries o the Organizing Committee at caribbeanwithoutborders@gmail.com

Photo (by Norbert) from http://www.globotreks.com/destinations/puerto-rico/el-morro-fort-old-san-juan/