Event

The Caribbean Philosophical Association (CPA) invites proposals from scholars in any discipline, including graduate students, who aim to "shift the geography of reason" by exploring critical, theoretical, and creative questions about or relating to the Caribbean, its Diaspora, and the "global south" more generally, including the South in the North.  The conference will take place at the University of Miami, Coral Gables on August 12-15, 2009. 

The CPA particularly welcomes North-South and South-South intersections and/or dialogues.  The theme for this meeting deals with migrations and diaspora.  While proposals dealing with the broader organizing theme of the CPA ("shifting the geography of reason") will be welcome, the organizers are especially interested in presentations and panels that highlight questions about space, traveling, national and transnational communities, gender and sexuality, and issues of race and identity across migrations and diasporas not only in the Caribbean, but globally. Proposals in English, French, and Spanish will be accepted. 

The principle goal of the CPA is to support the free exchange of ideas and foster an intellectual community that is truly representative of the diversity of voices and perspectives that is paradigmatic of, but not limited to, the Caribbean.  The Caribbean is thus understood not solely as a geopolitical region, but more generally as a trope to investigate certain dimensions of the multiple undersides of modernity.  Likewise, philosophy is conceived, not as an isolated academic discipline, but as rigorous theoretical reflection about fundamental problems faced by humanity.  Understood in this way, Caribbean philosophy is a transdisciplinary form of interrogation informed by scholarly knowledges as well as by practices and artistic expressions that elucidate fundamental questions that emerge in contexts of "discovery," conquest, racial, gender, and sexual domination, genocide, dependency, and exploitation as well as freedom,emancipation, and decolonization.   Reflection about these areas oftenappears in philosophical texts, but also in a plethora of other genres such as literature, music, and historical writings.  The CPA invites theoretical engagements with all such questions, thematic areas, and genres with emphasis on any given discipline or field, but with a common interest in "shifting the geography of reason," by which we mean approaching the Caribbean and the "global south" in general as zones of sustainable practices and knowledges.  As stated above, the principal areas of focus in the 2009 conference are migrations and Diasporas. 

The deadline for submissions for panels and abstracts of individual presentations is February 15, 2009. All submissions should be emailed to caribphil@yahoo.com.  

Abstracts should succinctly state the problem(s) addressed and identify the sources used in one paragraph to one page per individual presentation. All titles must include the name of the presenter, the highest university degree obtained, and the current institutional affiliation, if any. We will review proposals in English, French, and Spanish and will create panels for presentations in those three languages. More relevant information about membership, panel proposals, and the goals of the associations attached. Panel presentations must include a description of the panel as well as title and abstracts of individual presentations and the basic biographical information (as listed above) of each presenter. The maximum of presenters per panel is four, in addition to a moderator.The fourth panelist could be a presenter or a commentator. 

We will consider submissions of two to three interconnected panels on key issues that relate to the main theme of the conference. These panels will take place at different days and times throughout the conference to be determined by the organizing committee. We also encourage panels that seek to establish dialogues among scholars, and artists, professionals, activists, and community leaders who are in dialogue with intellectual and scholarly work. 

All presenters will be asked to pay conference fees, and in most cases, membership to the association as well. The conditions for membership and the fees for this year will be announced soon and are expected to be no more than most professional associations in the United States.