Established with a US Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center grant administered through the UGA Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute (LACSI), the Caribbean Studies Initiative (CSI) is an interdisciplinary collaboration formed to bring together scholars, students, activists, artists and other professionals with research, teaching, creative and professional interests in the Caribbean (broadly conceived as the circum-Caribbean, which includes parts of the American South). Through international collaborations, speaker series, workshops, conferences and cultural events, we engage in the sharing of information, discussion of current and historical issues and creation of projects related to the circum-Caribbean across disciplines - from the Humanities, Social Sciences, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Journalism, Business, Engineering among others- both within the UGA community and beyond (nationally and internationally). This collaboration across disciplines, professions, institutions, languages and cultures raises greater awareness of different facets of the Caribbean while facilitating enriching programs within and outside of the University of Georgia. Developed by co-coordinators Drs. Emily Sahakian and Lesley Feracho and former co-coordinator Dr. Leara Rhodes, the CSI aims: 1) to bring together faculty and graduate students across disciplines as well as participants from other institutions, 2) to educate the UGA and local community about the circum-Caribbean, and its relations with the United States, and 3) to create academic and cultural partnerships with specific international Universities, Centers, Programs and/or individuals that work on issues in the Caribbean across a range of disciplines. Thanks to the dedication of these extraordinary faculty members, the UGA-LACSI Caribbean Studies Initiative has measurably expanded awareness and understanding of this critical world region at UGA and in the Athens community, nationally, and internationally. Drs. Sahakian, Feracho, and Rhodes have developed innovative international collaborations and interdisciplinary, international student exchanges and co-taught courses, international seminars, speaker series and workshops featuring renowned Caribbean authors, artists, and performers, and the Caribbean Voices podcast to educate the public on Caribbean culture, art, and society. Forthcoming book: Tale of Black Histories, A Translation and Critical Edition Tale of Black Histories is an interactive play that was created by a group of schoolteachers under Édouard Glissant’s direction in 1970-1971 and performed for thousands of working-class spectators throughout Martinique. Featuring borrowed texts from postcolonial literature, primary historical documents, Creole songs, new ensemble-based scenes, and Glissant’s original writing, it was collaboratively created as an enactment of Glissant’s radical, Caribbean-centered pedagogy at the Institute for Martinican Studies. The play tells a tale that crosses time and space to stage the histories of slavery, colonialism, and anti-black violence, and the people’s resistance against these forces. A unique example of Glissant’s popular theater, this intellectually rich, formally innovative, yet long-neglected play offers a window into Glissant’s theatrical and educational activism, which formed the basis of his influential theoretical work Caribbean Discourse. As restaging the play proves, it is an enduring indictment of colonialism: each staged reading and performance (whether with students or professional actors) tells an engaging, participatory, and disjointed history of those whose stories and realities have been obfuscated and denied. Our edition presents the first English-language translation of Histoire de nègre, annotates its complex historical and literary references, documents its performance history, and situates it within Francophone and Caribbean intellectual, literary, and theatrical contexts. We have additionally included materials to equip readers to stage the text, whether as part of a performance (professional or amateur) or as an in-class activity or community workshop, and therefore experience how black and colonial history can be compellingly told through performance and dialogue. Tale of Black Histories will interest not only academic specialists, but also teachers, students, and theater professionals. Its dramatic engagement with issues of race, violence, culture, citizenship, and the legacies of slavery and colonialism speaks to both its historical moment and our present. Fall 2020 Course: Dr. Emily Sahakian Performance and Histories of Slavery in the Americas (THEA 4800/6800) Description: The course will provide a laboratory for exploring the relationship between performance and the history and legacy of slavery in the Americas, including Georgia and with a focus on the French Caribbean. How can we access, interpret, and make meaning from histories of slavery? What can performance reveal about the past and its relationship to the present? We will experiment, through creative expression and critical thinking, with how we can know, interpret, and perform histories and legacies of slavery and colonialism. We will have opportunities to engage with Dr. Dominique Rogers (History) and her students at the University of the Antilles in Martinique, and to speak with international artists about their work. At the same time, we will experiment with how we can express ourselves--critically or creatively--and collaborate under the conditions imposed by Covid-19.
