Contributed
Janice Allen (left) of the Jamaica Tourist Board greets ACS Crossroads Conference coordinator, Dr Sonjah Stanley-Niah (right), at the conference's official launch, with Andrew Pryce of J. Wray and Nephew (second left) and Professor Rex Nettleford also present.

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Jamaica, like the rest of the Caribbean, is a country of those who came, a melting pot marked by signposts of streets with European names teeming with African faces, where East Indian and Chinese businesspeople hold sway and Japanese bodies attempt to sway 'yard-style' in numerous dancehalls 'after hours'.

It is fitting, then, that starting on Thursday, July 3, and running through to Monday, July 7, the 2008 Association for Cultural Studies (ACS) Crossroads Conference will be held in Jamaica. Based mainly at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, the international conference will host approximately 550 persons presenting papers, 60 of those coming from the Caribbean; 68 countries are expected to be represented.

Fittingly enough, too, it is being held as the UWI celebrates its 60th year.

The ACS Crossroads Conference was first held in Finland in 1996 and was subsequently hosted by Turkey, the United Kingdom and the USA. Next week will mark the first time it will be hosted in the global South.

Fantastic idea

Dr Sonjah Stanley-Niah, lecturer in the UWI, Mona's, Cultural Studies programme and the conference's coordinator, told The Sunday Gleaner that "Having attended some four previous conferences, and noting that the South was hardly represented and that it might be good host for such a conference, the suggestion came forward that a conference in Jamaica would be a fantastic idea. Once interest was expressed in Jamaica being a possible host for the Crossroads Conference, a steering committee was established to develop a proposal and bid for Jamaica as the next venue to host the conference. The steering committee came up with a unique concept, which was expressed in the key theme 'Of Sacred Crossroads'."

With that theme in mind, it is not surprising that Stanley-Niah says that among the numerous papers to be presented "the most popular areas have been religion and spirituality, especially Rastafari, including presenters such as Prof Frederick Hickling, Dr Michael Barnett, Dr Deborah Thomas, Dr Rivke Jaffe, Robin (Jerry) Small, Junior (Ista J) Manning and Dr Jalani Niaah, who was responsible for introducing the Rastafari Studies Minor at the UWI".

Other popular panels are about sexuality and music, with Barbadian Professor Kamau Brathwaite, Trinidadian Professor M. Jacqui Alexander, and Jamaica's Professor Rex Nettleford and Professor Carolyn Cooper slated to make presentations.

The keynote speaker is Arturo Escobar, who will speak on 'Latin America at a Crossroads: Moving Beyond Modernity'. Stanley-Niah says Escobar was chosen as "We wanted to highlight the wider Caribbean and engaging Latin America in a context of globalisation and the need to strengthen links with our closest neighbours made it appropriate.

Because the conference has not historically been staged in the southern hemisphere it is also an opportunity, to brand the conference with a distinctly outhern agenda, which privileges those who could be seen as the 'tributaries that have watered the major streams of world culture'. It is also an opportunity for people in the South to gain knowledge of the international Association for Cultural Studies and the work that they have been doing."

Naturally, the influx of presenters will have an economic impact, and Stanley-Niah says "Tourism figures will rise with the number of visitors coming to our shores for this one event, and the registration fees paid by participants are expected to cover the cost of staging the conference."

Sponsors

Also offsetting those costs is the support of a number of sponsors, including the UWI, the Office of the Prime Minister, Jamaica Business Development Company, Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, IRIE FM, CVM Television, Hype TV, J. Wray and Nephew, UCC Craighton Coffee Farm, Routledge, Taylor & Francis, The Jamaica Pegasus, Jamaica Tourist Board, and Silverhill Water.

It is not a conference for the academics only, and Stanley-Niah says "We want the cultural practitioners, artists, musicians and agents, all the stakeholders, students and lovers of culture to join us in this conference to celebrate Jamaica, our contribution to world culture and the birth of the UWI.

"We are calling on the public to participate in the sessions. We are also making a special call for UWI graduates and students to share in this historic event that celebrates our ability to host mega-conferences such as these in this the 60th year of the UWI's inception. We have arranged for special registration fees for local participants and we are looking forward to welcoming them," she said.