Kingston, Jamaica

The Rex Nettleford Cultural Studies Initiative is proud to host the 2008 ACS Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference in Kingston, Jamaica, on the Mona Campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI). The international Crossroads conferences were started in 1996 in Tampere, Finland to fill what was felt to be a gap in the international cultural studies community. Although cultural studies was becoming increasingly international and multi-centered - or rather centerless because of its virtual nature - cultural studies people had scarce opportunities to see each other and socialize.

The Caribbean could well be regarded as one of the first crossroads of the modern era, where Africa and Asia met Europe on Amerindian soil. The conditions were a forced and bitter crucible. The results of that encounter contributed not only to the making of the modern western world but also to the dynamism that is central to all the cultures of the Western Hemisphere. Being a site of conquest, dislocation, crossings, enslavement and rebellion, but also of memory and survival, hope of return, culture-building, in-between-ness, and immense creativity and heritage, the Caribbean is a relevant site for hosting the 7th International Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference, under the theme Of Sacred Crossroads...

Key themes for the Conference include: Rituals of arrival and contact; Crossings—the art of the crossroads; Spirituality and identity; Language rituals; Globalization and the spirit; Indigenous spiritualities; Rituals of conflict - rites of rebellion; Virtual realities; virtual spiritualities; (Spiritual) Tourism; Rituals, substances and sacred geographies; The spirit of music; Cultures of reconciliation; Storytelling; Crossroad deities and divination; Geographies of the body and spirit.

Full Conference Description [1]