CALL OF PAPERS: The Meaning of Blackness / Significance of Being Black II

CALL OF PAPERS

El significado de la negritud / El significado de ser negro II
The Meaning of Blackness / Significance of Being Black II

Universidad de Costa Rica
San Pedro, Costa Rica
February 12-14, 2016

The second conference on "The Meaning of Blackness" will be held at the Universidad de Costa Rica on February 12-14, 2016. The conference follows on the first, successful, conference which was held in February 2014, whose proceedings are being published in Spanish and as an e-book by Universidad de Costa Rica Press and in English in the Harriet Tubman Series on the African Diaspora, Africa World Press.
For the 2014 Conference, see http://simposio2014costarica.blogspot.com/

The 2016 Congress is organized around the following themes:

A. Hispanic America and Perceptions of Blacks in the Nation
1. Costa Rica, Central America and the Caribbean: Perceptions of Blackness
2. Arts, Literature, Music, and Dance in Popular Imagination
3. Economic and Political Expressions of Blackness

B. Blackness in the Global Context
1. Skin Color in Establishing Social Distance
2. Scarification, Hair, Skin and Image
3. Definitions of Mulatto, Pardo, Ladino, Nigger, and Noir

C. Identity, Dignity and Citizenship
1. Biographical Accounts of Blackness
2. Church, State and the Legal Code on Blackness
3. Dissemination of Knowledge of Africanity
A related workshop for teachers and the Costa Rican judiciary will be held in association with the Conference. Simultaneous translation in English and Spanish will be provided.

Individuals interested in presenting papers on the themes of the conference should send their proposals and a brief c.v. to Leidy Alpízar at [email protected] or [email protected] . Proposals for papers will only be considered if they fit within one of the themes. Proposals must be accompanied by an abstract.

Please note that individuals are expected to cover the costs of travel and accommodation. There is a registration fee that will cover the costs of superb Costa Rican coffee for our breaks and the expenses of a live band and food for the evening reception at Chez Gidan Zaki in San Ramón de Tres Ríos on the final evening of the conference.

Details for accommodation near the University and locations of reasonably priced restaurants, also close to the University, will be provided later. A limited number of subsidies for graduate students will be provided.

ORGANIZERS:
Rina Cáceres, Cátedra de Estudios de África y el Caribe, Universidad de Costa Rica
Paul E. Lovejoy, Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History, York University

Sponsors: Contact:
Universidad de Costa Rica [email protected]
The Harriet Tubman Institute, York University [email protected]