Gregson Davis, Jamaica Kincaid to Deliver Keynotes at Antigua-Barbuda Conference

This year it’s the 10^th anniversary of the annual Antigua and Barbuda Conference. Here’s everything you need to know about the two-day conference. Don’t say I didn’t tell you.

Date: August 6^th 2015

LOCATION: UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS, ANTIGUA

Breakdown:

3 to 3:30 p.m. – Opening Remarks Paget Henry (Antigua and Barbuda Studies Association) and Allison Hull (University of the West Indies)

3:30 p.m. – 4:50 p.m. Panel One: THE ARTS AND THE GROWTH OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE – PART 1: Presenters: Adlai Murdoch – Writing and the (Re)Definition of ‘Antiguan-ness’; Hazra Medica – Rescuing the ‘Wharf-rat’: Working-class Male Identity in Antigua Literature; Dorbrene O’Marde  –  Reparations Scholarship: Recognition, Justice and Development – Chair: Susan Lowes

5:00 – 6:20 p.m. PANEL TWO: RELIGION IN ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA: CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION Presenters: Elaine Olaoye – Socio-psychological Analysis of Allan Davis’ Theology of Suffering; Valerie Combie – Good Old Time Hymns of Faith: Their Impact on Community Life; Edith Oladele  – A Vision of the Caribbean Church: Indigenous, Diaspora, and Totally Free to Be – Chair: Paget Henry

6:20 – 7:00 p.m. REFRESHMENT BREAK

7:00 – 8:30 p.m. KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Distinguished Professor, Gregson Davis – Sands of Paradise/Sands of Time: Rethinking the Aims of Education for the 21^st Century – Chair: Ermina Osoba

8:30 – 9:00 p.m. BOOK LAUNCH Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books, Volume 8, Number 1

Friday, August 7^th 2015

LOCATION: ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA YOUTH ENLIGHTENMENT ACADEMY

Breakdown:

12:30 – 1:50 p.m. PANEL THREE: THE ARTS AND THE GROWTH OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE: PART 2 Presenters: Althea Romeo-Mark – An Immigrant Story, the Arts, and Self-Knowledge; Edgar Lake – Rewriting the Archive; Bernadette Farquhar – Pére Labat’s Description of the Making of Bamboula, a Dying Antiguan Culinary Art – Chair: Valerie Knowles Combie

2:00 – 3:20 p.m. PANEL FOUR: THE ANTIGUAN AND BARBUDAN ECONOMY: AN UPDATE Presenters: Don Charles – The Antiguan Economy: Skills Training and Education Requirements for Sustainable Future Growth; Paget Henry – The Antiguan Economy: a Left Perspective; Jay Mandle – Diaspora and Development in the Post-Colonial Period: the Case of Antigua and Barbuda – Chair: Alvette (Ellorton) Jeffers

3:30 – 4:50 p.m. PANEL FIVE ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY POLITICS Presenters: Dorbrene O’Marde – Reparations Scholarship: Recognition, Justice, and Development; Ermina Osoba – Gender Relations in Antigua and Barbuda: a Reflective Update; Harland Henry – Mobilizing Small Business Entrepreneurship in Antigua and Barbuda – Chair: Arthur Paris

5:00 – 6:20 p.m. PANEL SIX EXPANDING THE EDUCATIONAL SECTOR Presenters: Juno Samuel – The Making of the University of Antigua and Barbuda; Anthony Joseph – Secondary School Exit Exams in English and Mathematics; Claude Turner – A view of the Antigua and Barbuda Knowledge Economy, 2020 – Chair: Mali Olatunji

6:20 – 7:00 p.m. REFRESHMENT BREAK

7:00 – 8:30 p.m. KEYNOTE READING: Distinguished Author, Jamaica Kincaid – Chair: Hazra Medica

CLOSING REMARKS

Youth Enlightenment Academy Articulates its Plans in Antigua and Barbuda

I overheard Lawrence Jardine and members of the team he’s put together on the radio yesterday, sharing their ideas re an education-adjacent programme they’re planning to launch here in Antigua and Barbuda. I’d had some pre-knowledge of this programme and the intent to create a more fully rounded, creative thinking, thoughtful type of citizen. I’m using one of the platforms at my disposal to share it with you. I chose Wadadli Pen rather than my personal blog because Wadadli Pen, like this programme, is youth-specific.

“YEA is principally a finishing school for all genders to assist primarily the public sector school system to instill values of teamwork, self-esteem, pride, conduct, behavior, civility, humanity, performance and commitment for national development in our students. YEA will escort students from Grade 6 to Grade 11 (Form 5)…

“YEA’s mission is to synchronize the community of students to adopt, internalize and implement common core societal and humanistic values to produce common performances…

“…we must place more emphasis on teamwork. We must teach the youth etiquette and civilities, and engage them in activities to develop their cognitive skills. We need to instill in their consciousness an indelible sense of pride, responsibility and commitment to contribute to the nation’s development.”

READ THE FULL DOCUMENT OUTLINING YEA’S PLANS: Antigua and Barbuda Youth Enlightenment Academy_Draft_1

UPDATED TO ADD their website link.