5th International Symposium of the Centre for Caribbean Studies in Brazil

5th International Symposium of the Centre for Caribbean Studies in
Brazil –
CECAB

“Frontiers and Cultures in Motion: Africa, Brazil, Caribbean”

Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

30 September – 3 October, 2008



The relentless contact between economies, cultures, nations and peoples
in
the current globalization, the displacement of cultural and
geographical
frontiers, the hierarchization of ethnic and cultural values,
imperialist
domination, political, social and cultural marginalization and
exclusion
continue to manifest as negative aspects of globalization.  The
simultaneity
of times and spaces as the Atlantic became the main stage for unequal
contacts between peoples from Africa, America and Europe caused the
“modus
perpetuus” in which cultures and peoples find themselves in constant
movement, whether due to internal dynamics, or because of the
displacements
of migrations or the technological development that began in  the 15th
and
16th centuries.



Atlantic relations modified the cultural and geopolitical spaces of
Africa
and America through colonization and the African Diaspora.  Within this
context, Brazil and the Caribbean are represented as regions of deep
cultural interstices where African and Amerindian cultural expressions
were
hidden or ignored under the stigma of backwardness and barbarism.  At
the
same time, Africa is presented as an ancestral region of peoples and
ethnicities that are subaltern to the New World, as a place of static
and
homologous cultural traditions, or of backwardness and
underdevelopment,
obscuring the relationships between its multiple cultures.



Thus, political and cultural interconnections between Africa, Brazil
and the
Caribbean are the result of a common colonial past and the relations
maintained between these regions in the current globalization process.
 In
this way, to think of these cultures as being in motion is to react
against
the static notions of center and periphery, of monolithic identities
and
cultures fixed in tradition, of borders as limits and not as liminal
spaces
open for negotiation and intercultural dialogue, but also for debate
and
tensions, as well as respect for cultural diversity.[11] <>
msocom_1> [11]



To promote discussion on these issues, the Center for Caribbean Studies
in
Brazil (CECAB), along with Universidad Federal da Bahia (UFBA), is
organizing its Fifth International Symposium, which will be held in
Salvador, Bahía from September 30th to October 3rd 2008, with theme
“Frontiers and Cultures in Movement: Africa, Brazil, and the
Caribbean”.



The Center for Caribbean Studies in Brazil (CECAB) is a research center
which is one of the research groups from CNPq Lattes Platform.  It is
linked
to the Federal University of Goias and is a not-for-profit scientific
and
civil entity.  Founded in 1999, it is the only Brazilian scientific
center
devoted to the study of cultures of African origin and of the Caribbean
in
general, operating at the national and international level.  The
majority of
its members are historians, anthropologists, educators, linguists, as
well
as persons from other disciplines, with varied academic backgrounds and
from
different institutions such as Universidad Fluminense, Universidad
Federal
de Bahía, Universidad Federal de Minas, Universidad de Brasilia,
Universidad
de Maranhão and others, thus contributing to the interdisciplinary
debate.
CECAB edits each semester the Revista Brasileira do Caribe,  a
scientific
journal which publishes articles in Spanish, French, English and
Portuguese
written by researchers interested in Caribbean cultures and their
relation
to other regions.



CECAB symposiums take place every two years and gather researchers from
all
over the world and from different disciplines such as Anthropology,
Arts,
Education, Economy, Philosophy, Geography, History, Linguistics,
Sociology
and others.



The State of Goias has hosted the previous symposia in three different
cities: the First and Third in Goiania (2000 and 2004), the Second in
the
city of Goias (2002) and the Fourth in Caldas Novas (2006).  These
symposia
spawned debates, exchanges and cooperation and research projects
between
CECAB and other centers of study as well as national and international
faculties and universities.  CECAB participation in the 32nd Congress
of the
Caribbean Studies Association signaled an important moment in the
development of this center, not only for the extensive participation of
Caribbean scholars but also due to the visible presence of CECAB
publications.  The staging of the Fifth Symposium in Salvador
represents the
consolidation of the various interinstitutional cooperation projects in
Brazil as well as abroad.



The Fifth CECAB International Symposium was planned around the
establishment
of six working groups that will discuss the following topics:



*        Comparative analysis

*        Visual arts, literature, music

*        Gender, sexuality and generation

*        Patrimony and representation

*        Politics and national identities

*        Religion and religiosity



As in the previous symposia, CECAB and UFBA are confident that the
Fifth
Symposium will be a magnificent opportunity to bring together
researchers
from diverse fields who are interested in Caribbean cultures and their
relationships with other regions; increase interdisciplinary and
academic
debate; foster social, political, economic and cultural actions; as
well as
strengthen relationships of academic cooperation at the national and
international level.



INFORMATION ON THE 5TH CECAB  INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

*        The Symposium will be held in Salvador, Bahia from September
30 to
October 3, 2008. Panels and round tables will last for 2 hours and
sessions
with guest professors will last for an hour.

*        Panel chairs will be responsible for organizing sessions and
communicating with their panel members.

*        Participants may propose individual and group presentations.

*        Abstracts must be sent no later than March 15, 2008 to
vsimpcecab@yahoo.com.br  and ocabrera@fchf.ufg.br

*        The selection of presentations will be published at
www.fchf.ufg.br/caribebrasil from March 31, 2008. Full papers must be
sent
before June 30, 2008 for publication on CD-Rom.

*        Fees can be paid up to the first day of the Symposium..

*        FEES:

Brazilian presenters (residents): R$ 150.00 (one hundred and fifty
reales).

Foreign presenters: US$ 100.00 (one hundred US dollars).

Brazilian resident graduate students: R$ 100.00 (one hundred  reales).

Non-presenters: R$ 50,00 (fifty reales).

Undergraduate students: R$ 25.00 (twenty-five reales).



: 

Local Organizing Committee




Antonio Luigi Negro

DR/Unicamp/UFBA - History

negro@ufba.br


Cássia Maria Muniz Carletto

MS/UFBA/UFBA




Florentina da Silva Souza

DR/UFMG/UFBA- Philology

florenss@ufba.br


George Evergton






Joseania Miranda Freitas

DR/FACED/UFBA - Museology

joseania.freitas@uol.com.br


Lina Maria Brandão de Aras

DR/USP/UFBA - History

laras@ufba.br


Marcelo Nascimento Bernardo da Cunha

DR/PUC-SP/UFBA – Museology - PPGAfro

bernardodacunha@uol.com.br


Maria das Graças de Souza Teixeira

DR/UFBA/UFBA – Museology

mgteixeir@hotmail.com


Muniz Gonçalves Ferreira

DR/USP/UFBA - History

munfer@terra.com.br



National Organizing Committee

Dra. Olga Cabrera. President (UFG)

Dr. Danilo Rabelo Vice President (UFG)

Dra. Isabel Ibarra (UFG)

Dra. Antonieta Antonacci (PUC/SP)

Dra. Maria Bernadette Velloso Porto (UFF/RJ)

Dr. Jaime de Almeida, Dra. Maria Tereza Negrão de Melo (UnB)

Dr. Carlos Benedito Rodrigues da Silva (UFM)



Executive Committee

Rivaldene Rodrigues Natal  -Publicity