by Sonia Farmer, The
Nassau Guardian, Sunday, 27 November, 2011
As the
College of The Bahamas continues in their efforts to earn University
status, two instructors at the institution are helping things along
with their new bold symposium that will be internationally attended,
The College of the Bahamas Fanon Symposium 2011: 50 Years Later:
Fanon’s Legacy and the Caribbean/Bahamas, scheduled for December 2.
English professor Craig Smith and French professor Keithley
Woolward are reaching across disciplines at the institution in an
exciting new symposium on the life and work of Frantz Fanon that has
implications beyond its one-day span.
The idea for such a
symposium began when Smith realized that by the end of this year,
fifty years would have passed since the death of the
Martiniquo-Algerian psychiatrist, philosopher and writer Frantz
Fanon.
Approaching Woolward, whose dissertation focused on
Fanon, the pair set about making an event to commemorate this
figure who they considered to be important to people in the Caribbean
today.
Nothing less than a revolutionary figure, Fanon’s
books such as “Black Skin, White Masks” and “The Wretched of
the Earth” tap into critical theory and post-colonial studies. Such
work and his revolutionary life choices—such as becoming a member
of the Algerian National Liberation Front during Algeria’s struggle
for Independence—incited and inspired many post-colonial struggles
for independence around the world.
“We want to anchor the
work of Fanon in the Caribbean region,” says Woolward.
Fanon,
they agreed, was too influential of a figure to ignore this
milestone—especially to Bahamians. As one of the most well-known
theorists from the Caribbean, it was surprising how many students—and
indeed how many Bahamians—did not know much about it.
Yet
having knowledge about Fanons’ life and work is important when
thinking about colonialism and understanding social constructs and
attitudes that exist today—and it’s something the both of them
want for their students and any student at COB eager to come out and
learn more.
“We want to really think about his significance
and remind students about his significance for us, for the way we
think about ourselves,” adds Smith. “‘Black Skin, White Masks’
is really important in terms of Caribbean people of color,
specifically—thinking about colonialism and the lasting effect of
it.
“We run into a lot of our students who think that stuff
is in the past and I think it’s good to engage in the discussion of
whether it is or it’s not, and to use Fanon in engaging those kinds
of conversations.”
Indeed the events at the one-day
symposium—which will include locally and internationally-renowned
scholars—cover such subjects as “Fanon’s Politics and the
Circum Caribbean” (9 a.m.), “The Violence of National
Development” (1:15 p.m.) and “Dis We Ting Too: Fanon
and Contemporary Bahamian Experience” (2:45 p.m.), all of which
will take place in the new auditorium at the Harry C. Moore
Library on the college campus.
In addition, an art show with
pieces influenced by Fanon’s work will be on display in the atrium
of the library. It’s the result of a presentation made to an art
classes by Smith and Woolward, keeping in line with their desire to
educate its students across disciplines. They also plan to work with
the College’s publication, Lucayos, to share the discussions and
papers presented during the symposium with those long after the day
has passed.
“Building bridges I think is something that is
really important,” points out Smith. “I think one can feel
isolated at COB so its important for us to build bridges between
departments so we don’t all feel like we’re working alone, and to
build a community that people who return home can join and feel part
of in helping them work out some of their theories and ideas.”
The
day will close with a roundtable discussion on the second floor of
Chapter One bookstore at 4:15 p.m., which will attempt to synthesize
the theories and ideas put forth during the day while keeping in mind
“50 Years later: Fanon’s Legacy and/in the Caribbean.”
The
highlight commencing at 10:30 a.m. will include a lecture from the
symposium’s Keynote Speaker, Nigel Gibson, from London, UK, who is
the leading scholar on Frantz Fanon in the world.
Such a
caliber of speaker reflects the pair’s underlying hope for the
event—that it will expand into “The Critical Caribbean Symposium
Series”, an event that is internationally known, respected and
attended by scholars of the highest caliber worldwide. Such an event
would help in elevating the College’s status to University level as
they have been trying to do for some time.
“Frantz Fanon
outside of the Caribbean region is perhaps the best known theorist
that the Caribbean region has produced,” points out Woolward.
“This is the only commemoration of his death that is going on in
the Caribbean region. Strategically, the College of the Bahamas is
being placed as a major player in these kinds of debates.”
“If
we organize this symposium and have it happen here, it means that we
are then creating a voice for ourselves as an institution within the
larger economy of knowledge production,” he continues. “Our
institutional recognition beyond the boundaries of the Bahamas
automatically increases—people will be looking towards us as a
place where we have an important event. Using Fanon as a
springboard, we hope we can create that situation.”
Indeed,
it became apparent to the pair that this is bigger than Frantz
Fanon—such an event like CCSS could happen two or even three times
a year, exploring different figures and subjects as prompts to bring
worldwide cultural and critical theorists together to exchange
exciting ideas. Student participation would also be encouraged.
Indeed, their overall hope to have good honest conversations that
boldly go into difficult subject territory, allowing participants to
be enriched by ideas and theories put forth. In the end, way down
the line, they hope this inspires a Center for Caribbean Studies in
the institution.
“This way we’re really tapping into the
community, and it’s important to remember that the College of the
Bahamas is the national university of this country,” points out
Woolward. “These kinds of discussions don’t involve us academics
in isolation; we’re trying to make it so that the walls of the
college and the doors of the college are open to the community—you
can come in and engage.”
Every time they have a symposium,
they hope to keep the event free and open to the public like this
time, so CCSS could become an invaluable contribution not only to the
college but to elevating the consciousness and creative and
critical thinking of the public.
“This is a cultural
project. I think it’s important for us in the Caribbean to
understand we are more than sun, sand, sea and carnival and
Junkanoo—the Caribbean also produces thinkers and someone like
Fanon is important because he gives us a way to think about who we
are,” points out Smith.
“I think too often we depend upon
Europeans to tell us who we are in the world,” he continues. “What
we want to do with this CCSS series is to reintroduce some of those
really important key figures from the Caribbean to our students and
to the Bahamian public at large to bring them back and talk
through whether their theories are still relevant today.”
To
find out more and for a full schedule of events on the December 2
symposium, visit http://www.cobses.info/Fanon/index.html.
