"Migrations and Diasporas," Sixth Annual Conference, Caribbean Philosophy Association, University of Miami, August 12-15, 2009.

Shifting the Geography of Reason 6. The Caribbean Philosophical Association (CPA) invites proposals from scholars in any discipline who aim to "shift the geography of reason" by exploring critical, theoretical, and creative questions about or relating to the Caribbean, its Diaspora, and the "global south" more generally, including the South in the North. We particularly welcome North-South and South-South intersections and/or dialogues. The theme for this meeting deals with migrations and diaspora. While proposals dealing with the broader organizing theme of the CPA ("shifting the geography of reason") will be welcome, the organizers are especially interested in presentations and panels that highlight questions about space, traveling, national and transnational communities, gender and sexuality, and issues of race and identity across migrations and diasporas not only in the Caribbean, but globally. We accept proposals in English, French, and Spanish. The principle goal of the CPA is to support the free exchange of ideas and foster an intellectual community that is truly representative of the diversity of voices and perspectives that is paradigmatic of, but not limited to, the Caribbean. The Caribbean is thus understood not solely as a geopolitical region, but more generally as a trope to investigate certain dimensions of the multiple undersides of modernity. Likewise, philosophy is conceived, not as an isolated academic discipline, but as rigorous theoretical reflection about fundamental problems faced by humanity. Understood in this way, Caribbean philosophy is a transdisciplinary form of interrogation informed by scholarly knowledges as well as by practices and artistic expressions that elucidate fundamental questions that emerge in contexts of "discovery," conquest, racial, gender, and sexual domination, genocide, dependency, and exploitation as well as freedom, emancipation, and decolonization. Reflection about these areas often appears in philosophical texts, but also in a plethora of other genres such as literature, music, and historical writings. The CPA invites theoretical engagements with all such questions, thematic areas, and genres with emphasis on any given discipline or field, but with a common interest in "shifting the geography of reason," by which we mean approaching the Caribbean and the "global south" in general as zones of sustainable practices and knowledges. As stated above, the principal areas of focus in the 2009 conference are migrations and Diasporas. See the CFP here: http://www.temple.edu/isrst/events/documents/CPA09CFP.pdf.