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The College of The Bahamas invites you to attend its international conference entitled Abolition of The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Telling The Story. The conference will be held at The College of The Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas from February 21st - 23rd, 2008.
You are also invited to submit a paper for presentation in a panel discussion at the conference. Your paper should address one of the essay questions listed below. Abstract submission guidelines and samples of abstracts are provided for your convenience. In addition, the brief historical paper that is attached provides background information regarding the meaning and context of the abolition of the British slave trade.
Essay Questions
- Enslavement and Power
- Discuss the function of religion in either creating psychological freedom or reinforcing the enslavement of peoples.
- Explore how religion served the imperialist agenda during slavery.
- Investigate the extent to which slavery dehumanized both enslaved persons and slave masters.
- Liberation: The Power of Language
- Explain the role of language (oral and written) in establishing hierarchies of culture and rendering a people "invisible."
- ii. Explore how Europeans used language to disconnect us from Africans in Africa and from one another in the Americas.
- It is said that language is an essential part of a culture. Explore the extent to which enslaved Africans used language to resist their European captors' efforts to obliterate African culture.
- Liberation: Continuity - Ongoing Struggles, Methods and Achievements
- Enslaved persons played a central role in securing our liberation. Discuss the source of their power to resist their oppressors and the extent to which that power is needed to promote freedom in today's Caribbean societies.
- In his Nobel address, Derek Walcott states the following idea: "Break a vase, and the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than the love which took its symmetry for granted when it was whole." Discuss this idea in relation to slavery in the Caribbean, emancipation and the possibility of cultural integration.
- Explore the legacy of "mental slavery" and its impact on individual, national and regional identity in post-slavery societies.
| Abstract Submission Deadline |
- November 9th, 2007 |
| Notification of Paper Acceptance |
- November 16th, 2007 |
| Paper Submission Deadline |
- January 15th, 2008 |
| Conference Dates |
- February 21st - 23rd, 2008 |
Responsibility of Students
Students are to
- Prepare and submit presentation abstracts in a timely manner and consistent with the guidelines for abstracts contained in this document (including audio visual requests);
- Register for the conference;
- Confirm their attendance and participation immediately upon receipt of notification of the acceptance of their paper; and
- Provide useful handouts related to their presentation for distribution to conference registrants.
Submission Guidelines
Each abstract should be prepared by one student and address a single essay question. Each student is allowed one submission. Should several individuals wish to propose combining their presentations into a single panel session addressing a specific topic area, the proposal for a dedicated panel session and the abstracts should be submitted by one student - designated as the lead presenter. All communication from the Secondary School Student Programme Committee regarding such proposals will be with the designated lead presenter and the relevant teacher(s).
Abstract Specifications
Margins: Allow 1-1/2 inch for top, left, and right margins.
Length: Each abstract has a 300 word limit. Use a type font in 12-point size (character/inch), preferably the 'Times' ('Times New Roman') font, or 'Arial Narrow' if 'Times' is not available, or a font that best resembles the 'Times' font.
Manuscript Title: Leave 1-1/2 inch margin all around, i.e., top left, and right. Centre title and type in all capital letters, in bold. If title is more than one line long, single space between lines.
Abstract Text: Type text, flush left to the margins (do not use paragraph indent). Leave 1-1/2 inch margin between the left and right edge of the paper and the text. Single space the text and double space between paragraphs.
Submission Details: All abstracts must be submitted in time to be received no later than November 9th, 2007. Abstracts received after the deadline will be considered depending on space available within the various topic areas.
Abstracts should be submitted to Ava D. Thompson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, College of The Bahamas. Students are to submit abstracts by fax (242-397-2655) or email athompson@cob.edu.bs.
Each student's abstract should also provide the following information on the cover page (See Appendix A for a sample):
- Name of student, School, Grade, and Relevant Teacher's Name
- Student's telephone contacts (home and cell phone)
- Student's email address
- Teacher's/school's telephone, fax & email address
** Click here for additional information on writing abstracts and samples of abstracts.
Review
Each abstract/essay will be reviewed by the Secondary School Student Programme Committee on the basis of the following:
- Consistency with the conference theme and objectives and the extent to which it addresses the selected question;
- Clarity, coherence and logic of argument;
- Language mechanics (e.g., word usage, grammar, sentence structure, punctuation etc.);
- Understanding of the "reality" of enslaved persons; and
- Research integration and evaluation of sources/material;
The decisions of the Secondary School Student Programme are final.
Notification of Acceptance
All notification will occur in writing, addressed to the student and copied to the relevant teacher. Students and their teachers will be required to sign a commitment sheet to submit the paper (a hard copy and an electronic copy) by January 15th, 2008 and present the paper at the conference during the designated period.
Panel Presentations
Each panel will have no more than four (4) presenters, plus a session host. Each panel session will be 90 minutes, with at least 20 minutes committed to audience participation. Each presenter will be limited to an oral presentation of no longer than 15 minutes. The essay and audio-visuals are be developed accordingly.
Essay Submission - Panel Presentation Guidelines
- Student's name, teacher's name, school, grade and home/school phone number should be included on the paper presentation.
- Only one submission per student.
- The essay should range between 3000-5000 words (15 minute presentation).
- The essay should include a title, a clearly defined thesis, supporting points and a conclusion. The essay should have a reference page or bibliography of works cited and each page should be numbered, with the title and author's name in the footer.
- The essay should be printed or typed on 8 1\2" by 11" paper and should be submitted electronically (or on diskette).
- Essay should be spell-checked and free of grammatical errors.
- Use the same font type throughout the paper such as Times New Roman or Arial Narrow and size 12 font.
> Abolition of the British 'Slave' Trade Meaning and Context
> Secondary School Suggested Reading List
> Resources available in The College of The Bahamas Libraries
Internet Sources
Latin American Network Information Centre, University of Texas—includes lots of maps and links to historical and other sites:
> http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/map/index.html
Sources and General Resources on Latin America: includes some Caribbean links, including maps:
> http://www.oberlin.edu/~svolk/latinam.htm
Try typing the name of the country you are researching into a search engine, for instance http://www.altavista.com. (You will find a lot of tourist sites, but some have historical information as well!)
Search thorough reference sources such as Encyclopaedia Britannica:
> http://www.britannica.com
Digital Schomburg African American Women Writers of the Nineteenth Century (New York Public Library), includes several slave narratives, including Mary Prince, from Bermuda:
> http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/landing.cfm?migration=1
> http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/digs/@Generic__CollectionView;hf=0
> http://www.inmotionaame.org/home.cfm
> http://www.inmotionaame.org/timeline.cfm
> http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/landing.cfm?migration=4
> http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/landing.cfm?migration=5
> http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/landing.cfm?migration=10
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Documenting the American South Project - includes a collection of slave narratives, mostly from the US, but some from elsewhere, including James Williams, from Jamaica
> http://www.ibiblio.org/docsouth/
Studies in the World History of Slavery, Abolition, and Emancipation: an online journal with some interesting articles and lots of links:
> http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~slavery/
Internet History Source Books, based at Fordham University: probably the web's biggest collection of primary documents, includes a substantial collection on US slavery, and a few on the British colonies: in particular try the African History Sourcebook's sections on The Impact of Slavery:
> http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/africa/africasbook.html
The College of The Bahamas (COB) welcomes secondary school the student and teacher engagement in the conference and has worked with partners in the community to create a Fellowship Package to support students and teachers. The components of the package are as follows:
Students
- All students who submit abstracts will qualify for The School of Social Sciences Kate Moss Liberation Scholarship Award, a $2000.00 one-year undergraduate scholarship tenable at The College of The Bahamas.
- All students whose abstracts are accepted and are thus invited to present papers at the conference (based on the quality of the abstracts) are finalists for the Scholarship Award. Finalists will be notified by November 16th, 2007.
- The student judged to have written the most outstanding essay (evaluated on the basis of identified criteria) will be the recipient of the Kate Moss Liberation Scholarship Award. The announcement will be made at the conference.
Teachers
- A free copy of Junkanoo & Religion: Christianity and Cultural Identity in The Bahamas (2003); and
- A complete 29 volume set of The Journal of The Bahamas Historical Society to the first 10 teachers with two or more student submissions
- Free access to COB's libraries from May, 2008 - August, 2008.
Students and Teachers
- Ten (10%) discount at Chapter 1 Bookstore
- Ten (10%) discount on the teacher/student rate at Chinese Printing
- Ten (10%) - 15% discount at Smart Kids Bahamas & automatic enrollment in The Smart Advantage Programme
- Ten (10%) - 15% discount at Nassau Stationers Educational Booksellers
We are also pleased to announce that the high school students will continue to have access to COB's library facilities and teachers will have free access in the month of October, 2007 and in the month of January, 2008.
Furthermore, librarian Katherine Archer (telephone # 302-4517) has joined the subcommittee and will serve as library liaison and resource person for secondary school students and their teachers.
Students and teachers are invited to attend one of two library orientation sessions on Wednesday, October 17th at 4:30 pm or Saturday, October 20th at 10:00am. Each session will be held at the Main Library, located on the Oakes Field Campus.
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