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GUEST SPEAKERS (in alphabetical order):

Dr. Maurice Hall (Communication scholar)
Dr. Maurice L. Hall earned a M.A. and Ph.D. from Howard University in Washington, D.C. He is currently Assistant Professor in the Communication Department at Villanova University outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He teaches courses on communication in organizations, research methods, and organizational research and consulting. Dr. Hall has also worked as a consultant with a variety of organizations over the past ten years. He specializes in facilitating strategic planning sessions for non-profit organizations, and working with organizations on issues ranging from diversity training and strategic diversity management to conflict management, team building, and organizational communication management.   His previous clients have included The U.S. Department of Transportation, Howard University Hospital, The Prince George's County Department of Social Services in Maryland, and a variety of private secondary schools in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. Among his current publications, Dr. Hall is co-author of the book, Embodying the Postcolonial Life (2004). His other writing and research projects include scholarly essays on leadership and post-colonial theory for academic journals in the field of Communication.

Dr. Roshini Kempadoo (Photographer and media artist)
Roshini Kempadoo is a London based digital artist, critic, and Reader in Media Practice at the School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies, University of East London. Recent exhibitions include: the retrospective exhibition Roshini Kempadoo work: 1990 – 2004 , (2004) Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery, London and Art & Emancipation In Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario And His Worlds , (2007) Yale Center for British Art, New Haven‚ USA. Recent publications include: ‘ Amendments: A fictional re-imagining of the Trinidad archive.'(2008) Journal of Media Practice , 9:2, pp. 87 – 99. ‘Back Routes: historical articulation in multimedia production,' in Alan Grossman and Áine O'Brien (eds.) 2007 Projecting Migration: Transcultural Documentary Practice, Wallflower Press, London, pp. 199 – 215; and ‘Digital media practice as critique: Roshini Kempadoo's installations Ghosting and endless prospects' in Victoria Arana (ed.) 2007 'Black' British Aesthetics Today, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, pp. 283-296.

Dr. Peter Manuel (Ethnomusicologist)
Peter Manuel has researched and published extensively on the musics of India, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.  His several books include Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae , the edited volume Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean (both from Temple University Press), and Cassette Culture: Popular Music and Technology in North India . He is currently preparing a book and a documentary video on the musical dynamics of the North Indian Bhojpuri diaspora in the Caribbean. Formerly a performer of sitar, jazz piano, and flamenco guitar, he is a professor of ethnomusicology at John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Michelle Materre (Film producer and writer)
Ms. Materre's professional background spans more than 25 years experience as film producer, writer, arts administrator, distribution/marketing specialist and college professor. Early in her career, she was a staff writer/producer for Henry Hampton's Blackside Productions, and an assistant story editor for MGM/UA in the feature film division. As a founding partner of KJM3 Entertainment Group, Inc., a film distribution and marketing company that specialized in multicultural film and television projects, Ms. Materre directly managed the marketing and positioning of 23 films including the successful theatrical release of Daughters of the Dust, the highly acclaimed film by Julie Dash, as well as L'Homme Sur Les Quais (The Man By The Shore ) by Raoul Peck. Other clients includes: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, Tracey Heather Strain, Channel Thirteen/WNET, Stanley Nelson, Women Make Movies, Third World Newsreel. Ms. Materre is a former member of the Board of Directors of New York Women in Film and Television, and has been the curator of the critically acclaimed film series, Creatively Speaking, for the past fourteen years. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Media Studies at The New School, and an independent media consultant, advising filmmakers and organizations on fundraising, distribution, outreach, marketing, and exhibition.


PERFORMERS (in alphabetical order):

La Troupe Makandal
La Troupe Makandal captures the power of Haitian drumming to represent the spirit of Haiti 's history and culture in theaters and schools. Most of our company's repertory derives from Vodou, the vibrant spirituality that African ancestors carried to Haiti . The repertory includes, as well, the music and dance of springtime festivals, work, and play. Under the direction of Master Drummer Frisner Augustin, La Troupe Makandal educates, entertains, and heals racial and cultural divisions—generating dynamic experiences one does not soon forget (http://www.makandal.org).

Yoruba 2
Lydia Perez & Yoruba2 is an award-winning, nationally renowned group that presents traditional music and dance from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean . The group performs such known genres as “bomba”, “plena” , “rumba”, Yoruba songs, and other rhythms. Lydia Perez has received 24 awards in folk arts at the state, regional and national levels, including Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowship, Rhode Island Foundation Fellowship, and a 2010 Fellowship Merit Award in Folk Arts from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. She is also founder of the Puerto Rican Institute for Arts and Advocacy (Puertorriquenos Unidos), which received an economic and community development award from the Rhode Island Foundation in 2007. (http://www.prfdance.org/yoruba2.htm)