‘Real Inclusiveness Requires Understanding’: Professor 莫里斯·韦德 Explores Caribbean Identity in Annual 沃森的讲座

莫里斯·韦德 has spent his career as a professor of philosophy and a contributing faculty member in the Public Policy and Law Program 和 国际研究课程 在信誉最好的网投十大平台. His most recent project focusing on the work of Caribbean intellectual and activist Lloyd Algernon Best has woven together philosophy, 经济学, 历史, 文学, and more into an ambitious interdisciplinary venture.

Wade shared some of his research during the annual 雪莉克. 沃森的讲座 2021年4月5日. 实际上是由 Trinity Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, Wade’s lecture and research highlighted the power of an interdisciplinary, cross-genre exploration of big questions that transcend genre through collaborative, 创新的研究.

In 2013, at the invitation of Professor of History and International Studies 达里奥Euraque, Wade went to 三位一体的 Trinidad campus. 在那里, he visited the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies, and was introduced to Best’s copybooks—his unpublished personal notebooks. This initial introduction to Best’s writing began a years-long study of his thought. Wade delved into the Trinidad native’s writings, including his private journals and his published work. At the heart this exploration is a study of Best as a decolonial thinker and activist who contributed to an ongoing discourse about Caribbean identity.

Working on Best’s thought inspired Wade to initiate the Caribbean Anti-Colonial Thought Archive Project. This online project is intended to be a continuing effort to make available any and all forms of Caribbean anti-colonial thought to interested students and scholars and to provide opportunities for collaborative study between Trinity students and faculty interested in the Caribbean. 三位一体的 加勒比研究中心 建立了一个 奖学金 that will support students who are interested in continuing the work of building this online archive.

“What the Caribbean is and what it should aspire to become, 经济和其他方面, should be determined for itself on its own terms, even if this means pursuing policies and collective aspirations, 经济和其他方面, that are quite different from those of the so-called First World,韦德说 during the 沃森的讲座. 在他的演讲中, Wade described the ways in which Best was critical of pedagogy that was highly dependent on a Eurocentric vision of what the Caribbean should aspire to become. Best rejected formulaic and dogmatic ad在这里nce to standards established by colonial powers from Western Europe, 韦德说, and invited a new perspective rooted in the Caribbean as a particular “context of being and belonging,” 和 vibrant cultural identity emanating from the region.

The Trinity community is uniquely positioned to receive this scholarship, with a rich Caribbean population in the surrounding city of 哈特福德, and an active Caribbean Studies program. Wade underscored that t在这里 is value in bringing Best’s ideas into the American discourse. He said, “在那里’s more to it than just 历史. It’s about breaking out of our intellectual straight jackets, and having honest intellectual engagement and understanding even ourselves through a decolonial lens.” Wade emphasized that integrating thinkers like Best into the conversation could enable a deeper connection with the community, and with the Caribbean itself. “Real inclusiveness requires understanding,” he said.

To help foster this understanding, Wade is currently partnering with other Trinity faculty members in putting together a manuscript for publication in which the Caribbean will be a central focus. The contributing faculty include Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Urban International Studies 中庭一个. 迈尔斯; Ann Plato Fellow in Anthropology and American Studies 阿曼达·J. 古斯曼; Charles A. Dana教授和Charles A. Dana Research Professor of Fine Arts 巴勃罗·德拉诺; Associate Professor of International Studies 珍妮特李. 鲍尔; and Professor of History and International Studies 达里奥Euraque. Together, their work will contribute to what Wade considers an essential task. “You can’t fully understand Western Europe or the Americas without also understanding the Caribbean,韦德说.

Wade’s lecture was made possible by the co-directors of the Trinity Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies 和 Wassong family. 雪莉·G. Wassong Memorial Lecture in European and American Art, 文化, and History was established in 1996 in loving memory of Mrs. Wassong with the support of friends, family, and her husband, Joseph Wassong ’59. Since 2010, the Trinity Institute for Interdisciplinary ​Studies has organized this annual lecture.

To watch a video of the lecture, click 在这里.