CERLAC is proud to announce the launch of a new program named Iyaric, an initiative seeking to support the student community by enhancing knowledge mobilization networks, stimulating public intellectual debate, and developing student publications centered on Black, Indigenous, and Caribbean themes.
Iyaric, also known as Dread Talk, is the Rastafari language created in defiance of English as an imposed colonial language that facilitated the loss of African languages among enslaved Afro-Caribbeans. Rastas use Iyaric to assert their cultural, spiritual and linguistic liberation from histories and institutions of oppression.
By pairing the anti-colonial logics and methods of the Iyaric language with student need for community and knowledge building opportunities, this program will develop monthly events in conjunction with a student publication to give CERLAC students the chance to enhance their networks and support their professional development.
Iyaric Initiative Publication:
The Iyaric Initiative is launching its very own publication! This is an exciting new opportunity to share your work and gain experience in getting published.
Our initiative is seeking Black, Indigenous, and Caribbean centred academic and creative work from students and alumni that aligns with the theme of “Disruption and Surveillance.” We encourage works that push boundaries and take risks as we are hoping to create an inclusive platform that elevates radical Black, Indigenous, and Caribbean voices. In that vein, we welcome proposals for academic papers, editorials, opinion pieces, creative writing, and visual arts that cover any aspect of life or scholarship related to historical and contemporary ways in which Black, Indigenous, and Caribbean peoples disrupt structures of oppression and/or how they are surveilled and disciplined under carceral societies.
Please submit a title and an abstract or short summary of no more than one paragraph describing what you intend to do.
Additionally, academic submissions will be reviewed through an anonymous student peer-review process. It will be a great opportunity to receive feedback from your peers and become familiar with the peer-review process.
If you are interested in working with us, please access our Google form to learn more information and submit your work.
The deadline to submit is: TBD
Application form: https://forms.gle/H4KtafcJRNuexhbN9
If you have additional questions please direct them to this email address.
IYARIC Publication:
IYARIC: Disruption and Surveillance. September 2022. Issue 1. Click here to access it.
The Black Table Series:
CERLAC’s new Iyaric initiative is excited to launch its inaugural event, a speaker series called The Black Table. Professor David Trotman, whose contributions to CERLAC have been invaluable inspired the name of this series with his talk “Reflections on the Past and Conversations on the Future” at CERLAC in 2021. He discussed Black Histories at York University, student struggles and their connections to community and regional activism. He described how Black students gathered together informally on campus at a cafeteria table called “The Black Table” to examine the racism they faced at York and to build community.
In honour of their work, The Black Table series presents its first event called “The Art of Black Research-Creation.” Black artist-researchers have been invited to speak with CERLAC members on the (im)possibilities of Blackness and arts-based research in the academy and beyond. To kick start Black History Month the incredible Camille Turner and Natalie Wood for a conversation on Black journeys in the arts/academia and considerations on art as praxis in Black world-making.
