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Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies

Caribbean Week 2025

See schedule here.

 

Vanderbilt University’s Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (CLACX) invites students, faculty, and the greater Nashville community to join in the celebration of the first-ever Caribbean Week from March 24 to March 29, 2025. This landmark event promises a dynamic series of discussions, cultural activities, and community-building opportunities highlighting the rich heritage, history, and contemporary issues of the Caribbean and its diaspora.

Caribbean Week is designed to foster thoughtful engagement on topics of culture, politics, and identity, with a special focus on the African Diaspora in the Caribbean. It will also provide an opportunity to highlight the importance of Caribbean Studies in the global and academic contexts, including the upcoming launch of the Caribbean Studies minor, a CLACX program expected to begin in the next semesters. We hope this initiative will strengthen ties across Vanderbilt and the broader Nashville community while creating a meaningful space for dialogue and connection. We are excited to collaborate with campus and community partners to make this event impactful and inspiring on academic, cross-institutional, and community engagement levels.

Schedule Highlights

The week features a wide range of engaging events, including:

(Click here for full schedule.)

  • Afro-Caribbean Biographies Panels (Monday, March 24, and Tuesday, March 25): Renowned scholars Marlene Daut (Yale), Julia Gaffield (William & Mary), Robin Mitchell (SUNY Buffalo), and Chelsea Stieber (Tulane) will present research and reflections on the lives and contributions of Afro-Caribbean figures.
  • VU Caribbean Students Panel Luncheon (Thursday, March 27): In partnership with the Caribbean Students Association, Vanderbilt students of Caribbean descent will share their experiences and insights in a panel discussion designed to highlight current students and their future goals.
  • Film Screening of Chèche Lavi (Thursday, March 27): This powerful documentary follows Haitian migrants’ challenging journey to the United States. “Chèche Lavi is a lyrical portrait of two Haitian migrants, Robens and James, who find themselves stranded at the US-Mexico border with no way forward and no one to depend on but each other.  The quiet, unexpected tenderness of their friendship shines in the eye of an incomprehensible geopolitical storm.”
  • HBCU Caribbean Connections Panel (Friday, March 28): A special panel and networking opportunity will celebrate students of Caribbean heritage from local Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Hosted in partnership with the Engine for Art, Democracy, and Justice (EADJ), the panel will take place at Begonia Labs, followed by the opening reception of Vanessa Charlot’s exhibition, From Rivers to Revolutions.  Location: 2805 West End Ave, Nashville, TN 37203.
  • CLACX x EADJ Open House & Photography Exhibition Opening Reception for Vanessa Charlot (Friday, March 28): This event celebrates the partnership between CLACX and EADJ and features the opening reception of Vanessa Charlot’s exhibition, From Rivers to Revolutions, which captures the spirit and resilience of the US Gulf South and Caribbean communities. Vanessa Charlot is an award-winning photographer, filmmaker, and Assistant Professor of Media and Communication at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media. The exhibit will be on display at Begonia Labs from March 24- June 13, 2025. Begonia Labs is located at 2805 West End Ave, Nashville, TN 37203.
  • CSA Carnival Celebration (Saturday, March 29): The week culminates in a lively Carnival celebration on Alumni Lawn, led by the Caribbean Student Association, bringing the festive sounds, colors, and traditions of the Caribbean to the heart of campus

Ongoing programs:

Begonia Labs – March 24- June 13, 2025.

The river remembers. It carries the weight of stories, the pulse of resistance, and the echoes of those who have fought for liberation. Vanessa Charlot’s lens moves between the waters of the Mississippi Delta, the tides that lap Haiti’s shores, and the currents off Florida’s coast, tracing the spiritual, cultural, and revolutionary ties that bind these landscapes together.

–Grace Aneiza Ali, Curator, Somewhere We Are Human

Frist Art Museum – Jan 31–May 4, 2025

This exhibition of Haitian American artists M. Florine Démosthène and Didier William—both featured in the Frist Art Museum’s 2023 group show Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage—examines the capacity of immigrant bodies to recall a homeland while also reflecting a new, hybrid existence.

Caribbean Week offers a unique platform to honor the diversity and vibrancy of the Caribbean experience. CLACX welcomes the participation of all members of the Vanderbilt and Nashville communities in making this event a memorable and enriching experience for everyone.

For more information and updates, please contact Jesús G. Ruiz, Director of Caribbean Studies Minor and Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Coordinator.

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