Caribbean Studies Association

The Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) is an independent professional organization devoted to the promotion of Caribbean studies from a multidisciplinary, multicultural point of view. It is the largest Caribbean professional organization, made up Academics, Students, Artists, Writers and other Cultural Practitioners, and Independent Researchers.

The CSA is the primary association for scholars and practitioners working on the Caribbean Region (including Central America and the Caribbean Coast of South America). Its members come from the Caribbean Region, North America, South America, Central America, Europe and elsewhere even though more than half of its members live in the United States many of them teaching at U.S. universities and colleges. Founded in 1974 by 300 Caribbeanists, the CSA now has over 1100 members.

The CSA enjoys non-profit status and is independent of any public or private institution. Membership is open to anyone interested in sharing its objectives, regardless of academic discipline, profession, ideology, place of residence, ethnic origin, or nationality.

The Association provides one of the few venues for persons working on the Caribbean to come together to share their work, to engage in collaborative endeavors, to exchange ideas, to meet each other, and to develop the field of Caribbean Studies. Most importantly, the CSA has become potentially one of the most important vehicles for researching, analyzing, and documenting the growing significant presence of populations of Caribbean descent in United States, Canada, and Europe.

The 36th Annual Conference of the CSA will be held at the Marriott Resort in Curacao, May 30 - June 3, 2011. The theme of the conference is: "Building a new House: Towards New Caribbean Futures in an Age of Uncertainty." The annual conference usually has approximately 600 people in attendance. Next year, in addition to the regular panel and plenary sessions, there will be the film and performance track and a visual arts track. We are also planning a number of literary events, and have dedicated one of the spaces where writers will be reading from their work.

The CSA website is located at www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org.