Have you already registered to partake in the upcoming ACS Crossroads Conference at the University of the West Indies surrounded by the magnificent Blue Mountains that overlook the world's 7th largest natural harbour?

The deadline for early bird registration is May 15. This allows you to pay a lower conference fee and contribute to strengthening the international Association of Cultural Studies as well!

For those who have already registered, you are in for a treat. We will be posting the draft programme this week, and here's a sneak peak at the presentations of the Keynote and Plenary speakers:

Keynote Speaker - Arturo Escobar (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) Latin America at a Crossroads: Moving Beyond Modernity?

Plenary Speakers

1. Kamau Brathwaite (New York University): DiVination: intending the culturation discourse
2. M. Jacqui Alexander (University of Toronto): Ouvri baryè-a pou nou pasé la: Cultural Studies in the Domain of Papa Legba
3. Stephen Ching-kiu Chan (Lingnan University Code): Putting Pedagogy Back into Cultural Studies: The (Un-)Learning of Culture and its Pragmatic Challenges
4. Stephen Muecke (University of Sydney Code): The Nature of Culture
5. Eduardo Restrepo (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill): What does it mean to do cultural studies in Colombia today?
6. John Clarke (Open University): Restating the problem of power: politics, policies and populations
7. Carolyn Cooper (University of the West Indies, Mona Campus): 'Pedestrian Crosses': Sites of Dislocation in 'Post-colonial' Jamaica
8. Daniel Mato (Universidad Central de Venezuela): All Industries are Cultural. A Critique of the Idea of "Cultural Industries" and New Possibilities for Research
9. Rex Nettleford (University of the West Indies, Mona Campus): TBA
10. Nilufer Gole (Ecole des Hautes Etudes): TBA

The conference website - www.crossroads2008.org - has now been updated with details about promotional opportunities. Please share these with your colleagues and publishers who may wish to take advantage of low promotional rates as well as a tropical vacation!

Further, stay tuned for details on Youth9aca4aca1d'Crossroads – an activity geared toward the youth.

Please remember to send us any updates for your panels and papers to the conference email (crossroads_20089aca4aca1yahoo.com) as soon as possible in order to make the May 15 deadline for the publishing of the abstract book.

We look forward to welcoming you to Kingston!

Sonjah Stanley Niaah
2008 ACS Conference Coordinator