On Tuesday, February 22 of this year, CLAS's Caribbean Working Group met for the first time to discuss Professor Anne Eller's (Yale University) fascinating article Skirts Rolled Up: The Gendered Terrain of Politics in Nineteenth-Century Port-au-Prince, together with the second chapter of Hermia Edris Morton Anthony's thesis titled Decolonizing Narratives: Kittitian Women, Knowledge Production and Protest. Anthony's chapter was recommended by Dr. Eller herself, who cites the dissertation heavily in her article about women's mobilization and participation in nineteenth-century Haitian political movements. Both readings inspired a rich discussion amongst participants. The best moments occurred when attendees considered the archival gaps presented and analyzed by both authors. Excellent and necessary methodological suggestions occurred when participants shared their encounters with archival silences and strategies for combating those limitations. Overall, it was a successful evening in which graduate students and faculty alike got to meet in a space sustained by individual's shared interest in the Caribbean.
