The University of the West Indies

COURSE OUTLINE

Course Code: FOUN1101 (FD11A)

Course Title: Caribbean Civilisation

Credits: Three (3)

Prerequisite: None

Semester: Semester II

Academic Year: 2011/2012

Co-ordinator: Dr. Julian Cresser

Lecture details: Monday 7-9pm [Venue: N1]Tuesday 2-4pm [Venue: N1]Wednesday 6-8pm [Venue: Law Lecture Theatre 3]Thursday 12-2pm [Venue: N1]Friday 2-4pm [Venue: N1]

Co-ordinator contact: julian.cresser02@uwimona.edu.jm

Office Hours: Tuesday 5-6pm; Thursday 11am-12noonRoom 84 – Library Spine

Course Description

The course is designed to give students a survey of the Caribbean’s history and culture, commencing with the arrival of the Neo-Indian peoples (ca. 5000BCE) through to the present day Caribbean. This course stresses the commonality of the region, comprising more than individual island nations or linguistic groups. The idea of civilisation is key to comprehending the Caribbean’s progression through time and will play an important role in understanding the cultural, economic, social and intellectual trends and their supportive institutions that have emerged in the Caribbean. While the course focuses on the similarities in the Caribbean, it also highlights the differences that have emerged because of colonialism, demography, climate and historical progress.

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Course Aims

This course aims to stimulate students’ interests in the concept of a Caribbean civilization and place it within the context of understanding their individual lives and the lives of those around them. It is hoped that it will stimulate greater interest in the idea of Caribbean unity and commonalities. Other objectives of the course include:

1. To develop an awareness of the main processes of cultural development in Caribbean societies, highlighting the factors, the problematic and the creative output that have fed the emergence of Caribbean identities;

2. To develop a perception of the Caribbean as wider than island nations or linguistic blocs; and

3. To stimulate students’ interest in and commitment to Caribbean civilization in the furtherance of their own self-definition.

Course Units

The Units to be covered in this course are as follows:

Unit 1 The Concept of Civilisation

Unit 2 Defining a Caribbean Civilisation: The Indigenous Settlers

Unit 3 The Diversified Caribbean in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth

Centuries

Unit 4 Enslavement and Freedom of West Africans in the Caribbean

Unit 5 Emancipation, Migration and East Indian Indentureship

Unit 6 Caribbean Identity: Defining a Caribbean Self

Unit 7 Religion, Education and Caribbean Family Life

Unit 8 Caribbean Cultural Expression: Festivals, Music and Sports

Unit 9 Caribbean Sexuality and Gender Relations

Unit 10 Writing the Diversified Caribbean

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ASSESSMENT

The evaluation for this course will be divided between coursework (40%) and a final examination (60%). The coursework will be in the form of a mid-semester exam with 60 multiple-choice questions. The final exam will also be a multiple-choice exam with 90 questions.

COURSE CONTENT and OBJECTIVES

UNIT 1: The Concept of Civilisation Session 1.1 The Myth of Pre-HistorySession 1.2 Defining Civilisation and CultureSession 1.3 Varying Civilisations

ObjectivesAt the end of this Unit, you should be able to:1. Describe the role of historical enquiry in the recording of past civilisations2. Explain the myth of Pre-history3. Discuss the meaning ‘culture’ in the context of ‘civilisation’4. Assess the factors that account for varying civilisations

UNIT 2: Defining a Caribbean Civilisation: The Indigenous SettlersSession 2.1 Defining the CaribbeanSession 2.2 Interpreting the neo-Indian lifestylesSession 2.3 Demography of the early Amerindian peoples

ObjectivesAt the end of this Unit, you should be able to:1. Identify the Caribbean region in the context of the world2. Explain the organisation and distribution of early Amerindian civilisation in the

Caribbean3. Discuss the characteristics of neo-Indian lifestyles

UNIT 3: The Diversified Caribbean in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CenturiesSession 3.1 Maritime exploration and the interlopersSession 3.2 Agricultural change and the emergence of ‘King Sugar’Session 3.3 Labour diversity and demographic change in Caribbean ‘frontier’ society

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ObjectivesAt the end of this Unit, you should be able to:1. Identify the factors that underlay and made possible 15th and 16th century voyages of

exploration by Europeans2. Account for the various agricultural activities in the Caribbean prior to the

establishment of sugar cane3. Discuss the reasons why sugar became the dominant plantation crop in the Caribbean

by the 20th century4. Trace some of the factors that contributed to the complexity of the Caribbean society:

its diversity, its multinational beginnings and its earliest introduction to globalisation by being integrated into a world economy

UNIT 4: Enslavement and Freedom of West Africans in the CaribbeanSession 4.1 Comparing West African Slavery and Caribbean Chattel SlaverySession 4.2 Enslavement on Caribbean Sugar EstatesSession 4.3 Freedom lost, freedom regained on Caribbean sugar estates

ObjectivesAt the end of this Unit, you should be able to:1. Discuss slavery as an economic mode of production in Africa and the Caribbean2. Assess the impact of the slave trade on African civilisation3. Discuss manumission in Caribbean chattel slavery4. Analyse some of the gender issues in plantation life and the physical abuse of the

enslaved5. Evaluate the ‘collaborative’ relationship between enslaved people working in the

Great House and the white plantocracy6. Assess the self-liberation ethos of the enslaved and their resistance on the plantations

UNIT 5: Emancipation, Migration and East Indian IndentureshipSession 5.1 The end of British Caribbean ‘Chattel’ SlaverySession 5.2 Attempts at solving the ‘Labour Problem’ in the 19th centurySession 5.3 Indian Indentureship and Caribbean Society

ObjectivesAt the end of this Unit, you should be able to:1. Assess the apprenticeship system within the context of emancipation2. Discuss the labour problems experienced by the planters in the nineteenth century3. Evaluate the impact of the various nineteenth century labour experiments on cultural

diversification in the Caribbean

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4. Evaluate whether indentureship was an opportunity for advancement for the Indians in the Caribbean

5. Assess the impact of Indian indentureship on Caribbean society

UNIT 6: Caribbean Identity: Defining a Caribbean SelfSession 6.1 Forging an IdentitySession 6.2 The Shaping of Caribbean Identity: Twentieth Century US Imperialism

ObjectivesAt the end of this Unit, you should be able to:1. Identify those factors which make the definition of a Caribbean identity problematic2. Define the term ‘diaspora’ and examine the concept of a diasporic double-

consciousness3. Explain the different models of Caribbean society (Creole, Plural)

UNIT 7: Religion and Education Session 7.1 Religion as a socialising agentSession 7.2 Religion and education in the formation of Caribbean Society

ObjectivesAt the end of this Unit, you should be able to:1. Evaluate the relationship between religion and education2. Describe the role of religion and education in the establishment and preservation of a

‘Euro-centred’ status quo in the Caribbean3. Identify the religion-based historical linkages that influenced the development of

social norms, attitudes and customs in the Caribbean

UNIT 8: Caribbean Cultural ExpressionSession 8.1 Caribbean festivalsSession 8.2 Caribbean music

ObjectivesAt the end of this Unit, you should be able to:1. Discuss the contribution of Caribbean cultural expressions to the emergence of

Caribbean civilisation2. Trace the evolution of various festivals in the region3. Identify the role of festivals and music in the region

UNIT 9: Caribbean Sexuality and Gender Relations

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Session 9.1 Gender in the CaribbeanSession 9.2 Tracing gender issues in the Caribbean SocietySession 9.3 Caribbean Masculinity

ObjectivesAt the end of this Unit, you should be able to:1. Relate Victorian gender ideology to androcentric historiography in the region2. Explain the contributions to and manifestations of gender roles over time in

Caribbean society3. Discuss the concept of hegemonic masculinity in relation to Caribbean society

UNIT 10: Writing the Diversified CaribbeanSession 10.1 The ‘How’ of Caribbean HistorySession 10.2 The Genesis of Caribbean Writing: Trying to give the story from the ‘local’ perspectiveSession 10.3 Critiquing the Caribbean perspective

ObjectivesAt the end of this Unit, you should be able to:1. Discuss the written history of the region as rooted in Eurocentric perspectives2. Trace the genesis and development of Caribbean writing3. Assess the value of the Caribbean perspective in historical writing for the region

PRESCRIBED READINGS

UNIT 1: The Concept of CivilisationArthur Marwick, “History: Essential Knowledge about the past”, Chapter 2, The New Nature of History: Knowledge, Evidence, Language. Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001 (pages 22-50).

L.S. Stavrianos, “First Eurasian Civilizations, 3500-1000 BCE”, Chapter 3 in The World to 1500: A Global History (7th Edition) New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999 (pages 43-63).

UNIT 2: Defining the CaribbeanAleric Josephs, “Indigenous Societies of the Circum-Caribbean and South America” in, The Caribbean, the Atlantic World and Global Transformation, eds. Jenny Jemmott, Aleric Josephs and Kathleen Monteith. Mona: Social History Project, 2010 (pages 3-20).

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UNIT 3: The Diversified Caribbean in the 16th and 17th CenturiesL.S. Stavrianos, “West European Expansion: Iberian Phase, 1500-1600”, Chapter 24 in The World Since 1500: A Global History, (7th Edition) New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995 (pages 365-382).

L.S. Stavrianos, “West European Expansion: Dutch, French, British Phase, 1600-1763”, Chapter 24 in The World Since 1500: A Global History, (7th Edition) New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995 (pages 383-395).

UNIT 4: Enslavement and Freedom of Africans in the CaribbeanEric Williams, “King Sugar”, Chapter 9 in From Columbus To Castro: The History of the Caribbean, London: Andre Deutsch, 2003 (Reprint: original 1970); (pages 111-135).

Michael Craton, “Forms of Resistance to Slavery”, in UNESCO’s General History of the Caribbean vol. III: The Slave Societies of the Caribbean, ed. Franklin Knight, UNESCO Publishing, 1997, (pages 222-261).

UNIT 5: Emancipation, Migration and ImmigrationWoodville Marshall, “ ‘We be wise to many more tings’: Blacks’ Hopes and Expectations of Emancipation” in Caribbean Freedom: Economy and Society from Emancipation to the Present, eds. Hilary Beckles and Verene Shepherd. Kingston: Ian Randle, 1996 (pages 12-20).

Williams, Eric. “The Ordeal of Free Labour”, Chapter 18 in From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492-1969. London: Andre Deutsch, 2003 (Reprint: original 1970); (pages 328-346).

Williams, Eric. “Asian Immigration”, Chapter 19 in From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492-1969. London: Andre Deutsch, 2003 (Reprint: original 1970); (pages 347-360).

UNIT 6: Caribbean IdentityMervyn Alleyne, “The Caribbean”, Chapter 5 in Race and Ethnicity in the Caribbean and the World, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago: University of the West Indies Press, 2005 (paperback edition: Original 2002); (pages 80-113).

Rex Nettleford, “The Melody of Europe, The Rhythm of Africa” in Mirror, Mirror: Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica. Kingston: LMH Publishing, 1998 edition (original 1970); (pages 171-211).

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UNIT 7: Religion, Education and Caribbean Family LifeMoore, Brian and Michele Johnson, “Schooling for God and Empire: The Ideology of Colonial Education”, Chapter 7 in Neither Led nor Driven. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2004 (pages 205-244).

Mutabaruka, “Rasta From Experience”, Chapter 3 in Rastafari: A Universal Philosophy in the third Millennium, ed.Werner Zips, Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2006 (pages 21-41).

UNIT 8: Caribbean Cultural ExpressionsAjai Mansingh and Laxmi Mansingh, “The Creolisation of Hosay”, Caribbean Quarterly, 41, no.1 (March 1995): pages 25-39.

Burton, Richard D.E. “Cricket, carnival and street culture in the Caribbean.” In Liberation Cricket: West Indies cricket culture, ed. Hilary Beckles and Brian Stoddart, Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 1995 (pages 89-106).

UNIT 9: Caribbean Sexuality and Gender RelationsBernard Moitt, “Women, Work and Resistance in the French Caribbean during Slavery, 1700-1848” in Engendering History: Caribbean Women in Historical Perspective, eds. Verene Shepherd, Bridget Brereton and Barbara Bailey. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 1995, (pages 155-175).

Aviston Downes, “Boys of the Empire” in Interrogating Caribbean Masculinities: Theoretical and Empirical Analyses, ed. Rhoda Reddock. Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago: University of the West Indies Press, 2004 (105-136).

UNIT 10: Writing the Diversified CaribbeanBarry Higman, “The Development of Historical Disciplines in the Caribbean” in UNESCO’s General History of the Caribbean vol. VI: Methodology and Historiography of the Caribbean, ed. B.W. Higman, UNESCO Publishing, 1999 (pages 3-18).

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