"Rassemblement pan-créole: écoutons la voix des jeunes."

Téléconférence, tenue le 21 janvier 2007.

Participants

Thomas Spear

On February 21, 2007, Professors Lucienne Serrano and Thomas Spear, and doctoral student Sophie Saint-Just, participated in the second international Kreofolies videoconference, entitled "Rassemblement pan-créole: écoutons la voix des jeunes." Professor Spear organized the New York component of the conference at the Lehman College campus of CUNY, hosting students, faculty, and members of CUNY organizations, including ethnomusicologist Prof. Dominique Cyrille (from Lehman) and Jude Piquant, representing Habetac (based at Brooklyn College).

Other participan ts included students, faculty and organization leaders (such as Pierre-Roland Bain of the Mois du Créole à Montréal) at the University of York in Toronto, and secondary teachers and the coordinator of the Mauritian Prevokbek programme, Jimmy Harmon, at the Centre de Formation Pour Educateurs at the Bureau de l'Education Catholique in Mauritius.

Participants in Australia, Martinique and Saint-Lucia joined the three video sites through audio connections. Moderated from Toronto by Paul Comarmond of the International Organisation of Creole People (the conference sponsor), the animated debate raised many linguistic, political and social questions concerning Creole language, its regional variants and standarization, definitions of Creole identity, and ties with communities of the Creole diaspora. The two-hour conference is available to view online, with a blog for follow-up information and discussion at the Kreofolies web site.