UWI staging activities to honour Miss Lou
The Mona
campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) will be hosting several
activities over the next few months to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the
birthday of late cultural icon, Dr the Hon Louise Bennett Coverley, popularly
known as ‘Miss Lou’.
The activities, under the theme ‘Miss Lou 100’, include a debate titled, ‘Louise Bennett for National Icon’; a poetry clash; an exhibition celebrating Miss Lou’s centennial; public consultations on the issue of language rights in Jamaica; and a Walter Rodney lecture dedicated to Miss Lou.
Director of
the UWI’s Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Professor Opal Palmer
Adisa, who is spearheading the activities, said that several departments were
brought together to organise the tribute to the cultural icon.
These
include the Department of Literatures in English; Jamaican Language Unit; the
Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS), Regional Coordinating
Office; the Main Library; Institute for Caribbean Studies; the Faculties of
Humanities and Education; and other stakeholders.
“I brought
the various departments together because I wanted it to be a university-wide
function,” she said.
Adisa said
that a ‘Regional Day’ will be held on October 7 at the Regional Headquarters
while a Miss Lou symposium focused on gender-based violence will take place on
November 25.
She said
that the symposium, which will be held on International Day for the Elimination
of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW), will explore Miss Lou’s work and its
relevance in addressing gender-based violence in Jamaica.
