A well-known academic and writer on the sport of cricket, Professor Emeritus Keith Sandiford of the University of Manitoba, will deliver this year’s Jagan Lecture at York.
Sandiford will present “Cricket as a Liberating Force in the West Indies” from 7:30 to 9:30pm, Saturday, Nov. 15 in Stedman Lecture Hall D, Keele campus. He will provide an illuminating and entertaining discussion on ways in which cricket has historically promoted change and liberation in the West Indies.
Born in Barbados, Sandiford is internationally regarded as a pioneer in the historical sociology of sport, a field in which he has extensively published and lectured. He is the co-author of 75 Years of West Indies Cricket: 1928-2003 (Turnaround Distribution, 2004) and author of Cricket Nurseries of Colonial Barbados: The Elite Schools 1865-1966 (University of the West Indies Press, 1998) and Cricket and the Victorians (Scolar Press, 1994).
In addition, Sandiford wrote statistical biographies for the Famous Cricketers Series, published by the Association of Cricket Statisticians & Historians, on such West Indian stars as John Goddard, Wes Hall, Roy Marshall, Sonny Ramadhin, Garry Sobers, Alfred Valentine, Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell.
His publications have gone beyond cricket to tackle such disparate subjects as Barbadian culture and education; black studies; Victorian culture, diplomacy, politics and sport; and West Indian contributions to Manitoban life. Sandiford is the recipient of several awards, honours, medals and plaques, mainly for his outstanding community service in Canada. He was honoured by the Barbados Cricket Association 
in 1992 for his contributions to the sport as a historian and by Combermere School Old Scholars Association in 2002 for his contribution to the Combermere community. In 2004, he received the Gold Crown of Merit from the Government of Barbados for his contributions to education and community service.
The annual Jagan Lecture, hosted by the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), is free and open to the public. It commemorates the life and visionary ideals of Dr. Cheddi Jagan, Guyanese statesman, thinker and political fighter for social justice. This is the eighth lecture in the series.
The Jagan Lecture Series is co-organized by CERLAC, York International and a standing committee of volunteers from the Toronto Caribbean community.
For more information, contact CERLAC at ext. 55237.