Internationally recognized as an outstanding pioneer in the historical sociology of sport, Keith Sandiford, professor emeritus of history at the University of Manitoba, will talk about "Cricket as a Liberating Force in the West Indies" at the eighth annual Jagan Lecture.
The Caribbean dialogue with Sandiford will take place Saturday, March 21 from 7:30 to 9:30pm in Lecture Hall B, Vari Hall, Keele campus. The lecture is free and open to anyone wishing to attend.
Born in Barbados, Sandiford is a graduate of the University College of the West Indies and the University of Toronto. He taught at the University of Manitoba until his retirement in 1998. He is the author of the much acclaimed Cricket and the Victorians and Cricket Nurseries of Colonial Barbados: The Elite Schools, 1865-1966, and co-author of 75 Years of West Indies Cricket: 1928-2003.
Right: Keith Sandiford
In addition, he 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 works have addressed such disparate subjects as Barbadian culture and education; black studies; Caribbean cricket; Victorian culture, diplomacy, politics and sport; and West Indian contributions to Manitoban life. He is the recipient of several awards, honours, medals and plaques, mainly for his outstanding community service in Canada.
He was also honoured by the Barbados Cricket Association in 1992 for his contributions to the sport as a historian and in 2002 by Combermere School Old Scholars Association 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 Jagan Lecture Series, hosted by the Centre for Research on Latin America & the Caribbean (CERLAC), commemorates the life and vision of the late Cheddi Jagan, a Caribbean thinker, politician and political visionary. Jagan was born in 1918, the son of a sugar worker in Guyana. He first struggled to liberate Guyana from British rule, then for 28 years fought for restoration of freedom and democracy. He eventually became Guyana’s first democratically elected head of state.
The series is founded upon the idea that the many and varied dimensions of Jagan’s belief in the possibility of a New Global Human Order should be publicly acknowledged as part of his permanent legacy to the world. The lectures reflect this vision and speakers are selected from an international community who have a like commitment and interest.
Previous Jagan lecturers included novelist George Lamming; economist and social critic Lloyd Best; Carolyn Cooper, a theorist on popular culture and the impact of the dancehall phenomenon; Walton Look Lai, prominent historian of the Caribbean; Michael Dash, who spoke on the Haitian question; and Cheddi Jagan’s widow Janet Jagan, who delivered the inaugural lecture.
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, visit the CERLAC Web site.