College English Association- Caribbean Chapter Annual Conference

     This week was the celebration of English Week in the public school system.  And coincidentally, today Friday was the  College English Association- Caribbean Chapter annual conference. This conference was held at the University of Puerto Rico Arecibo campus.  This year theme was  Technology and the Humanities. 
     I had the opportunity to present a paper related to Caribbean children's  literature on this first day of these conferences. The paper is titled "History through Technology: Discovering the Past".  The novels I discussed were Dale la Vuelta written by C.J. García and A Tumbling World... A Time of Fire written by the Jamaican writer Diane Browne.
     I truly enjoyed sharing with the audience composed of professors and students from the English courses offered at UPRA.  I presented my work in the first panel titled "Intersections: Interactivity & Technology in Art Spaces".  Ruben Mendoza of the University of California was also part of this panel presenting a paper titled "Technomediated Performance Rituals Games as Catalytic Pharmakon" which created a very interesting discussion among the persons present in this conference.  This panel was moderated by Dr. Jane Alberdeston- Coralín.
     This same morning I also participated as a moderator for the following panel.  This was the first time I have been invited to moderate a panel so I was very excited with this new academic experience.  It was a great honor moderating the panel "The New Democracy: Digital Inclusion in the Literary World".  Heri J. Albertorio of the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez discussed "The House that Kickstarter Built: A Look at How an Internet- Based Crowd- funding Service is Affecting and Reshaping the Publishing of Graphic Novels". Jeffrey Herlihy of the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez presented a paper titled "An Open Source Peer-Review and its Democratization of Scholarly Publishing". These two papers caused such interest and discussion that many asked to have copies of these works.
     The morning sessions which I attended were full of excellent information about how technology is seen in the light of Humanities.  Dr. Elsa Luciano Feal, president of the CEA Caribbean Chapter  opened the day's conference with a very relevant view of technology within the university world.  Her talk ended with a very dynamic conversation where those present as well as Dr. Luciano Feal talked about how they perceived technology in their lives.
     I am very happy and grateful of having the opportunity of presenting my paper in this annual conference.  Not only was I able to share my love for children's literature, but I also had the opportunity to meet other professionals and students who share the same academic interests.  I continued this academic dialogue during lunchtime discovering the many diverse projects the people that I shared with are involved in. And these are the priceless moments within the academic world, the sharing of our passions and dreams.
     We also received as a gift a copy of the journal Forum, published at UPRA.  The 30th anniversary edition includes literary works  by Dr. Jane Alberdeston- Coralín, Rosa Montero, Ana Lydia Vega, Daniel R. Altschuler Stern and Fernando Picó.  It also published research works from Waldemiro Vélez Cardona, Luis A. González Pérez, José J. Rodríguez Vázquez, Rebeca Franqui Rosario, Dinorah Cortés Vélez and Rey Emmanuel Andújar.  Wanda Delgado Rodríguez reviewed the novel Instrucciones para Salvar el Mundo.
     While I enjoyed of the conferences related to technology and Humanities, Dr. Anibal Muñoz and Dr. Giovanna Balaguer were the keynote speakers in the closing of the English Week of Fajardo District.  A post will soon be published about this great activity.