We hope that you are keeping well in the context of the global spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The Society for Caribbean Studies (SCS) Committee is issuing this holding statement to reassure you that we have not yet made a decision to cancel our conference at Butetown Community Centre, 1-3 July 2020, but that we are closely monitoring the UK and international situation, and we will make a decision in late April.
For the moment, we advise that you neither purchase any travel tickets/accommodation, nor register for the conference. If you have already bought a ticket, do make sure that you have appropriate travel insurance. Conversely, if you have submitted an abstract but know for certain at this point that you are NOT coming, it would be helpful for our decision-making if you would let us know.
Our thoughts are with all those who are unwell or have more caring responsibilities than usual due to the crisis. We are also thinking about all of those who are feeling isolated just now, and it is for this reason that we don’t yet want to cancel the conference – it’s important for us all to be able to look forward to a time when we can gather together once more. However, obviously people’s health is a priority: we hope that after Easter we will have a clearer sense of what the situation might be like in July.
Thanks for your patience and understanding at this difficult time. I very much look forward to seeing old friends again and making new ones at the SCS conference, whether this year or next. Please look out for a follow-up email at the end of April and, above all, stay well.
All the best,
Pat Noxolo
Chair of the Society for Caribbean Studies