Editorial: Gender, Violence and Conflict: University of the West Indies and University of Leicester International Summer School, 27–31 May 2024

Abstract

Held from 27–31 May 2024 at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, the latest iteration of the University of the West Indies and University of Leicester International Summer School brought together a vibrant and interdisciplinary cohort of postgraduate candidates and early career researchers from across the Caribbean, Canada and the UK. Centered on the theme of Gender, Violence and Conflict, the week-long programme invited participants to engage critically and creatively with some of the most pressing social challenges of our time, through lectures, seminars, and a culminating researcher-led mini-conference.

This special issue, a product of that intellectual and creative exchange, draws together contributions that span genres, geographies, and disciplinary perspectives. From academic essays to poetry, the pieces published here reflect the spirit of the summer school: collaborative, courageous, and committed to decolonial and context-sensitive approaches. The works explore a wide range of intersecting concerns, from gender-based violence to Afro-German identity, to ecological grief, to Caribbean cultural practices and literary imaginaries. In their form and content, these contributions speak to the multiplicity of voices, methods, and lived experiences that animated the 2024 programme. Together, they demonstrate the continued importance of centring global south epistemologies and creative modalities in tackling the layered entanglements of gender, violence and conflict.