The University of Bedfordshire is pleased to announce the call for contributions for the first ever ESRC & AHRC (Funded) Social Science Festival.

The primary aim is to establish a research network among key academics, researchers, policy makers and practitioners to establish and develop advocacy for advancement of the creole heritage and culture through the arts and humanities. The core focus of building this network is for advancement of the creole heritage and culture employing a multidisciplinary approach through the unique indigenous creole language, arts (storytelling, song and dance), tourism and its indigenous populations. In that regard, the networking activities aim to establish and sustain long term engagement and partnership between key actors and stakeholders so as to ensure collaboration which extends beyond participation in initial festival and other networking events.

The network seeks to strengthen links with key regional and international organisations and actors in advancing marginalised indigenous creole cultures in general, and specifically in the wider Afro-Caribbean and Pacific region. In this regard, the specific objectives of the network are to:

• Develop a platform through collaboration for advancing the creole heritage and culture (language, food, arts, dance and fashion).
• Develop a knowledge base on the creole heritage and culture for advocacy, teaching and information dissemination.
• To investigate and document core principles and practices of creative industries and cities for advancing policy on preservation and promotion of the creole heritage and culture in pursuit of advancing Dominica as a Centre of Excellence in Creole heritage and cultural preservation in the Caribbean region.
• To advance links through established and new international organisations that could help advance the agenda of the network (example, International Federation of Art Council and Culture Agencies; Folk Research Centre, St. Lucia; La Francophonie, Cultural organisations, policy experts and practitioners among others) in the medium to long term.

International cultural relations and development theories, and the UNESCO ICH Convention form the core underpinning frameworks for developing and advancing debate and discourse for this project. Engaging an interdisciplinary approach and a multicultural perspective, we invite work from across diverse borders and continents. We believe that the festival will be of interest to members of mixed and creole backgrounds in the first instance but welcome submissions from experienced researchers, early career researchers, research students, policymakers and practitioners.

We therefore invite submission in a variety of formats including traditional paper presentations, videos, posters, and art work. Both conceptual and empirical work are welcome. Proposed presentation topics can include but are not limited to the following:

• Creole Cultures and mixed identities
• Intercultural relations and development
• Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and tourism development
• Adopting the ICH UNESCO Convention
• Event Tourism: Dance, song and film as the voice of marginal cultures
• Anthological issues in intercultural tourism studies
• Emerging events and cultural tourism studies
• The role of the media in intercultural tourism representation
• Emerging and innovative research methods and methodologies in events and tourism research
• Other interdisciplinary areas

Target Audience

This interdisciplinary symposium seeks to explore intercultural links and relations between creole speaking countries and enthusiasts in the following areas:

Symposium Abstract Submission

400 to 500 words (excluding references) and should include: the purpose of the research, the interdisciplinary approach taken, the methods used and the key (expected) findings. The abstract should be submitted the scientific committee via email to: creolefest@beds.ac.uk

Key Dates

• Deadline for proposal submission: 14th September 2018
• Notification of acceptance: Wednesday Friday 19th September 2018
• Date of festival: 9th & 10^th November 2018