Farewell from the Current Director, Carter Mathes
Greetings RAICCS affiliates and Friends,
I’m pleased to announce the first edition (with many to come!) of our RAICCS Newsletter. This platform will be our way of keeping you all in the loop and updated about what we have done and what is to come each semester. This inaugural edition is also an occasion for me to share the news that my term as Director is concluding and I’m very happy to pass the baton to my good colleague and long-time RAICCS affiliate, current RAICCS steering committee member, and Associate Professor of Geography, Kevon Rhiney. Kevon is an expert in Caribbean political ecology and environmental justice-among many other related subfields connected to Caribbean climate and agrarianism. For those of you who are not yet familiar with Kevon, you’ll get to know much more about him in our Fall newsletter Director profile-but for now, just know that RAICCS will be continuing in very good directorial hands.
I want to note that this is the conclusion of my second term as Director. My first term as Director was from 2015-2018 when RAICCS first came into existence as a center at Rutgers. Before 2015, I was a part of a collective effort (comprised of Rutgers faculty engaged in and supporting Caribbean studies) to propose and create a Caribbean studies cluster hire. It was largely through the gains and energy of that cluster hire that RAICCS would come into being. I briefly recount this history now to simply note that I have witnessed the history of RAICCS from its commencement through its ongoing present, and I’m happy to say that RAICCS is thriving as much or more than it ever has.
The last three years has in many ways been a period of transition for RAICCS-we have seen many new colleagues arrive and have developed new initiatives and partnerships that I know will continue and grow in dynamic ways. Briefly, in addition to our programming throughout the academic year, often in collaboration with other RU units, we have two new ongoing initiative that you’ll hear more about if you don’t already know of them: our Theories and Methods Salon, and our New Books in Caribbean Studies series. We are also happy to note that RAICCS will be sponsoring and co-sponsoring two new working groups, one focused on Sylvia Wynter’s Black Metamorphosis and another engaging with the work of Édouard Glissant. We have tried to be responsive to the immediate concerns of our greater communities with outreach regarding hurricane Melissa recovery efforts and with an event organized by RAICCS affiliate, Sebastian León focused on issues of US imperial militarization and international law in Venezuela and the southeastern Caribbean. We’ve also collaborated with colleagues at Tulane University and the Institute of Jamaica’s Jamaica Music Museum (JaMM) to explore cultural, historical, and political connections between New Orleans and Jamaica. In a particularly exciting development this academic year, RAICCS co-sponsored our colleague, Kaysha Corinealdi’s, "Undisciplined: Writing & Creating Otherwise" speaker series that focused on creative and alternative approaches to scholarly work in Caribbean studies. We also have a wonderful and growing cohort of graduate student affiliates who have been participating in programming, helping to run the organizational aspects of RAICCS, and are working towards the RAICCS graduate certificate.
There is so much more to report-and you will be hearing about upcoming plans in motion and in development (including renewed research clusters, updates to the website, additional collaborative partnerships, and new initiatives building and bridging connections with NJ region Caribbean communities). The path forward has been crafted carefully over these past several years with crucial input and labor from Kathy Lopez, who served as acting Director during the 2023-2024 academic year, as well as Camilla Stevens, who was associate director from 2022-2024. Nicole Burrowes has been and will continue to be an invaluable visionary leader as RAICCS Associate Director. Kiran Motieram has been basically indomitable and incredibly adept in taking on the many tasks we have asked of Kiran as RAICCS graduate student assistant. You’ll hear more about the current RAICCS steering committee, of which I will remain a part as I step down from directing RAICCS.
This is to say, THANK YOU to you all for the support over these years, and til soon for many more great things to come.
Peace,
Carter Mathes
Other articles in this newsletter:
2025-2026 AY Events: https://criticalcaribbean.rutgers.edu/newsandevents/news/news-details/442-2025-2026-ay-events
Updates from our Affiliates: https://criticalcaribbean.rutgers.edu/newsandevents/news/news-details/443-updates-from-our-affiliates