International Journal of Bahamian Studies
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CD Review: C Force Deep Blue
No full textThe Caribbean is well known for the indigenous musical forms that evolved during the region’s colorful and frequently troubled history. Mass migration resulting from the slave trade threw together the musical traditions of Africa, Europe and North America resulting in styles such as junkanoo (The Bahamas), reggae (Jamaica) and soca (Trinidad) to name
just a few that have grown to become widely popular today. Far less known, however, is the small yet significant repertoire of “art music” written by composers living and
working in the region
The Changing Profile of The College of The Bahamas’ Graduates
Get PDFThis paper uses graduation data to show the changes that have occurred in the profile of the College’s graduates from 1976 to 2013. The data demonstrate the rise and fall in the number of graduates receiving Associate degrees. The decline in the number of graduates obtaining Associate degrees can be connected with the rise in the number of graduates receiving Baccalaureate degrees. While College to University: Strategic Plan, 2009-2019 of the College of The Bahamas considers the College era to be associated with two phases, “Creation and Early Growth: The College of The Bahamas, 1974-1995” and the “Transition Era: From College to University, 1995-2009”; the graduation data show a complex and ongoing picture of change, consolidation and change
A Cross-cultural Comparison of Interpersonal Violence in the Lives of College Students from Two Colleges from The Bahamas and the United States of America
Get PDFThere is a dearth of studies that compare interpersonal violence cross nationally. This paper reports the findings of a cross-sectional study which compares and contrasts violence in the lives of 740 college students, as children and as adults, in The Bahamas and the United States of America. Overall, students in The Bahamas were subjected to more violence (more frequently spanked) than their American counterparts. Frequency of spanking when the student was a preteen and teenager were linked to anger outbursts in adulthood, and higher numbers of anger outbursts were linked with violent behaviours of students. Although Bahamian students were exposed to more violence than the American students, this did not result in Bahamian students being more violent than American students in interpersonal relationships. However, Bahamian
students were more likely than American students to anticipate using corporal punishment on their children and to condone violence in marital relationships
Art Music by Caribbean Composers: Barbados
Get PDFOwing much to its dual heritage, Barbadian culture is a mix of primarily African and British traditions.
Unique forms of indigenous folk music include tuk and spouge music. Tuk music, a local version of the common fife-and-drum marching band, dates back to the 18th century (Bilby, 2008). Tuk music is “lively, with an intricate, pulsating and quick rhythm” (Marshall & Watson, 2008, p. 347). Spouge is a 20th century development (Best, 2005).
The Crop Over festival, which originated during colonial times as a harvest festival and which was revived in the 1970s as both a cultural and commercial event, provides an annual venue for traditional and popular music as well as other cultural activities
A New Look at Old Books: The Collection of the Nassau Public Library in the mid-19th Century
Get PDFDiscovery of a hitherto unknown printed catalogue of the collection of the Public Library in Nassau, Bahamas published in 1862 has given library historians a glimpse at the type of books and periodicals available to residents of Nassau during the first decades after emancipation. An analysis of the library’s collection may help to understand the role the library played in the cultural and intellectual life of the Colony and whether it had any influence on the cultural values of 19th century Bahamian society
Art Music by Caribbean Composers: St. Lucia
Get PDFMusical traditions of St. Lucia are in many ways similar to those of the other Caribbean islands colonized by the French. Lamagrit (La Marguerite) and Lawóz (La Rose), two societies founded in the 19th century, maintain and influence musical traditions. Both societies hold annual Flower Festivals which feature traditional and popular music (Renard, 2005). Music and dance derived from European dance traditions appear in indigenous forms on St. Lucia. Kwadril (the local creole spelling of quadrille), in particular was, until recently, a popular evening entertainment (Guilbault, 1998). The melodies for quadrilles and other Caribbean contra-dances are “predominantly European in character, although they may be enlivened by conventional improvised embellishments and syncopations, as when St. Lucian fiddlers alternate phrases (and often renditions of a given tune fragment) in binary and ternary meter” (Manuel, 2009, p. 24)
Hypertension among Haitians Living in the Bahamas
Get PDFFor many Haitians in the Bahamas, migration and the process of adapting to life in an often hostile environment creates stress and may be correlated with high blood pressure. This study examines the social determinants of hypertension among Haitians in the Bahamas by exploring how experiences of migration create stress that is believed to cause high blood pressure. The Haitian explanatory model of high blood pressure, tansyon, explains the relationships between variables such as diet, stress, and poverty, and the blood. Research was conducted in several Haitian communities in New Providence and Abaco using ethnographic methods such as interviews and participant observation. Information about hypertension was also obtained during community blood pressure education workshops conducted in collaboration with Haitian community associations. This study offers valuable insights for public health efforts in the Bahamas on the issue of hypertension in the Haitian community. This study is relevant to researchers studying the connections between hypertension and migration for populations originating from less developed countries
Art Music by Caribbean Composers: Curacao
Get PDFFolk musical traditions of Curaçao include tambu (also known as “the Curaçao blues”) and tumba (Razak, 2005). Art music has long had a presence in Curaçao. Orchestras, concert societies, and art musical instruction have been in place since the early 19th century (Gansemans, 2008). Composed dance music, for localized versions of dances such as waltz, polkas and mazurkas, is particularly popular in Curaçao (Gansemans, 2008). “The most important of these is the Antillean waltz (also known as the Curaçaoan waltz), distinguished from its European relatives chiefly by its differently accented rhythmic patterns” (Bilby, 2013, para. 10
Art Music by Caribbean Composers: Antigua and Barbuda
Get PDFThe steel pan was introduced from Trinidad in 1945 and quickly gained popularity (De Jong, 2005). The first steel band in the Caribbean, the Hell's Gate Steel Orchestra, was formed in the late 1940's and is still a force in the Antiguan steel pan scene (De Jong, 2005). More steel bands quickly arose and “the steel pan became the center of cultural life on Antigua and Barbuda” (De Jong, 2005, para. 3)
Foreword to Art Music by Caribbean Composers Volume
Get PDFClassical music has been traditionally not the domain of European musicians -- so we have been led to believe from publications, concerts, and text books. But it is not European property and was never claimed as such. This myth was perpetuated by the musicologists, who were also, not accidentally European