Events
Past Speaking Events
2026
February 25th
Presenter/Speaker
Institute of Caribbean Studies, Washington, DC
In celebration of Black History Month and Reggae Month
Title of talk: Music, Mas and Movement: Culture and Heritage in the Service of Resistance and Civic Engagement
October 29th
Presenter/Speaker
St. George’s College, Barataria, Trinidad and Tobago
In Celebration of Calypso History Month
Topic: A Gendered Perspective of Selected Calypsos From Trinidad and Tobago
February 13th
Panelist/Discussant
New York City College of Technology – CUNY
New York
In Celebration of Black History Month – Review of the Film – The Sun Rises in the East
Commentary on Local Politics and Nationalist Politics of The East in Brooklyn
2025
September
Columbia Women in Society Seminar
Columbia University, New York
Presenter/Discussant: Perspectives on Masculinity in the Arts
Respondent: Dr. Fredara Mareva Hadley
Columbia Women in Society Seminar
Columbia University, New York
Respondent: The Freedom to Love: The Emotional Politics of Black Love as Liberation. Paper by Dr. Dionne Bennett, CityTech
February
Panelist/Discussant
New York City College of Technology – CUNY
New York
In celebration of Black History Month –
Discussant/Panelist: Review of the Film – The East and presentation on the remaining vestiges of the history of the East – The International African Arts Festival
2024
March 25th
Panelist/Discussant
New York City College of Technology – CUNY
New York
In celebration of International Women’s Month
Hip-Hop, Women, Gender & Sexual Health
February 20th
Panelist/Discussant
New York City College of Technology – CUNY
New York
In celebration of Black History Month – Banned Black Book Panel
Banned Book of Choice discussed STAMPED: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynold and Ibram X. Kendi
February 7th
Panelist/Discussant –
In celebration of Black History Month celebration in the US & Reggae Month in Jamaica
Exploring the impact of Bob Marley’s music to the Black consciousness in the US
The White House
Washington DC
2023
November 30th
Guest Presenter
New York University Writers Group
New York
Examining Black Musical Joy through the lens of Calypso Music
November 29th
Guest Speaker
Brooklyn College – CUNY
New York
Unpacking Feminist Politics in Calypso and Soca: A Tale of Two Women
April 8th
Host/Facilitator/Moderator
The Explainer Symposium
A Calypso Conversation on the Life and Times of Calypsonian – The Explainer
Glendale, Queens, New York
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9IwRhGX85k
March 29th
Guest Speaker
Wichita State University
College of Fine Arts
School of Music
University Talk: Narratives of Resistance in Trinidad’s Calypso and Soca. (See publication citation link)
March 26th
Celebrant : Spring Book Launch and Book Fair
1466 St. John’s Place
Brooklyn, New York
Book/Editor Feature: Sylvester, Meagan and Opal Palmer Adisa. 2021. Interviewing the Caribbean – Caribbean Music. Interviewing the Caribbean. Volume 7. Issue 1. Mona, Jamaica: The University of the West Indies (UWI) Press.
https://www.bookfusion.com/books/1734975-interviewing-the-caribbean-volume-7-issue-1-
2022
October 13th
Presenter
The Institute of Caribbean Studies at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica Staff/Postgraduate Seminar Series
Paper Title: Unpacking the connections, interconnections and disconnections of #Kaisofusion (#Calypso and #Soca) in the diaspora
September 9th
Panelist/Interviewee
Discussant: The musical contribution of Soca Star, Machel Montano – in celebration of MM40
Event: I Belong to the House of Music series in collaboration with the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival and Center for Fiction
15 La Fayette Ave
Brooklyn, New York
June 27th
Panel Presentation
Caribbean Studies Association Panel in celebration of Caribbean American Heritage Month
Title: Unpacking Connections, Disconnections and Inter-connections within Caribbean American cultures
Zoom Online Platform
June 23rd
Roundtable Discussant
Caribbean Connections Celebrates “All of WE is Family” Caribbean-American Heritage Month
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL)
455 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
Title: Calypso and Soca in New York – A decade that brought change 1980s – 1990s
June 14th
Public Talk
TropicalFete presents Authors Connecting
In Celebration of Caribbean-American Heritage Month
Brooklyn Public Library
New Lots, Brooklyn, New York
Title: Unpacking the future of continuing synergies and migratory movements of Trinidad and Tobago’s Calypso and Soca in New York
February 14th
Roundtable Discussant
Africana Studies Series – A Love Balm for the Ages – Music and Wellness in the African Diaspora
Queens College,
Queens, New York
Title: Black Music, Wellness and the Diaspora
2021
October 19th
Guest Lecturer
Finger Lakes Community College – SUNY
Canandaigua, New York
Title: People Power Movements in Caribbean Festival Culture – The Calypso Experience
https://events.flcc.edu/
September 27th
Guest Lecturer
Cornell University
Africana Studies and Research Center
Ithaca, New York
Title: People Power Movements in Caribbean Festival Culture
https://events.cornell.edu/event/people_power_movements_in_caribbean_festival_culture
April 30th
Discussion session between Professor Hollis Liverpool and Meagan Sylvester
Warfield Center for African and African American Studies at UT AUSTIN
College of Liberal Arts
The University of Texas at Austin
Title: Calypso as a Form of Resistance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA5WbolnKDY
2020
November 3rd
Caribbean Worlds: An Introduction
Guest Lecture
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Title: Defiant Youth, Womanhood, Femininity and Gender Justice in Caribbean Pop Music
2019
June 24th
Dept. of English
College of Humanities
University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras
Title: Trinidadian Language, Culture and Identity
2018
April 3rd
Jamaica Theological Seminary
Kingston, Jamaica
Title: Race and Ethnicity in the development of music of Trinidad and Tobago
2016
September 2016
Public Presentation as part of The Executive Council of The Caribbean Studies Association public talk
Topic: Music of the Caribbean and its diasporic contributions
University of Miami
March 9th, 2016
Public Presentation after accepting the position of new Editorial Board Member of the online Journal “Commentaries” which has its base in Dutch Sint Maarten
The University of St. Martin
March 9th, 2016
Public Talk on the Sociology of Music
The University of St. Martin
St. Martin,
Dutch Caribbean
2015
April 16th, 2015
Northern Caribbean University
Mandeville, Jamaica
Title of talk: The socio-political issues affecting the development of music in the Caribbean
2014
July 9th, 2014
Rutgers University
Department of Geography
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
The United States of America
Title of talk: Issues of Identity and Culture in Music