Two of this country's leading tertiary education centres are in a race to establish full-fledged courses in calypso on their syllabuses with degree certification.
The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine Campus, and the University of T&T (UTT) are both said to be advancing the cause for the development of the calypso art form at the academic level, according to information disclosed at the October 19 presentation of Celebrating Doctors of Calypso, held at Queen's Hall in St Ann's. Presented by the Trinbago Unified Calypso Organisation (Tuco), the event was held in honour of Dr Leroy Calliste (Black Stalin); Dr Slinger Francisco (The Mighty Sparrow) and Dr Hollis Liverpool (Chalkdust) during Calypso History Month, being observed in October. UWI, through its Department of Humanities and Education, maintains a long and productive relationship with Tuco and exponents of the calypso art form. Meanwhile, the UTT, which is new to the mix, has the services of multiple National Calypso Monarch Dr Liverpool in its corner.
Professor Clement Sankat, UWI's Pro-vice Chancellor, said: "The St Augustine Campus is also working towards establishing a Centre for Calypso Studies within our Faculty for Humanities and Education and discussions are already well underway to support this initiative as a joint venture between the Department of Creative and Festival Arts and Tuco. The Department of Liberal Arts is currently partnering with Tuco on a project led by Dr Louis Regis to produce a publication with the lyrics of calypsoes by Black Stalin." The work of UTT was revealed during the feature address by Tuco president Eric Taylor, known in the calypso world as Pink Panther. He said: "Dr Hollis Liverpool, who earned his doctorate via the academic route is now the first professor of calypso studies at the University of T&T, and in the world. "Dr Liverpool is bringing his capacities and accomplishments to bear on the establishing of courses of study in collaboration with Tuco, whereby calypsonians and other local musicians can pursue their diplomas, degrees and even PHD's right here in T&T." The large Queen's Hall audience acknowledged the news with lusty and sustained applause.
Speaking to the T&T Guardian, Taylor said the efforts of UWI and UTT gave a feeling that there was hope in the world for calypsonians. "But, that's no reason for us to congratulate ourselves just yet," Taylor added. "Our greatest danger is that in this great leap from the barrack yards to doctorates, we overlook the fact that we can only live by the productions of our hands and fail to keep in mind that we will only prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify all the divisions of labour, peculiar to the calypso industry. "If we are serious about Vision 2020, then they need to give more doctorates and posthumously, too. Are they telling us that Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts) wasn't a doctor and Ras Short I (Garfield Blackman)?" Taylor supported his argument by drawing a timeline which showed that calypso, jazz and tropicalia music had all been significantly flourishing in the 1920s, but the topic of doctorates for artistes of the calypso art form had only just come to the fore, while Caetano Veloso of the tropicalia genre received an honorary doctorate from a Brazilian University many moons ago.
He pointed to the jazz idiom and noted that Duke Ellington had received as many as 19 honorary doctorates and lamented that T&T was just too far behind. Monday's celebration of the "Doctors in Calypso" was capped by scintillating performances by junior calypsonians delivering selections from the honourees.
