Meagan Sylvester

Meagan Sylvester is a published author from the Caribbean twin island of Trinidad and Tobago. She is a UWI, St. Augustine graduate who specialises in the Sociology of Music and she is a Caribbean scholar whose doctoral research focused on Narratives of Resistance in Calypso and Ragga Soca music. Her continuing interrogation within the academy centers on Music, Gender, and National Identity in Calypso and Soca, Music of Diasporic Carnivals, Narratives of Resistance in Calypso and Ragga Soca music, Steelpan and kaisoJazz musical identities. Teaching and research interests are Caribbean Music Cultures and African Diaspora Popular Culture. In addition, she has hosted scholarly workshops on music and culture in Europe, Latin America, South America, the United States and the Caribbean.

She is currently a Visiting Professor, Sociology and Anthropology at Farmingdale State College at The State University of New York and an adjunct professor of Africana Studies at Queens College and English Composition at New York City College of Technology.

She holds professional memberships in international organizations which include the Society for Ethnomusicology, the International Association of the Study for Popular Music, Caribbean Studies Association and the Association of Black Sociologists.

As a Labour Market specialist, she has worked as a Senior Lecturer with responsibility for the Research Methods and Sociology academic programmes at the Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies in Trinidad and Tobago. Specialising in Labour Market Research, she has held positions on cabinet-appointed government sub-committees with responsibility for providing baseline survey data and monitoring and evaluation for national labour market sectors at The Ministry of Labour and Small Enterprise Development in Trinidad and Tobago.

Her many board appointments demonstrate her commitment to her public engagement portfolio: (i) Education and Research – She is a board member of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation – TUCO and holds the position as Director, Education and Research. (ii) Culture and Archiving – She holds a board position at the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Museum (iii) Communications and Information Technology – she is an Executive Board member of the Caribbean Studies Association – CSA. She holds two positions on the CSA Council, namely Chair, Newsletter Committee and Co-Chair of the Digital Media Network Committee.

Signaling her passion for volunteerism, she is a committee member for three organisations which focus on women a) the Powerful Ladies of Trinidad and Tobago (PLOTT), b) The Association of   Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT) and c) Caribbean Women Honours and Empowerment.