Meagan Sylvester

Meagan Sylvester is 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.

From a sectoral standpoint, her focus is on the creative industries sector with music as the focal point of her research and publications. To date she has published over fifteen book chapters and journal articles and is a well known public academic in her native Trinidad and Tobago where she uses both traditional (television, print and radio) and social media platforms to engage discussions on the Calypso and Soca musical artforms.  Her research topics of interest are Music 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, Gender and Identity in Calypso and Soca music and Music and Human Rights in the Americas. As a Music Sociologist she has a consultancy practice in which she provides her clients with insight into the sociological framing of society using the lens of lyrics as the main unit of analysis. In addition to this, she has hosted scholarly workshops on music and culture in Europe, Latin America, South America, the United States and the Caribbean.

Academically, she has recently completed a Ph.D. in Sociology of Music at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago. She has 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.

Her public engagement portfolio and is as follows: (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) Finance – She holds a committee board position at the UWI Credit Union. (iii) Communications and Information Technology – she is an Executive board member of the Caribbean Studies Association – CSA. She holds two positions on the CSA board, namely Chair, Newsletter Committee and Co-Chair of the Digital Media Network Committee.

Demonstrating 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.