Addendum to the Course “Caribbean Thought”

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Written by Rev. Renaldo McKenzie | Published January 7th in TheNeoliberal Blog updated June 7, 2021.
I’d like to update the course name “Caribbean Thought” and make some additions and changes to the course outline. The course was originally developed by Rev. Dr. Garnett Roper, former President of the Jamaica Theological Seminary. I first taught the class Spring Semester January 2021. I provided this addendum then and updated it for Summer semester beginning June 7th, 2021
The course should be called “Critical Thinking and Expressions in the Caribbean and Caribbean Diaspora”. I will add the following required readings: Renaldo C. McKenzie’s Neoliberalism Globalization Income Inequality Poverty and Resistance,” Kenneth B Clark “Dark Ghetto; Dillemmas of Social Power,” Thomas Clark “Globalization and Neoliberalism The Caribbean Context,” and Homi Barber’s “Location of culture.” 

Day one of the course will look like this:


Day 1: 

Introductions

Review of Course outline

Discuss Expectations 

Activity 1: Students will trace their thought and provide an expression of that thought or thinking and justify that thinking through reason


Definition of terms -  thought, Caribbean and expressions, neoliberalism, Anthropology, Logic, Reason, Critical thinking, political decolonization, Diaspora, Dark Ghetto, Nationalism, Dialectic, Phenomenology and Descartesian Philosophy etc. 


Activity 2: Identity and respond to personal local and global issues and how discuss personal and Caribbean response


Activity 3: Is there a Caribbean identity —- many languages one voice is this true activity?


Objective: At the end of the course the students should be able to start Developing or considering their own theories, philosophy, perspective and or theology of life.


They will be exposed and develop the skill to practice Critical thinking about issues

Challenge personal beliefs and systems and will learn to utilize common sense science and reason and logic,


Requirements: As part of the final grade The students will have a debate at the end where in groups they will  get to present, argue and or debate their thoughts (Argument and reason)  


Note: Because the course looks not just at thought but the expression of that thought we will also delve into looking at Art forms music dance food religion and teachings and ways that we have historically presented defended and share that thought and whether these were credible and effective by critiquing these forms. We will look at cinema and music and literature and how they have been utilized to present a thought that challenge the status quo and will consider the film “life and debt” and Syrianna and delve into the book “Planet of the Slums” (an anthropological ethnography on Brazil), and Stephen Frears “Dirty Pretty Things,” as we think about brain drain and immigration. 


I will zero in on this point in the class that: Thought without expression is empty and null. Having ideas doesn’t stop there how do we use it to challenge past present and future thought. 


What we have lost is the ability to think widely about things not held or hijacked by one’s opinion over another but we must have that willingness to expand thought and challenge previous and personal thought 


In essence The course will Develop and sharpen the participants critical thinking by looking at thought and thinking about them in objective ways driven by context and to formulate their own thought that they will defend and broadcast in various media.


Rev. Renaldo McKenzie can is a Lecturer at the Jamaica Theological Seminary and will be teaching “Caribbean Thought” this semester. Renaldo is presently working on two books to be published next month and is contributes his thoughts on his blog site theneoliberal. Renaldo is pursuing a Doctorate and is currently President of McKenzie and McKenzie. Renaldo can be reached at renaldocmckenzie@gmail.com


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