ASSISTANT Professor of African studies at Hamilton College in New York, Dr. Nigel Westmaas, will be in Guyana for the Sixth Conference of the Guyana Institute of Historical Research (GIHR), billed for Saturday, June 29 at the National Library on Church Street, Georgetown. This year, the theme of the conference is the 1763 Berbice Rebellion, and Dr Westmaas will begin the proceedings with a lecture, “A Comparison of the 1763 Berbice Slave Revolt and the Haitian Revolution”.
      
Dr Westmaas has published numerous articles in journals and magazines, including Against the Current, Small Axe, Emancipation Magazine, and An Introductory Reader for Women’s Studies in Guyana. He is a guest contributor to the Stabroek News. His other research interests include the history of the newspaper press, pan-Africanism, and the rise and impact of political and social movements mainly in the Anglophone Caribbean.

Dr Westmaas earned his Master’s and Ph.D. from SUNY Binghamton, and his BA (Honors) in History from the University of Guyana. He had been politically active in Guyana with the party of Dr Walter Rodney, the Working People’s Alliance.

The Guyana Institute was established on September 1, 2000 to promote historical studies at post-graduate level. The body promotes historical studies through exhibitions, symposiums, conferences, lectures, and collaboration with other tertiary level institutions.
      
A registration fee of $3000 will provide all participants with materials, snacks and lunch.  The annual Historical Journal will be on sale for $1,500. DVDs of the proceedings can also be had for cost. There will be books as well as poster exhibitions.