DR. DONNA P. HOPE - BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Donna P. Hope is Lecturer in Reggae Studies in the Institute of Caribbean Studies, at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and former host of the daytime radio talk show, Disclosure on Hot 102 FM. She holds a Bachelors of Arts with First Class Honours in Mass Communication and a Masters of Philosophy (M. Phil.) in Government from the University of the West Indies, Mona. A Jamaican Fulbright Scholar for 2002-2004, Dr. Hope completed her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia in 2006. Her extensive research in Jamaican music and reggae and dancehall culture over the last fifteen (15) years has resulted in several publications, including her first book published by the University of the West Indies Press in 2006 titled, Inna di Dancehall: Popular Culture and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica.
Her next single-authored book titled Man Vibes:
Representations of
Jamaican Masculinities in Dancehall Culture is forthcoming from Ian Randle Publishers in 2010. She has presented numerous academic papers, conference presentations, and engaged in discussions in the print and electronic media in Jamaica and abroad, on Jamaican music in general and dancehall culture in particular. Dr. Hope delivered the annual Bob Marley Lecture at the UWI, Mona in February 2008, under the title “The Full has Never Been Told:
Exploring
Dancehall’s Moral Conscience”, and was the organizer and host of the Annual Bob Marley Lecture in 2009. Dr. Hope continues to engage in ongoing teaching and research on Jamaican music and popular music culture. Her areas of research interest include Jamaican music and dancehall culture, youth development, black masculinities, black popular culture, gender, identity, and power. Her current projects include spearheading the upcoming International Reggae Conference at the UWI, Mona in February 2010, and finalizing the report of her study conducted on popular music consumption and violence in Jamaica.