Dr. Gordon K. Lewis and Mrs. Sybil Farrell-Lewis were distinguished members of the Institute of Caribbean Studies of the University of Puerto Rico. Dr. Lewis was its director from 1983 to 1987; and Mrs. Farrell Lewis was the editor of the Caribbean Studies journal from 1970 to 1980. Their contribution to the founding and development of Caribbean studies as a field of intellectual endeavor endures long after their tenure in the ICS in their legacy for many scholars in the field.
To honor this legacy, the Institute of Caribbean Studies has held the Gordon K. & Sybil Lewis Memorial Lecture since 2014. In all the ICS has held four lectures in honor of Gordon K. and Sybil-Farrell Lewis delivered by four distinguished Caribbean scholars: Verene Shepherd, Anthony P. Maingot, Richard Price, and Miguel Ceara Hatton.
After a four-year interruption due to Hurricane María, the 2020 earthquakes and the COVID19 pandemic, the 5th Lewis Lecture will be delivered, this year via Zoom, UPR TV and UWI TV.
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, will deliver the 2021 Lecture: Reparatory Justice: The Greatest Political Movement of the 21st Century.
