We at H.S.A. feel distraught and sad by the inhumane, racist, imperialist and colonialist treatment of our Haitian brothers and sisters at the border. Please see this Call to Action by H.S.A. and our sister Black academic professional associations.
Given the magnitude of the situation we would like to come together as scholars, activists and practitioners to brainstorm about some concrete actions we can take to support our brothers and sisters.
2021 has seen an unprecedented series of disasters for the world’s first free Black republic: in addition to COVID and its economic crisis, Haitian people have faced a constitutional crisis, state-sanctioned violence and human rights violations – both in Haiti and along the U.S.-Mexico border – the assassination of the president, two earthquakes and a deadly hurricane with several more months in the hurricane season extended because of climate change.
Haitian Studies Association has attempted to step up and fulfill our responsibility to make our reservoir of knowledge accessible to journalists, activists, and policymakers, convoking timely conversations.
This year’s conference will prove to be a timely discussion, and a unique opportunity for scholars, policymakers, activists, journalists, and practitioners to learn from one another. The Program Committee has completed its extensive round of blind peer reviews and are pleased to accept 63 excellent papers and 25 panels on a range of themes.
With heavy hearts we write to inform you that after careful deliberation and surveying presenters, we have made the difficult decision to go online with our 2021 annual conference this year. Plans are already underway to work with local organizations to meet in Washington face-to-face in 2022. We will also announce the 2023 conference location during this year’s online business meeting.
Members of the Haitian Studies Association receive our journal, the Journal of Haitian Studies. Current members can log in here to read the current year’s issues electronically. You can join the association here.
Loren IpsumThe Haitians Book Club welcomes students and scholars, both inside and outside the academy, to a series of discussions of The Haitians: A Decolonial History, author Jean Casimir’s landmark work of theory and history. Beginning in August 2021, the club will hold four virtual, monthly meetings, free and open to the public. During these meetings, participants will focus our discussion on one of the following themes from The Haitians: translation; slavery and freedom; sovereignty and the state; and colonialism and decoloniality. An invited scholar or pair of scholars will lead each discussion and lend their expertise to our collective attempt to think about Haiti and the world through The Haitians.
You can read all current and past announcements here.
