Pre-Conference Events: Working Groups (Oct 16-20, 2021)
In the week leading up to our annual conference, our three Working Groups are hosting their own sessions to discuss their projects. You can see more of our conference events here.
Click here to see our conference special events.

Working Group – Archives
Archives and Public Memory in Haiti and the Diaspora
Saturday, October 16, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT
This event is open to Conference Attendees and Group Members. Conference Attendees and Group Members are already registered and will receive their join link prior to the event start.
The Archives and Public Memory working group seeks to serve as a generative, collaborative space that will provide practical resources for archivists, library workers, and cultural heritage workers of all kinds (whether institutionally-based or community-based), academic researchers, policymakers, grassroots organizers, journalists, and others. Our primary goal is to enable people in Haiti and the diaspora to be aware of and access existing archives, and to provide knowledge and resources to preserve, store, and catalogue archival collections.
Conveners:
- Elizabeth Pierre-Louis (FOKAL)
- Frederick Mangones (Independent Architect)
- Hadassah St Hubert (Independent Scholar)
- Laura Wagner (Former Radio Haiti Project Archivist at Duke University)

Working Group – Environment
The Roots Are Many and Deep: Social, Cultural, and Spiritual Dimensions of Haiti’s Ecological Crisis
Tuesday, October 19, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT
This event is open to Conference Attendees and Group Members. Conference Attendees and Group Members are already registered and will receive their join link prior to the event start.
On boarding the ship to his captivity in 1802, Toussaint L’Ouverture delivered a characterization of liberty that would become famous: its roots are many and deep. In the 217 years since Haiti’s independence, the nation’s liberty has been challenged, its roots entangled with invasive species, likewise many and deep. This meeting of HSA’s Working Group on the Environment (Konbit) will present the multidisciplinary perspectives of five scholars and activists. After introductory remarks—presenters’ names and affiliations and discussion ground rules—each of the five presenters will make a statement of no more than five minutes in order to allow maximum time for comments, questions, and discussion with attendees. The meeting will end with an announcement from our blog/vlog team about the progress of that effort, and with suggested ways for all to become involved.
Presenters:
- Marc Prou (Inivèsite Kiskeya)
- Evens Emmanuel (Inivèsite Kiskeya)
- Gary Gervais (University of Puerto Rico)
- Jodany Fortuné (University of Puerto Rico)
- Karen Richman (University of Notre Dame) & Stanley Mathurin (United States Army)

Working Group – Sexualities
The Rights to Live Creatively
Wednesday, October 20, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
This event is free & open to the public. Conference Attendees and Group Members are already registered and do not need to register again. Click here to register.
As the first official convening of the HSA Sexualities Working Group, this event builds on “The Rights to Live Creatively,” a series of conversations and roundtables we facilitated in Fall 2020. We gather to share knowledge and galvanize our commitments, interests, and labor. The first hour of this meeting will feature presentations by Haiti-based community organizers Merlin Jean and Vadson Nicholas, Directors of Cap Haitien-based human rights organization Heritage; Sandy Pierre, Community Activist of Organisation Arc-en-Ciel d’Haiti (ORAH); and Soeurette Policar, Executive Director of Organisation de Développement et de Lutte contre la Pauvreté (ODELPA). In the second hour, we will move into conversation and action planning with all attendees. What are the stakes of “living creatively” in Haiti at this moment? How might we build transnational solidarity projects together?
- Josué Azor
- Dasha A. Chapman
- Mamyrah Dougé-Prosper
- Mario LaMothe
Featuring Community Organizers:
- Merlin Jean (Heritage)
- Vadson Nicholas (Heritage)
- Sandy Pierre (Arc-en-Ciel d’Haiti)
- Soeurette Policar (Organisation de Développement et de Lutte contre la Pauvreté