Past Events
Update on Haitian Immigration in the United States (June 18, 2026)
The event brings together immigrant rights advocates, lawyers, and scholars to provide an update on Haitian immigration in the United States. Panelists address the volatile and shifting immigration landscape for Haitians, the SCOTUS TPS case, and Congressional TPS advocacy. This timely conversation is for the public and will help clarify misconceptions about current immigration policy and procedures.
Reading Frederick Douglass through a Haitian Lens (July 1, 2026)
The Haitian Studies Association (HSA) honors the work of Frederick Douglass by reading and reflecting on the Haitian Kreyòl translation of “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”/”Kisa jou kat jiyé vle di pou nèg nwa” in the context of Haitian studies and the Haitian diaspora in the US. Frederick Douglass engaged directly with Haiti as U.S. ambassador from 1889-91 and his “Lecture on Haiti” at the Chicago World’s Fair (1893). The reading will be followed by a panel to discuss the translation and consider Douglass’ legacy and relationship with Haiti.
Haitian Studies in Dialogue: Emerging Scholars Bridging Dyasporas in France, the United States, and Beyond (May 25, 2026)
The study of Haiti, like the country itself, is caught between colonial and neo-colonial currents. For nearly four decades the Haitian Studies Association, based in the United States academy, and its scholars have played key roles in defining Haitian Studies. U.S. regional hegemony has drawn Haitian migrants to its shores, increasing the number of people interested in the study of Haiti. This growth in scholarship focused on Haiti and Haitian diasporic communities is sustained and advanced by the formation of the Haitian Studies Association, the Haitian Studies Institute at Brooklyn College (New York), and the Journal of Haitian Studies. These institutions were born from activism and political organizing, but they also exist in relation to the historical legacies of Cold War-era area studies (1940s-1990s), and with the development of Black/Africana Studies departments from the 1960s onward. Haitian Studies in the United States, then, is a product of specific historical developments, local and state funding opportunities, and community-based socio-political mobilization, but it is also vital in this era of global crises. The United States’s continuing intervention in Haiti as well as its inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants and asylum seekers require ongoing response from experts to provide Haiti-informed perspectives.
Virtual Program & Politics Briefing (Apr. 2, 2026)
Please join the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) for a Virtual Program & Politics Briefing on Thursday, April 2nd at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST with the leaders of our sister organization, the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI).
The Leadership Council members Mèt Kattia Dorestant Lefruy, Mèt Gesnel Pierre, and Mèt Chadony Canon will speak about the complex and challenging political context in Haiti. They will share how the BAI is navigating these barriers and continuing to advance justice, democracy, and Haitian human rights.
Film Konbit Kolektif – Spring 2026 Series
The Film Konbit Kolektif, a collaborative effort of the Haitian Studies Association (HSA) with CUNY Haitian Studies Institute (HSI) at Brooklyn College, presents the Spring 2026 Film Series which features short and feature films on Women and Women’s Health.
Online Film Screening – Douvan Jou Ka Leve (The Sun Will Rise) (Mar 20, 2026)
This intimate documentary by filmmaker Gessica Généus tackles the complex issue of mental health illness in Haitian society. Using her mother’s bipolar disorder, Généus explores what she refers to as an “illness of the soul” to examine how personal trauma is intertwined with centuries of cultural and religious colonization in Haiti. The film blends poetic narration with intimate footage in a way that invites viewers to address the issue of mental illness with compassion, care and understanding.
Online Films Screening – Four Short Films by Al’Ikens Plancher (Apr 24, 2026)
Join filmmaker Al’Ikens Plancher and Felix Jean-Louis (Assistant Professor of History, University of California, Irvine) as they discuss these short films centered on Haitian and Haitian-American identities.
Online Film Screening – Ludi (May 8, 2026)
Ludi follows a Haitian nurse employed at a nursing home in Little Haiti, Miami, trying to make ends meet to support her family in Haiti. The film helps viewers reflect on the cost of pursuing the so-called American Dream.
Join us for a post-screening discussion with filmmaker Edson Jean and Cécile Accilien (Professor of French & Francophone Studies , University of Maryland).
Online Event “Kongrè Patrioyotik pou yon Sovtaj Nasyonal” (Jan 24, 2026)
At this difficult juncture for Haiti, we are forwarding an invitation to attend a zoom event Saturday January 24, 2026 hosted by the Congès National de Sauvetage National. For the past 10 months, the group has garnered opinions and suggestions through 12 symposia organized in Haiti and in the Diaspora. Follow-up meetings in Port-au-Prince, in the provinces, and in the Diaspora included different groups and constituencies representing various sectors of the population and often divergent platforms. A number of HSA members have participated as presenters or attendees.
Global Reads Webinar: Author Nadine Pinede on her YA Novel Set in Haiti (Jan 24. 2026)
K-12 educators, join us for a conversation with Nadine Pinede, author of the 2025 Américas Award Honor Book, When the Mapou Sings. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss the book with the author and consider classroom applications.
Infused with magical realism, this story blends first love and political intrigue with a quest for justice and self-determination in 1930s Haiti.
Sixteen-year-old Lucille hopes to one day open a school alongside her best friend where girls just like them can learn what it means to be Haitian: to learn from the mountains and the forests around them, to carve, to sew, to draw, and to sing the songs of the Mapou, the sacred trees that dot the island nation. But when her friend vanishes without a trace, a dream—a gift from the Mapou—tells Lucille to go to her village’s section chief, the local face of law, order, and corruption, which puts her life and her family’s at risk.
Forced to flee her home, Lucille takes a servant post with a wealthy Haitian woman from society’s elite in Port-au-Prince. Despite a warning to avoid him, she falls in love with her employer’s son. But when their relationship is found out, she must leave again—this time banished to another city to work for a visiting American writer and academic conducting fieldwork in Haiti. While Lucille’s new employer studies vodou and works on the novel that will become Their Eyes Were Watching God, Lucille risks losing everything she cares about—and any chance of seeing her best friend again—as she fights to save their lives and secure her future in this novel in verse with the racing heart of a thriller.
Dr. Guerda Nicolas to Be Honored at Haiti Unbound (Nov. 21-23, 2025)
Dr. Guerda Nicolas to Be Honored at Haiti Unbound – Vertières’ Third Annual International Gala & Conference.
Born in Grand-Goâve, Haiti, and raised in Petit-Goâve, Dr. Guerda Nicolas is a force of vision, intellect, and heart. She is the Co-Founder of Ayiti Community Trust, an organization dedicated to empowering sustainable development in Haiti through locally led initiatives.
A renowned Haitian American psychologist, author, and professor in the Department of Educational and Psychological Studies at the University of Miami, Dr. Nicolas has devoted her life to advancing mental health awareness, education, and community empowerment. Her groundbreaking work bridges cultures and generations, nurturing both minds and communities.
Géographies de la rébellion et subjectivations féminines (Nov. 17, 2025)
Le centre de recherche interdisciplinaire et de valorisation des savoirs sur Haïti (CRIVASH), vous invite à une conférence bimodale sur le thème « Géographies de la rébellion et subjectivations féminines : traces, savoirs et transmissions autour de Sanite Belair», avec Dr. Sabine Lamour, professeure à l’Université d’État d’Haïti, professeure invitée à l’institut d’études féministes et de genre de l’Université d’Ottawa. La conférence aura lieu le 17 novembre entre 11h30 et 14h à la faculté des sciences sociales , salle FSS4004.
The Path to Visual and Cultural Reparation in the Digital Age (Nov. 11, 2025)
The HADC research team (Vivian Finch ’26, Princess Alexander ’26, Amen Wakjira ’26, Cadence Chen ’26, and Jane Merten – Burling Library) will share with the Grinnell College community their presentation from the 2025 Haitian Studies Association (HSA) conference that was held this past October at the University of Pittsburgh. The presentation will focus on the work of the Haitian Arts Digital Crossroads (HADC) project to digitize, catalog, and build awareness of Haitian art in public institutions. For the past five years, the HADC Project has led the charge of “digital reparations” by creating a platform and community where restitution is theorized and exercised. Digital reparation is a multi-faceted approach to returning cultural objects to their contexts and making them accessible to their cultural constituents. Through the “Going Beyond Provenance” methodology and the concept of “digital reparations,” Haitian artists and their work can be appropriately cited and situated within academia and the overall building of a Haitian diasporic episteme, resulting in visual and cultural restitution.
An Ecological Road to Reparative Justice for Haiti (Oct. 17, 2025)
The Working Group on the Environment of the Haitian Studies Association invites members to attend and participate in a virtual pre-conference session. In keeping with the conference theme of reparations and restitution for Haiti, three presentations will call attention to destruction suffered by Haiti’s ecosystems and the people living within them for the benefit of outside players. Presenters will extract from these stories arguments for reparative justice and recommend robust assistance in mitigation and adaptation from responsible parties. The three presenters are Mark Schuller and team members who recently conducted workshops in disaster preparedness in Haiti; Ellie Happel and Sienna Merope-Synge of the Global Justice Clinic, who published a report early this year on climate injustice in Haiti and the case for reparations; and Jodany Fortuné and Gary Gervais of the University of Puerto Rico, who have developed a proposal for energy targets that supports Haiti in the development of sustainable energy. Lois Wilcken will moderate.