University of Massachusetts Boston
College of Arts and Sciences


About the Haitian Studies Program
 
Haitian Web Site Creole Institute Needs Assessment Previous Annual Conferences

The Haitian Studies Project (HSP) is sponsored jointly by the Haitian Studies Association (HSA) and the University of Massachusetts Boston. HSA is a tax-exempt educational organization which promotes research on Haiti and Haitians, identifies and disseminates information on Haiti, and has an international network of competent experts to address Haitian issues, both from disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. HSA/HSP serve as resources for various institutions and policymakers in and out of Haiti, encourages discussion and debate on all aspects of Haitian society in Haiti and in the diaspora. The Project seeks to foster linkages and working relationships with educational, reasearch, and civic institutions in Haiti. HSA/HSP's activities fall within the following three project areas:


Membership in HSA is open to all persons interested in advancing its goals and objectives, regardless of ideological persuasion, ethnic origin, occupation, residence, gender, or academic discipline. HSA is led by a Steering Committee which is responsible for establishing the organization's policies and orientation.

Since its inception in June 1989, HSA has been addressing a variety of issues relevant to the many facets of Haitian's lives. It sponsors the following activities:


HSA's activities are essentially interdisciplinary, combining the arts, sciences and the humanities in order to foster a better understanding of Haitian culture, social, economic, and political conditions. HSA strives to maintain a balance between Haitian policy issues and academic research. HSA is a conduit for policy research on issues affecting Haiti.
 

Annual Conferences
HSA convenes an annual conference focusing on critical Haitian issues and formulates recommendations for policy and action. The annual conference is an academic platform that brings together Haitianists of various ideological and political persuasion from all over the world to discuss potent issues concerning Haiti's political, economic, social, and cultural conditions.
 

Roundtables on Haitian Policy
HSA convenes roundtable discussions on current policy issues affecting Haiti. The roundtables offer speakers and panel discussions for the public, journalists, policymakers, and policy analysts.
 

Bilingual Education Symposium
Co-sponsored with the Haitian Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Center (HABETAC) at City College, the HSA Bilingual Education Symposium addresses issues affecting Haitian children in bilingual education programs in the U.S.
 

The Haitian Studies Project
In 1994, HSA and the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB) jointly sponsored the Haitian Studies Project. The Haitian Studies Project is located at UMB and it includes three task forces and the Haitian Creole Summer Institute.
 

Task Forces
HSA has established two task forces focusing on governance and environment and development. The Association will establish two additional task forces to address education, and human rights in Haiti. The primary duties of the Governance Task Force include evaluating Haiti's political participants and major institutions, analyzing the role of the Haitian popular movement in civil society and how they have been affected by the last political crisis, evaluating the role of NGOs in Haitian civil society, and examining the negative and positive factors that have contributed to the Haitian political environment.

The main task of the Environment and Development Task Force is to assure the availability of pertinent data on the relationship between economic activities, development, and environmental issues for analytical research and policy formulation. The activities of the Task Force include creating a data file on development and environmental projects in Haiti, evaluating a sample of these projects, conducting feasibility studies and researches, and accessing approximately 50 years of development projects in Haiti (1948-1995).

In addition to the two task forces, HSA has established an Education Task Force to explore issues of students and faculty exchange between universities in Haiti and in the U.S. The Education Task Force will explore a number of different avenues to reintegrate Haitian students living abroad into Haiti.
 

Haitian Language Institute
The Haitian Language Institute is the newest component of HSA. The Institute, formerly the Kä Kontre Haitian Creole Summer Institute, has been in Massachusetts for more than ten years. It has recently been incorporated under the auspices of HSA at UMass Boston. The Institute offers courses for beginning, intermediate, and advanced learners. The Institute currently offers a Summer Creole institute. It will offer regular courses in Creole designed for college students, Creole courses for children, publications in Creole, and seminars on the evolution and standardization of Haitian Creole.
 

Publications
HSA publishes the Journal of Haitian Studies and the Directory of Haitianists, and occasional papers on current Haitian policy issues.

Institutional Links
HSA sponsors the Haitian Studies Project at the University of Massachusetts Boston under the Center for African, Caribbean and Community Development. HSA has institutional connections with the National Coalition for Haitian Refugees in New York, HABETAC at the City College of New York, the Johns Hopkins-Geogetown University Haiti Project, and Universite Quisqueya in Haiti.

The Haitian Studies Association is funded by private foundations, sales of publications, and membership dues.
 


Haitian Studies Association
Board of Directors

Carole Berotte Joseph, President
Robert Fatton Jr., Vice-President
Edwidge C. Bryant, Secretary
Edwidge Balutansky
Eddy Bayardelle
Rose-Marie Chierici
Michel DeGraff
Frantz Leconte
Leara Rhodes
Karen Richman

HSA Student Caucus Representative
Sophia Cantave
Charlène Désir

Alix Cantave, past-Director
Leslie Desmangles, past-President

Marc Prou, Executive Director


 
 

University of Massachusetts Boston
College of Arts and Sciences
McCormack, 2nd Floor Room 211
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125 - 3393
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Telephone:........ (617) 287 - 7138
Fax:................ (617) 287 - 6511
E-mail:............. hsa@umb.edu

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