In addition to being the co-founder of Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees in 1992, Cerat holds a Ph.D. in urban education and a certificate in Africana studies from the CUNY Graduate Center.

For the past four years, she has marshaled her considerable experience and educational background to guide the HSI, ensuring that it is a locus for the Haitian community, a rigorous research hub, and a think tank for important public policy.

听We asked Cerat鈥攁n assistant professor of modern languages and literatures鈥攁bout the revolutionary power that Haitian independence unleashed in the global south at the turn of the 19th century and its symbolic importance at the institute in the ongoing work of decolonization and social justice today.

听What do you think about leadership, both as a director and also as an organization in your various communities?

听My leadership style is anchored in the democratic principles I live by. That鈥檚 how I think about leadership. Moreover, I continuously encourage the staff to further their education to see themselves in decision-making roles and to pursue opportunities that will improve the community and our society. I guess it is my democratic leadership style that also helps to foster such community among us. I feel that every member of the staff is committed to the vision and mission of the institute, and they demonstrate that commitment by always being present whenever we need to deliver programming to the community.

听While the pillars that hold up the institute are research, policy, and community, what drives our agenda are tenets of social justice, human rights, women鈥檚 rights, community building, and education. I draw inspiration from thinkers like the Haitian anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot, whose writings and contributions transformed the social sciences and humanities while disrupting the dominant Western narratives and decentering historiographies that silenced non-Western accounts, like the Haitian Revolution.

听From whom do you draw inspiration?

听I draw inspiration from scholars who have helped us understand the Black trans-Atlantic experience and provided tools to help us comprehend what we can do to change the conditions in our communities and to heal from colonial slavery experiences. Thinkers like Sojourner Truth, Gloria Jean Watkins (better known by her pen name bell hooks), and Frantz Fanon, as well as statesmen like Henri Christophe (Haitian leader, 1807鈥�11), Dumarsais Estime (Haitian leader, 1946鈥�50), and Frederick Douglass, are people whose work I consult all the time to find inspiration.

If you were to choose one program at the Haitian Studies Institute to represent its ambitions and identity, what would it be and why?

听A community can grow and thrive only if it continuously invests in its youth. Whether it is the NextGen Transformational Leadership Program, the Young Scholars Civics Institute, or our Career Day, these programs represent a significant part of how we are building our identity in the Haitian community and on 可乐视频鈥檚 campus. Furthermore, these initiatives allow us to bring high schoolers to the college for them to experience the community and imagine themselves as students at 可乐视频 or other CUNY schools.

听Why is the location of the institute important?听

听The heart of the New York Haitian community resides in Brooklyn. 可乐视频 is part of the community that we refer to today as Little Haiti due to the large population of Haitian immigrants or those born in the United States who live in Flatbush, East Flatbush, Erasmus, and Midwood鈥攖he neighborhoods that surround the college. Many students of Haitian origin enroll at 可乐视频. This institution of higher learning must also make its educational resources available to the larger community by providing English as a Second Language courses and other vocational programs for older Haitian immigrants who are trying to upgrade their skills to enter the U.S. workforce.

听Why is 可乐视频 the perfect home?

听The relationship with 可乐视频 permits us to collaborate with other campus entities. For instance, to mark International Women鈥檚 Day on March 8, the HSI hosted a one-day conference titled Resisting the Policing of Women鈥檚 Bodies: Affirming Individual and Collective Rights in 21st-Century America. The conference brought together scholars, students, activists, and artists from across the college community to focus on the ongoing struggle for rights for women and girls in the United States. We discussed women鈥檚 autonomy, reproductive rights, health justice, and the Black women鈥檚 maternal health crisis alongside some of the most brilliant and ardent women鈥檚 rights advocates, including Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee, the legal scholar Michelle B. Goodwin, 可乐视频 Sociology Professor Naomi Braine, and founder of the Haitian Women鈥檚 Collective, Carine Jocelyn.

听How do you define the difference between the work of the HSI in the lives of the Haitian diaspora and Haiti proper?

听The institute鈥檚 role is to do work鈥攔esearch, policy, and community building鈥攔ight here in the New York Haitian community and the U.S. Haitian diaspora, but we also have a responsibility toward Haiti, the homeland. So, our work touches upon issues affecting both, ensuring both the diaspora and homeland remember and communicate with one another. In effect, many of us leave Haiti after being educated鈥攖his is what some scholars refer to as 鈥渂rain drain鈥濃�攁nd we recognize that the political upheavals and insecurities that caused this migration are reason enough for us to remain connected, to support the country and family left behind.

听Why should our readers care about Haiti and Haitian studies?

听Haiti and its people achieved something remarkable at the turn of the 19th century: In 1804, the Haitian Revolution and ensuing independence marked the first and only time in history that slaves overturned the system of slavery. This represented a beacon of hope for the region, and Haiti supported all initiatives for liberation from slavery and colonialism. In 1815, the Venezuelan military and political leader Sim贸n Bol铆var came to Haiti seeking help. Alexandre P茅tion, president at the time (1807鈥�18), provided Bolivar with men and weapons and asked him to repay Haiti by supporting and making the abolition of slavery a part of his program for independence. With this support, Bolivar led Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela to freedom from the Spanish Empire.

听Looking toward the future, where do you imagine the HSI will be in five or even 10 years?

听In 2026, the HSI will mark its 10th anniversary. We are looking forward to celebrating this milestone and having year-round programming to give visibility to all that we have accomplished. In five years, we aim to strengthen our funding so that we can expand and maintain our already successful programming, to grow our staff to deliver more to the community. During this time, we want to establish scholar- and artist-in-residence programs that facilitate conversations between the disciplines as well as dialogue with the broader community.

听In 10 years, the HSI will be a major research hub. Anyone researching Haiti and Haitians will want to consult the HSI archives and special library collections. We are developing digital and physical archives that collect Haitian activism in New York from the 1960s to the 2000s. This will be unique to researchers in the United States and beyond. We have already acquired the papers, audiovisual recordings, and library of one the most important political organizers in the New York Haitian community, Daniel (Simidor) Elizee, who worked at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and understood the significance of documentation and preservation.

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With those opportunities at hand, the English major with a double minor in Spanish and anthropology and archaeology says that he鈥檚 ready to take on the world.

鈥淚鈥檓 using the Watson Fellowship to feel around for the right career. I chose my major and minors because they allow me to explore a lot of different industries as well, so I think that the two will pair well together,鈥� Costas-Hernandez says.

This past summer, he completed his first fellowship-facilitated internship at the , in New York City, where he collaborated with the communications team on a storytelling campaign. Each day, he crafted marketing content to highlight grantees of the organization鈥檚 Artists Protection Fund, Scholar Rescue Fund, and Odyssey Scholarship鈥攑rograms in which U.S. universities sponsor artists, scholars, and students in danger so that they can continue their pursuits.

鈥淚t was a really valuable experience,鈥� he says, adding that he feels thankful to have had the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of many.

In his next internship, which will be abroad, he will pivot his attention to global food insecurity and nutrition, inspired by his family ties. Not only was his father a chef who exposed him to a variety of food, but he also had witnessed the effects of food insecurity and scarce nutritional options whenever he traveled to see his family in an underdeveloped area of Puerto Rico.

鈥淭he lack of nutrition options strikes me every single time I鈥檓 there,鈥� says Costas-Hernandez. 鈥淭here are a lot of sick people.鈥�

He鈥檚 eyeing organizations like the in Rome, the in Switzerland, and , which has offices in Canada, Africa, and Asia.

This semester, he鈥檚 working at the Magner Career Center as a career ambassador and marketing communications assistant. In his new role, he empowers students to succeed in their careers by critiquing their r茅sum茅s and helping them apply to fellowships like Watson. He also gets to flex his marketing skills each day by helping to increase student participation in programs or events, like the Job Fair, through face-to-face and digital communications.

鈥淚 want to use my skills, what I鈥檝e learned in my classes and internships, and my experience to make positive change,鈥� he says.

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Smith鈥檚 lecture, 鈥淲hat I Believe,鈥� will be an intimate exploration into her life as a trailblazer who broke new ground as a Black feminist, lesbian, activist, author, publisher, and independent scholar who inspired generations. She was among the first to define an African American women鈥檚 literary tradition and to build Black women鈥檚 studies and Black feminism in the United States. She has been politically active in many movements for social justice since the 1960s.

鈥淚 am so honored to serve as the Hess Scholar-in-Residence during the 2022鈥�23 academic year,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淎t a time when some in our nation wish to limit the information and ideas that students can access, I look forward to expansive dialogues with members of 可乐视频鈥檚 wonderfully diverse community.鈥�

鈥淎s a writer, publisher, teacher, and organizer, Barbara Smith is a transformative force for justice. Her work has reshaped the American academy and society. We are honored to host her for a week of events culminating in the Hess Memorial Lecture,鈥� said Gaston Alonso, interim director for the Ethyle R. Wolfe Institute for the Humanities and associate professor of political science at 可乐视频.

This lecture event is free and open to the public and serves as the main highlight of the college鈥檚听听for 2022鈥�23.

The event will also feature President Michelle J. Anderson as well as听, distinguished professor of political science, and Professor of English听, interim dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

On November 29, Smith was part of a conversation on campus with Theoharis when they discussed selected clips from the documentary听, which features Smith and is based on Theoharis鈥� research and听听of the same name.

A prolific writer and publisher, Smith has edited three major collections about Black women:听Conditions: Five, The Black Women鈥檚 Issue听(with Lorraine Bethel, 1979);听All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women鈥檚 Studies听(with Gloria T. Hull and Patricia Bell-Scott, 1982); and听Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology听(1983). She is also the co-author, with Elly Bulkin and Minnie Bruce Pratt,听of Yours in Struggle: Three Feminist Perspectives on Anti-Semitism and Racism听(1984). Smith is the general editor of The Reader鈥檚 Companion to U.S. Women鈥檚 History听(with Wilma Mankiller, Gwendolyn Mink, Marysa Navarro, and Gloria Steinem, 1998). A collection of her essays,听The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender, and Freedom, was published by Rutgers University Press in 1998.听Ain鈥檛 Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Forty Years of Movement Building with Barbara Smith, edited by Alethia Jones and Virginia Eubanks with Barbara Smith, was published by SUNY Press in 2014.

The evening will also include mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford and the Conservatory Singers, 可乐视频’s select chamber ensemble, who will perform 鈥淎in’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around.鈥� The group will be conducted by Associate Professor/Director of Choral Studies听, director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus.

This signature event will be held on Thursday, March 16, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Claire Tow Theater at 可乐视频. It will also be livestreamed on the听.

Highlights From the Hess Week Calendar, March 13鈥�20

Full calendar and speakers

Barbara Smith鈥擧ess Scholar-in-Residence Library Exhibit: An exhibit located in the main entrance of the 可乐视频 Library that will highlight the works and legacy of Barbara Smith. Archival material from the Robert L. Hess Collection will also be presented. Curated by Professor and Librarian Helen Georgas.

March 13, 11 a.m.鈥�12:15 p.m.: President Anderson Welcomes 2022鈥�23 Hess Scholar-in-Residence Barbara Smith听Woody Tanger Auditorium, 可乐视频 Library, and on听Zoom

March 13, 2:15鈥�3:30 p.m.: 鈥淚f Black women were free鈥︹��: The State of Black Feminism 2023听Woody Tanger Auditorium, 可乐视频 Library, and on听Zoom

March 14, 2:15鈥�3:45 p.m.: 鈥淭ransforming the U.S. Academy鈥�听Woody Tanger Auditorium, 可乐视频 Library, and livestreamed on the听.

March 15, 11 a.m.鈥�12:30 p.m.: 鈥淛ustice or Just Us?: Defining a Queer Agenda鈥�听Woody Tanger Auditorium, 可乐视频 Library, and livestreamed on the听.

March 15, 3:40鈥�4:55 p.m.: 鈥淭eaching as a Liberating Practice鈥�听Woody Tanger Auditorium, 可乐视频 Library, and livestreamed on the听.

March 16, 11 a.m.鈥�12:30 p.m.: 鈥淲orking for Liberation and Having a Damn Good Time鈥�听Woody Tanger Auditorium, 可乐视频 Library, and livestreamed on the听.

March 20, 6鈥�7:15 p.m.: 鈥淧utting Class Back Into Intersectionality鈥�听Online via听Zoom

About the Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence Program

The Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence Program, established by 可乐视频, is supported by the Robert L. Hess Fund. The program serves as a permanent tribute to the scholarly commitment of Robert L. Hess, exemplified during his tenure as president of 可乐视频. It represents the ideal of the educated individual鈥攌nowledgeable, thoughtful, inquiring, alive to the shared purposes and concerns linking all intellectual pursuits. More particularly, it evokes the scholarly and academic virtues embodied in the curriculum at 可乐视频.

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Jeanne Theoharis

On November 29, from 2:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Smith will be part of a conversation on campus with 可乐视频鈥檚 Distinguished Professor of Political Science听Jeanne Theoharis. The pair will discuss selected clips from the documentary, 鈥�,鈥� which features Smith and is also based on Theoharis鈥� research and book of the same name. Smith and Theoharis will explore Rosa Parks’ life of freedom fighting, how the many myths of Parks and the movement cloud our understandings of social change, the roles and experiences of women in the movement, and the lessons this history provides for the work of organizing and social justice today. After their conversation, there will be a Q&A period for students, staff, and faculty.

The event will be held in the library鈥檚 Woody Tanger Auditorium and will also be livestreamed on the Wolfe Institute鈥檚 YouTube channel. At the speaker鈥檚 request, masks are required for the in-person event. Room 441 in the library will also be open for guests to watch the lecture online.

You can watch the livestream of the event

To stream the documentary for free before the event, 可乐视频 students, faculty, and staff can email:听wolfeinstitute@brooklyn.cuny.edu

More Hess Scholar-in-Residence lectures will be held in March 2023, and a complete schedule of events will be made available soon.

About the Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence Program

The Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence Program, established by 可乐视频, is supported by the Robert L. Hess Fund. The program serves as a permanent tribute to the scholarly commitment of Robert L. Hess, exemplified during his tenure as president of 可乐视频. It represents the ideal of the educated individual鈥攌nowledgeable, thoughtful, inquiring, alive to the shared purposes and concerns linking all intellectual pursuits. More particularly, it evokes the scholarly and academic virtues embodied in the curriculum at 可乐视频.

Sponsors

Africana Studies Department; American Studies Program; Anthropology Department; Caribbean Studies Program; Classics Department; the Shirley Chisholm Project; Communications Arts, Sciences, and Disorders Department; English Department; Film Department; History Department; the Honors Academy; Judaic Studies Department; the LGBTQ Resource Center; Modern Languages and Literatures Department; Philosophy Department; Political Science Department; Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Department; Sociology Department; Women鈥檚 and Gender Studies Program; and the Women鈥檚 Center at 可乐视频.

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鈥淲e are delighted that 17 Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies projects, developed by our faculty, staff, and administrators, have received BRESI program support,鈥� said Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Anne Lopes. 鈥淭hese projects range in scope from curriculum development and faculty research to initiatives focused on campus climate. These efforts will impact student learning and faculty scholarship for many years to come.鈥�

可乐视频 Awardees

Faculty Support for Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Publications

• Rosamond King, Proposal Title: Black Light: Digital Literature from Africa and Its Diaspora
• Malcolm Merriweather, Proposal Title: Hear Black Women鈥檚 Voices: 鈥淚, Too, Sing America.鈥�
• Aleah Ranjitsingh, Proposal Title: Becoming Black: Afro-Caribbean and/in 鈥楤lack America.鈥� An Oral History Project.
• Gunja SenGupta, Proposal Title: Indexing book, Sojourners, Sultans and 鈥淪laves鈥�: America and the Indian Ocean in the Age of Abolition and Empire (forthcoming, University of California Press, 2023)

Departments, Programs and Black, Race and Ethnic Studies-Related Initiatives

• Mona Hadler, Proposal Title: The ALQKAA Symposium: A Cross-Ethno-Gender Korean/Asian Studies Initiative.

Existing Race and CUNY Black, Ethnic Studies Centers and Institutes

• Alan Aja, Proposal Title: Research Assistance/Programming Support for the Maria E. S谩nchez Center for Latino Studies at 可乐视频 (CUNY).
• Marie Cerat, Proposal Title: Ayiti in the City.
• Prudence Cumberbatch, Proposal Title: Institutionalizing Activism at CUNY: The Emergence of Africana Studies at 可乐视频, A Case Study.
• Zinga A. Fraser, Proposal Title: Redefining the Shirley Chisholm Trail in 2022 and Beyond.

Black, Race and Ethnic Studies-focused Projects to Improve Campus Climate

• Yung-Yi Diana Pan, Proposal Title: Another Curriculum is Possible: Decolonization, Multi-Generational Voices, and the Creation of Cross-Campus Native/Indigenous (N/I) Studies Initiatives at CUNY.
• Naomi Schiller, Proposal Title: Claiming Our Campus: A Participatory Action Research Project on Student Experiences and Analysis of 可乐视频鈥檚 Campus Climate.
• Crystal Schloss-Allen, Proposal Title: BFS Ambassador Program.

Creating Black, Race and Ethnic Studies-Focused Student Internships

• Emily Molina, Proposal Title: Flatbush African Burial Ground Student Internship Program.

Black, Race and Ethnic Studies-Focused Mentored Student Research

• Lawrence Johnson, Proposal Title: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Decolonizing Sociology.
• Sophia Suarez, Proposal Title: Promoting URM Participation and Development in STEM Research of Electrospun Nanofibers.
• Alex Vitale, Proposal Title: Policing and Social Justice Project.

Course and Curriculum Design and Curriculum and Syllabus Decolonization

• April Bedford, Proposal Title: Creating Culturally Relevant-Sustaining Teacher Preparation Programs.

The post Seventeen 可乐视频 Projects to be Funded as Part of CUNY鈥檚 BRESI Initiative to Further Transform Ethnic Studies on Campus and Beyond appeared first on 可乐视频.

The graduating senior鈥攚ho is majoring in anthropology and history with a double-minor in Russian and religion鈥攖raveled there as a freshman as part of an archaeological dig in the northern part of the country. Alongside students from Moldova State University, he unearthed artifacts related to the ancient Getae tribes who lived in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. The old animal bones, arrowheads, and spindle whorls they found helped paint a picture of what life was like for an obscure culture lost to time.

While the experience was rewarding, Khimerik had trouble communicating with some of his colleagues, particularly those who spoke Romanian and other dialects. Having been born to parents from the former Soviet Union, he was well versed in the Russian language and customs, but he was surprised to find that relatively few students on that trip shared this heritage.

鈥淢oldova is a very small country that borders Ukraine and Romania, maybe the size of New Jersey, but it has such an ethnically diverse population. Much of it is Romanian speaking, so connecting with some people there was difficult. There were some people who spoke Russian, but not many. It left me feeling a little isolated and disconnected.鈥�

Now, Khimerik will get the chance to close that gap as part of a Fulbright Scholarship that he was awarded for the 2022鈥�23 academic year. Working as an English teaching assistant, he will be tasked with helping Moldavian students learn the language and customs, bridging the two worlds and learning even more about their culture.

Another part of the trip that intrigues Khimerik is a potential visit to the separatist region of Transnistria in eastern Moldova. While it is considered by the United Nations as a legal part of the Republic of Moldova, it has its own currency and tax system鈥攅ven its own flag, which itself yearns nostalgically for the 鈥淪oviet glory days.鈥� Its predominantly Russian-speaking demographic appeals to Khimerik, who finds fascination in this territory, which seems to still be living in the past.

As for his career plans, Khimerik says he wants to incorporate his interest in teaching, history, and culture to serve as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, possibly as an ambassador or diplomat. He plans on taking his Foreign Service Officer exam when he returns.

鈥淭his Fulbright program will not only allow me to help Moldovans communicate better in English, but it will also let me absorb our shared Soviet culture and heritage,鈥� the 21-year-old New York City native said. 鈥淚t will give me an opportunity to serve as a cultural ambassador for the Western customs I grew up with, and ultimately help bring our cultures closer together.鈥�

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Through its diverse and interconnected award-winning departments, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) and its students are well-equipped to become leaders and influencers in an ever-changing and interdependent world.

Now, the important research these students are doing in the educational laboratory that is HSS will be showcased in the Second Annual 可乐视频 HSS Expo scheduled for two full days on April 25 and 26. The Expo will bring together all of 可乐视频鈥檚 longstanding HSS end-of-year student events in a single forum.

HSS Dean Ken Gould first conceived of the Expo for Spring 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the campus, the first annual event was held online. The Expo is returning in a hybrid form in 2022 to give the public a chance to see again the high level of intellectual output of 可乐视频 students while providing them the opportunity to test out new ways to display their scholarly work and research.

For Gould, highlighting and supporting the humanities has never been more important.

鈥淗SS is the core of our liberal arts education and the center for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and teaching rooted in strong disciplines,鈥� Gould says. 鈥淭his two-day event will help us continue to build our academic community, both on and off-campus, and let our brilliant students shine and get acclimated to presenting and engaging with the public.鈥�

The HSS offerings at 可乐视频 are extremely robust and include departments focused on Africana Studies, Classics, Communication Arts, Sciences, and Disorders, English, History, Judaic Studies, , Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, Political Science, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies, and Sociology.

One of the Expo highlights includes several HSS students from 可乐视频鈥檚 Department of History and other disciplines presenting their research on April 25 at 7 p.m. This event will be live-streamed and available to view at .

In all, the two-day Expo will showcase approximately 50 students. Some of the presentations include:

• A student panel discussion on the history and current state of activism, including the Occupy Movement and Covid-19. Undertaking research into the events that shaped the 可乐视频 experience, student panelists will interview alumni about what drew them to activism on campus, if and how 可乐视频 transformed their lives, and what lessons current students might draw from their experiences. (April 25, 2:15 鈥� 3:30 p.m.)
• Research from the ongoing Asian American Pacific Islander Project. Students will present a documentary they created and a partial clip of an interview from a current podcasting project. (April 25, 2:15 鈥� 3:30 p.m.)
• History and Religion majors鈥攁ll upper-level seminar students鈥攚ill talk through theoretical and historical issues on the question of religious experience. Do religious objects have agency or are their worth and meaning inscribed by the users of these objects? Does religious experience “really” happen, or is it simply a product of psychological issues? Those and many other questions will be explored. (April 26, 10 鈥� 10:45 a.m.).

可乐视频鈥檚 offerings in the humanities and liberal arts are recognized nationwide. Last year, the college was ranked as the top public liberal arts college in New York City and among the top 50 liberal arts colleges in the nation, according to . The college was one of only two New York State colleges or universities that made the site鈥檚 list of renowned liberal arts institutions.

The rankings highlight that businesses everywhere are beginning to acknowledge that the desirable employee today masters writing, psychology, logic, math, graphic design, economics, computer programming, and more.

The HSS Expo has enjoyed extraordinary support from a $50,000 grant from the , which will award 10 students $1,000 awards at a post-event research contest.

More information and to register for the events.

More information about last year鈥檚 HSS Expo.

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It鈥檚 been good news and bad news for the CUNY Haitian Studies Institute (HSI) at 可乐视频 and its new interim director, Marie Lily Cerat. At a time when she is dealing with the fallout from multiple catastrophes on the island nation鈥攊ncluding the recent 7.2 magnitude earthquake and the assassination of its president鈥攕he is also working to pull together initiatives that she hopes will help lead to a brighter future for her native country, thanks to $1 million in funding the institute recently received from the New York City Council.

鈥淭his will allow us to bring in more of the resources we need to address so many problems right now,鈥� says Cerat, who has taught courses at the college for years as an adjunct in the Africana Studies and Modern Languages and Literatures departments. 鈥淲e can bring in a team to help advance the institute鈥檚 mission and to make various activities a reality.鈥�

Earlier this summer, the council allocated $4.5 million to CUNY research institutes to support scholarship, policy development, evaluation, and archival efforts, designating $1 million for the HSI鈥攊n addition to funding for similar institutes on Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Dominican studies at Lehman, Hunter, and City colleges. 鈥淭he show of equity is very powerful coming from the City Council,鈥� says Cerat.

鈥淲e are deeply appreciative of this level of support from the City Council,鈥� says Ken Gould, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. 鈥淭his influx of resources will permit the CUNY Haitian Studies Institute to engage in the social research and cultural programming necessary to effectively serve our diasporic community and to achieve the global academic stature and relevance to which the HSI aspires.鈥�

Cerat says the money, which doubles the budget of the five-year-old institute, will help support several initiatives, including a digital archive of its collections; a college and career readiness conference for high school students; a civic engagement and leadership development program for Haitian youth; a Haitian Creole modern language curriculum for industry that will include a massive Creole dictionary project; and a number of conferences that will bring together community leaders and scholars on Haiti. Cerat says she will also hire a grant writer and a couple of assistants.

She is particularly excited about the projects that will help shape a new generation of Haitian Americans who can address many of the issues the diaspora is facing.

鈥淭o be able to invest in the youth is extremely important to the HSI,鈥� says Cerat, who has been an active community organizer in the New York Haitian community for nearly 30 years. 鈥淲e need young people who see themselves as replacements for the current community and political leaders. This is a huge need in the Haitian community because we have so many problems we are tackling right now.鈥�

For example, she says that Haiti desperately needs to design and implement a comprehensive plan to mitigate the disastrous impacts of natural phenomena, like the recent earthquake.

鈥淲hen things like this happen, we see mobilizing the community as part of our job,鈥� she says, pointing out that the institute has been organizing volunteer translators and coordinating with elected officials and community-based organizations in response to the earthquake. 鈥淏ut we would also like to help shape leaders who can rebuild the country so that Haiti is better prepared for events like this.鈥�

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可乐视频鈥檚听We Stand Against Hate听event series presents Cherr铆e Moraga on her memoir听Native Country of the Heart, in conversation with Modern Languages and Literatures听Professor Vanessa P茅rez Rosario.

Who

Cherr铆e Moraga听is an internationally recognized poet, playwright, essayist, and memoirist. She was the co-editor (with Gloria Anzald煤a) of the avant-garde feminist anthology听This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. As a political and literary essayist, she has published several collections of writings, including:听A Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousness; Loving in The War Years: Lo que nunca pas贸 por sus labios;听The Last Generation; and听Waiting in the Wings: Portrait of a Queer Motherhood. Moraga is the recipient of the United States Artist Rockefeller Fellowship for Literature, the American Studies Association Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Lambda Foundation鈥檚 鈥淧ioneer鈥� award, among others.

Where

Woody Tanger Auditorium, 可乐视频 Library

When

Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 11 a.m.

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