People

Deborah Jenson founded Kreyòl studies at Duke, develops courses and course materials, and co-teaches with other members of the program. She has written articles on many areas of Haitian literature and history, and has a forthcoming book on texts produced by leaders of the Haitian Revolution (Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Henry Christophe) and early Creole poetry and plays. She is also a specialist in 19th century French literature and culture. Contact info: Deborah.jenson@duke.edu. Course related media: http://chronicle.com/article/A-New-Course-in-Creole-Prep/63758/; http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/01/28/pm-haiti-duke/

Jacques Pierre teaches the Kreyòl courses at Duke (with contributions from Deborah Jenson). He is Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Romance Studies.

Gaspard Louis taught Kreyòl I and II in 2009 and 2010 at Duke. A native speaker of Haitian Creole and former Pilobolus dancer who recently moved to Durham with his wife, Jodee Nimerichter, co-director of the American Dance Festival, Gaspard also plays a vital role in dance performance and educational outreach in the Triangle. Gaspardlouis@yahoo.com. Gaspard will be offering outreach classes on Kreyòl through Dance.

Reginald Patterson is a doctoral student in French at Duke who mastered Gwadeloupean Kreyòl during a year spent on the trail of the Caribbean evolution of the Greek and French genre of the fable (fab la). He recently immersed himself in Haitian Kreyòl and in fact left Port-au-Prince 4 hours before the earthquake. Soon we will be posting a video of his interview on national television in Haiti. Violisto@gmail.com.

Laura Wagner is a doctoral student in Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. After a semester doing fieldwork on humanitarian discourses and domestic labor and domestic labor relationships in Haiti, she was trapped in the rubble of her home, freed by her friend Frenel, and is now in the Triangle sharing her talents with us, writing articles, giving talks, and undergoing medical treatment. Laura.r.wagner@gmail.com. http://news.mync.com/site/news/story2/47451/local-haiti-earthquake-survivor-gives-back-through-teaching-creole/; http://salon.com/news/haiti/index.html?story=/mwt/feature/2010/02/01/haiti_trapped_under_the_rubble

To Laurent Dubois we owe the existence of this blog, and when we sprinkle a little wonm for the lwa, we never fail to give thanks for him.



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