About Us

Emelyn Erickson is a freshman at Duke University planning to major in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. This semester she took a course called from Haiti to New Orleans with Professor Jenson, co-director of Duke’s Haiti Lab, and has been working with Louise on a collaborative research project between Duke’s Haiti Lab and the Duke Law School.

Louise Walter is a Duke University senior double majoring in International Comparative Studies and French & European Studies. She studied abroad in Paris with the Duke in France: EDUCO program in the Fall of 2010. This semester, she and Emelyn have been collaborating with the Duke Haiti Lab and the Duke Law School on multiple law-related projects, including Judicial Reform in Haiti as well as Law & Housing in Haiti. This July Louise will be moving to the Washington, D.C. area to begin her career at SRA International, a consulting firm dedicated to solving problems of global significance.

Co-directed by Laurent Dubois and Deborah Jenson, the “Haiti Lab” is the first humanities laboratory at the Franklin Humanities Institute. The lab merges research, education, and practical applications of innovative thinking for Haiti’s disaster recovery and for the expansion of Haitian studies in the U.S. and Haiti. Located at the FHI’s new headquarters at the Smith Warehouse, the Haiti Lab takes its inspiration from the collaborative and discovery-driven model of research laboratories. Undergraduate and graduate students work with specialists in Haitian culture, history, and language on projects featuring vertical integration of Duke University expertise across disciplines and schools. The Haiti Lab is also a resource for media outlets seeking to gain knowledge of Haiti.

One thought on “About Us

  1. While searching for information for an ongoing Haiti involvement, I uncovered the Duke-Haiti project site. The initiative at Duke is very interesting. We are very curious to learn about your program. My work with Haiti goes back under the Caribbean Basin Initiative. I’ve long since discontinued direct involvement. NPR featured a brief news segment this morning on the current events and the generic issues facing the people of Haiti. As said in a statement by Peter de Clerck, the Haiti UN Humanitarian director – the post Haiti plan is one of construction rather than re-construction. I believe, too, the better Haiti functions the better the national economic health of its people. Consequently the US will enjoy a more wholesome relationship with Haiti as more concerns grow to embrace this once Pearl of The Antilles. I praise your efforts and look forward with enthusiasm at learning more about the Duke-Haiti project. I plan to visit Haiti during the Spring of 2015. JP Dabady

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