UCSB Black Studies Scholar Receives Award From Haitian Studies Association
November 26, 2008
Claudine Michel, Professor of Black Studies at UC Santa Barbara and Director of the campus's Center for Black Studies Research, has received the Haitian Studies Association Service Award.
The award recognizes Michel's commitment to the advancement of Haitian studies, particularly as editor of the association's official publication, The Journal of Haitian Studies. The award was presented earlier this month at the organization's annual meeting in Port Au Prince.
The Haitian Studies Association is an international education organization that promotes research on Haiti. More specifically, the association is dedicated to encouraging new scholarship and modes of pedagogy about Haiti's history and culture. The association also disseminates knowledge about Haiti in general and celebrates the scholarly achievements and contributions of those whose research interests focus on Haiti and its people.
The association is hosted by the Haitian Studies Project in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.
"Over the past fifteen years, the thrust of my work has been to find ways of redressing misconceptions about Haiti, its history, and its people, and offering new bodies of knowledge through my own scholarship, community involvement, and especially as editor of The Journal of Haitian Studies," said Michel. "I am truly humbled by this recognition by my peers and look forward to continuing to serve the journal and the Haitian Studies Association in years to come."
Published through the Center for Black Studies at UCSB, The Journal of Haitian Studies is the only refereed scholarly journal dedicated solely to scholarship on Haiti and Haiti's relations with the international community. The journal's editorial board consists of leading national and international scholars who specialize in a wide range of academic fields, including political science, sociology, education, literature, and religion. The journal accepts manuscripts in English, French, Haitian Kreyol, and Spanish.
Michel, whose research interests include the process of moral development among African-American women and youth, multicultural education, children's literature, and educational television and religion, has written or edited several books. Among them are "Haitian Vodou: Spirit, Myth, and Reality" (Indiana University Press, 2006), and "Continuity and Transformation in Haitian Vodou," forthcoming with Oxford University Press.
