Summer Travel Program

Haiti Today: People, Culture & Politics

About the Program

This summer the Africana Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston will offer a unique academic program on location in Haiti. This program explores the history, politics, culture, and the economic and social developments taking places in Haiti, from both external and internal perspectives. It will facilitate students’ understanding of Haiti through total immersion into culture, environment, language, and the country's economic, political and social realities. Students will visit significant historical, cultural, and ecological sites in various towns including day trips to St. Marc, Gonaives and Kenscoff. Other planned field trips include a two-day excursion to the beautiful artistic town of Jacmel in the southeast part of Haiti, and a special two-day historic and cultural field trip to Cap Haitien to visit the citadel and King Henri Christophe’s Sans-Souci palace ruins in the town of Milot.

Additional activities will include presentations by local experts, participation in local cultural events, and meetings with civic and political leaders. Students are expected to attend two preparatory sessions at UMass Boston, read the assigned materials, and be prepared to participate in class discussions.

Faculty

Professor Marc Prou, the program director, is a member of the Africana Studies Department and also director of the Haitian Institute. He has considerable travel and study experience in Caribbean countries, and regularly takes study groups abroad to Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti. He will be joined by Professor Alix Cantave, Associate Director at the William M. Trotter Institute. Professor Cantave currently directs the university-partnership development projects with public and private institutions of higher education in Haiti.

Haiti

Haiti (or AYITI) is an Awarak-derived name of the second largest island in the Caribbean, which houses both the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Located between Cuba, Puerto-Rico and Jamaica, it shares borders with the Dominican Republic on the eastern side. Haiti has had an extraordinary social and political history since its liberation movement resulted in a Declaration of Independence from France in 1804. Thus Haiti became the second country in the Americas, after the United States, to break ties with colonial rule. However, after two centuries of self-rule, this free nation still faces economic, political, and social challenges. Despite this, the Haitian people have maintained their unique ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage, distinct from other nations in the Caribbean and Latin America regions.

Location

The program will take place on the campus of L’Université Caraibes located in Montrouis, which is situated in the western coast of Haiti, the second largest coastal area of Haiti, known as Côte des Arcadins. The town of Montrouis is centrally located about 70 km from Port-au-Prince and provides easy access to the Central Plateau, as well as both the northern and southern parts of the country. In addition to attending daily class seminars, field trips to Museums and historical sites, participants will work in small field projects. Students are housed in double rooms at L’Université Caraibes, which occupies a modern facility with living spaces and kitchens.

Courses and Credit

Participants register for two three-credit courses: AFRSTY 480 Haiti: Culture and Politics and AFRSTY 478 Independent Study. The Independent Study project will be completed upon the participants’ return from Haiti. Upon successful completion of the program, students will be awarded six credits from the Africana Studies Department. By special permission, students may receive credit for independent study from the Political Science Department or the International Relations Program.