GBST 140: Haiti: Past, Present and Future
Tuesday (Lecture): 2:00-3:20 pm
Thursday (Discussion and Research Session): 2:00 - 3:20 pm
Sproul Hall 2340
v. 1-9-20
Instructors: Chris Chase-Dunn; <chriscd@ucr.edu>; Office Hours: 1218 Olmsted, Wednesday 2-4
Marilyn Grell-Brisk <mgrell@ucr.edu> Office Hours: 1218 Olmsted, Friday 11-2 and by appointment.
TA: Zeinab Shuker <zshuk001@ucr.edu> Office Hours: Monday 10:30-1:30 in Watkins 1144.
Description: This course focusses on Haitian history, ecology, earthquakes, political economy and public health issues from a world-historical perspective. Invited experts and community activists tell about their studies and projects in Haiti and we examine Haitian political, economic, and natural and health history. The course grade will be determined by:
● Lecture attendance (10 points)
● Discussion attendance (10 points)
● Participation in discussions (10 points)
● Midterm exam (in-class short-answer essay) (30 points) [February 18]
● Presentation in section of project (10 points)
● The finished product of your project (30 points) is due on March 5. There is no final exam.
The projects will be presented on Thursdays in Discussion meetings during the last part of the quarter.
The topic statement for your Research Paper or a pitch for your digital visual exhibit (see below) is due February 6
Required Books:
Jean Bertrand Aristide and Amy Wilentz 1990 In the Parish of the Poor: Writings from Haiti, Maryknoll,
NY: Orbis Books
Alex Dupuy 2019 Rethinking the Haitian Revolution: Slavery, Independence, and the Struggle for Recognition
Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield
Jonathan Katz 2014 The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a
Disaster New York: St.Martin’s Press
*These books are on reserve and are available in the Campus Store. Cheap used copies of the Aristide and Wilentz book are available on Amazon.
Course Schedule:
Articles with an asterisk (*) below are required reading.
|
Date |
Lecture |
Readings |
Due |
|
January 7 |
Overview of the course |
|
|
|
January 14 |
Jeb Sprague (Sociology, UC-Santa Barbara) "The Caribbean and the Transnational Capitalist Class"
|
*Globalizing the Caribbean: Chapters 1 and 3 (see course material on Ilearn site) |
|
|
January 21 |
Christopher Chase-Dunn (Sociology UCR) “The Haitian revolution and world politics”
|
*Alex Dupuy 2019 Rethinking the Haitian Revolution: Slavery, Independence, and the Struggle for Recognition Laurent Dubois (2004) Avengers of the New World. (whole book) Sydney W. Mintz. Haiti” Chapter 10 of Caribbean Transformations. |
|
|
January 28 |
April J Mayes, History, Pomona College “External Actors in the “Aftermath of the 2010 Earthquake” |
|
|
|
February 4 |
Dr. Amy Ben-Artzi (Santa Monica Medical Center UCLA) “The Haitian Health System: lessons from the earthquake relief effort of 2010” |
* “Building a more resilient Haitian state”
|
|
|
February 6
|
|
|
The topic statement for your Research Paper or a pitch for your digital visual exhibit is due, and Submit the first version your main didactic panel for Option B |
|
February 11 |
Robin Derby (History, UCLA) “Demons and Trauma in Haiti’s Past and Present” |
*Prof. Derby’s project: http://today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/helping-haitians-learn-from-national-228697.aspx See also You Tube, The Dominican Southwest Part 1, 7.26-1053. and Haiti Rumors Woman Transforming into Snake. |
|
|
February 15 |
|
|
Submit an updated main didactic panel and 12 of your images with their corresponding descriptions for Option B |
|
February 18 |
|
|
Midterm in class |
|
February 25 |
Roby Douilly (Earth Sciences UCR) “Earthquakes in the Caribbean Region” |
|
|
|
March 3 |
Marilyn Grell-Brisk “African Religions in Haiti and the Diaspora”
|
* Jean Bertrand Aristide and Amy Wilentz In the Parish of the Poor: Writings from Haiti, (on Ilearn under Course Materials) *pp. 1-30 of Fernandez Olmos and Paravisini-Gebert, Creole Religions of the Caribbean (on Ilearn under Course Materials) |
|
|
March 5 |
|
|
Final versions of research papers or digital visual exhibits are due. |
|
March 10 |
Dave Pettersen and Kevin Bither, (Haiti Endowment Fund) “Project Report from a non-profit NGO in the city of Hinche, Haiti” |
|
|
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March 12 |
|
|
Presentations of papers and visual exhibits |
Projects: Term Paper or Digital Visual Exhibit
All project submissions should be to the course Ilearn site (Blackboard)
● The project requirement can be satisfied by either Option A: a research paper on some aspect of Haitian history, politics or development problems or Option B: a digital visual exhibit.
● The project requirement is 35% of your grade. It can be satisfied in two ways:
○ Option A is to write a research paper on one of the suggested topics below, or on a topic that you propose.
○ Option B develop, produce and present a digital visual exhibit
● Both the research paper and the digital visual exhibit should be individual projects. Group projects are not allowed.
● Hand in a sheet that includes a paragraph about your chosen topic for your research paper or development proposal in class on February 6 along with a bibliography of sources with at least three items.
Option A: Research Paper
The research paper should include a bibliography of sources of information. The research papers should be no longer than 10 pages of text (double-spaced). Bibliographies and supporting materials may be included on additional pages. The final versions of the research papers should be submitted on or before March 5.
Possible topics for research papers: The Haitian Revolution in world historical perspective
Religion in Haiti; Haitian Natural History and its influences on the human population of Haiti;
The effects of U.S policies and governmental actions on Haitian institutions; The effects of international aid on Haitian institutions; Public health issues in Haiti; The role of paramilitary groups in Haitian politics; The AIDS epidemic in Haiti; Haitian languages and culture; Violence against women in Haiti;
Haitian economic development; Haitian agriculture; Natural resources in Haiti; Haitian immigrants in the United States; Haitian education institutions;
Another topic of your own choosing: _____________________________
Option B: Digital-Visual Exhibit
Create a digital-visual exhibit that demonstrates your knowledge and understanding of Haitian history, culture, society, or religion. Your exhibit must include:
1) A front panel with the title of your exhibit.
2) a main didactic panel: a short abstract about your exhibit that either answers a specific research question or expresses an idea or concept about Haiti. This should be 350-500 words; Times New Roman 12-point font.
3) 25 – 30 images with a corresponding thematic text (short description of each image and how it relates to your research question, or idea/concept). This must be no more than 50 words; Times New Roman 12-point font.
4) A concluding didactic panel: short conclusion. (200-300 words; Times New Roman 12-point font.
5) This must be done in PowerPoint (or equivalent software) and submitted along with a pdf version of the file.
If you decide to do the digital-visual exhibit, please:
1) Submit a one-paragraph pitch for your exhibit and the first version your main didactic -February 6
2) Submit an updated main didactic panel and 12 of your images with their corresponding descriptions - February 15
3) Submit final digital-visual exhibit – March 5
Possible topics to inform your exhibit: The Haitian Revolution in world historical perspective
Religion in Haiti; The effects of U.S policies and governmental actions on Haitian institutions
The effects of international aid on Haitian institutions; Public health issues in Haiti
The role of paramilitary groups in Haitian politics; The AIDS epidemic in Haiti; Haitian languages and culture; Haitian economic development; Haitian agriculture; Natural resources in Haiti;
Haitian immigrants in the United States
Free open access course on Haitian creyol:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-dilenschneider/notre-dame-offers-free-on_b_470716.html
http://ocw.nd.edu/romance-languages-and-literatures/creole-language-and-culture
Bibliography:
Charles Arthur and Michael Dash (eds.) Liberte: A Haiti Anthology, Princeton, NJ: Marcus Weiner, 1999
Robin Blackburn, "Haiti, Slavery and the Age of the Democratic Revolution", William and Mary Quarterly, 63/4, (2006)
Paul Brodwin, Medicine and Morality on Haiti. The Contest for Healing Power. New York: Cambridge, 1996.
Karen McCarthy Brown. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1991.
Alejo Carpentier 1957 The Kingdom of This World. New York: Fararar, Straus and Giroux
Makandal in the form of a mosquito
Aimee Cesaire, (2015) The Tragedy of King Christophe (Northwestern World Classics) translated by Paul Breslin and Rachel Ney
Matthew J. Clavin, Toussaint Louverture and the American Civil War: The Promise and Peril of a Second Haitian Revolution (Philadelphia: Univ. of Penna. Press, 2009).
Watson Denis “Origenes y manifestaciones de la francofilia haitiana : nacionalismo y politica exterior en Haiti (1880-1915)” Secuencia 67 enero-abril 2007.
____________"Review of the Equality of Human Races", Caribbean Studies, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 325-334
___________ "Haiti", The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World, Vol. 3, 1750- to the Present, Edited by Peter N. Stearns, New York, Oxford University Press, 2008.
___________ "Haitian Revolution", The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World, Vol. 3, 1750- to the Present, Edited by Peter N. Stearns, New York, Oxford University Press,2008.
____________ "Haiti", Encyclopedia of Latin American history and Culture, Edited by Jay Kinsbruner, 2nd Edition, Vol. 3, New York, Scribner's, pp. 616-632.
Jared Diamond: Collapse - How Societies choose to fall or succeed. Chapter 11. Viking Press, New York, 2005
Chris Dixon, African America and Haiti: Emigration and Black Nationalism in the Nineteenth Century (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000).
Laurent Dubois, Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution. Cambridge: Belnap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004.
Laurent Dubois, "An Enslaved Enlightenment: Rethinking the Intellectual History of the French Atlantic" Social History 31, no. 1 (February 2006): 1-14
Alex Dupuy 1989 Haiti in the world economy: class, race, and under development since 1700 Boulder, CO: Westview
__________ 1997 Haiti in the New World Order. Boulder,CO: Westview
Alex Dupuy 2007 The Prophet and Power: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the International Community and Haiti Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield
Paul Farmer, The Uses of Haiti.Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press. 1994
Paul Farmer, AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2006
Graham Greene 1967 The Comedians. London: Penguin Books
Peter Hallward 2010 Damming the Flood: Haiti and the politics of containment. London: Verso
Gerald Horne, Confronting Black Jacobins: The United States, the Haitian Revolution, and the Origins of the Dominican Republic: Monthly Review Press, 2015
Zora Neale Hurston 2009 [1938] Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica. New York: Harper
C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture And The San Domingo Revolution. New York, Vintage Books [1963]
Sara E. Johnson, The Fear of French Negroes: Transcolonial Collaboration in the Revolutionary Americas. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.
Jonathan M. Katz 2013 The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster. New York: Palgrave-MacMillan
Tracy Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains New York : Random House 2004
Stewart King. Blue Coat or Powdered Wig: Free People of Color in Pre-Revolutionary Saint Domingue, Athens, GA. 2001.
J. Christopher Kovats-Bernat. Sleeping Rough in Port au Prince: An Ethnography of Street Children and Violence in Haiti. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
Peter Linebaugh and Markus Rediker 2000. The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic. Boston: Beacon.
Elizabeth McAlister. Rara! Vodou, Power and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002
J.R. McNeill 2010 Mosquito Empires: Ecology and war in the greater Caribbean, 1620-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Albert Metraux 1972 Voodoo in Haiti. New York: Schocken Books
Sydney Mintz 1972 Introduction in Albert Metraux, Voodoo in Haiti. New York:Schocken Books
Sydney Mintz 1974 Caribbean Transformations. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Margarite Fernández Olmos and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert 2011 Creole Religions of the Caribbean New York: New York University Press
Millery Polyne, From Douglas to Duvalier: U.S. African Americans, Haiti and Pan Americanism, 1870-1954. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida
___________ (ed.) The Idea of Haiti. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 2013
Basil Reid 2009 Myths and Realities of Caribbean History. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press
Mary A. Renda, Taking Haiti: Military Occupation and the Culture of U.S. Imperialism, 1915-1940. University of North Carolina Press, 2001.
Karen Richman, Migration and Vodou. Gainsville: University of Florida Press, 2005.
Mark Schuller and Pablo Morales (eds.) Tectonic Shifts: Haiti Since the Earthquake, Sterlling , VA: Kumarian Press 2012
Jeb Sprague 2012 Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti, New York: Monthly Review Press
__________2019 Globalizing the Caribbean: Political Economy, Social Change, and the Transnational Capitalist Class. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press
Jennie Smith, When the Hands are Many: Community Organization and Social Change in Rural Haiti, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001.
Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Haiti, State Against Nation New York: Monthly Review Press 1990
Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History
Hilbourne Watson (ed.) 2015 Globalization, Sovereignty and Citizenship in the Caribbean
University Press of the West Indies
Amy Wilentz, The Rainy Season. Simon & Schuster 2010
___________Farewell Fred Voodoo. Simon & Schuster 2013
Markus Rediker’s Haitian art collection http://www.marcusrediker.com/art/faustin.php