2004 Profiles

The following 17 Ph.D. students, who are enrolled in a variety of graduate programs in the U.S. and abroad, were selected from more than 45 applicants to participate in the 2004 “Interrogating the African Diaspora” (IAD) Summer Seminar, which had for its theme, “Imagining the African Diaspora: Genealogy and Social Constructions.” We, the organizing and selecting committee, were very pleased by our choices: this at first disparate entity of 17 individuals very quickly became a unified group within which acute intellectual conversations/discussions and sincere affective and respectful relationships of solidarity and camaraderie became the rules of the day. I personally thank each one of them for their genuine and passionate participation. As they all say it in their respective comments, and to take Marlon's words: “we made family from scratch!”

JR

Here they are by alphabetic order:

Marlon M. Bailey is African American. He is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in African Diaspora Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. E. Patrick Johnson (Northwestern University) and Charles Henry (U.C. Berkeley) are his co-Advisors. The paper he applied to the seminar with was entitled : “Queering African Diaspora: Ballroom Performance and Queer 'World-Marking'."

LaToya Beck is African American. She is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in African Diaspora Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Here, there and everywhere: The African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean.”

Mikaila Brown is of Jamaican origin. She is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program of the Teachers College, Columbia University. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Jamaican Professional Return Migrants - Agents of Social Transformation?”

Nicole Castor is Trinidadian. She is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Chicago. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Invoking the Spirit: Public Culture and the Politics of Nationhood in Trinidad.”

Chambi Seithy Chachage is of Tanzanian origin. He has been enrolled in graduate programs in both the University of Cape Town and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The paper he applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Whither The African Diaspora? A Critical Look At African Ontology And The Challenge Of Transnationalism.”

Joselina da Silva is Brazilian. She is from Rio de Janeiro, where she enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Social Sciences at the Universidade Estatal do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) . She is working there with Dr. Myrian Sepúlveda dos Santos. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “A União dos Homens de Cor: Black Movement after the Second World War.”

Andrea Fatona is of Nigerian and Jamaican origins. She currently lives in Canada , where she is enrolled in the Ph.D. Program of Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto, where her Advisor is Dr. Rinaldo Walcott. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “The Making of Black Canadian Identities.”

Peter James Hudson is Canadian. He is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in American Studies at New York University (NYU). The paper he applied to the seminar with was entitled: “The Tropics in New York: Race, Banking and Empire in the Caribbean.”

Aaron Kamugisha is Bajan (Barbados). He currently lives in Canada, where he is enrolled in the Ph.D. Program of the Department of Social and Political Thought of York University, Toronto. His Advisor is Dr. Ato Sekyi-Out. The paper he applied to the seminar with was entitled: “The Contemporary as Absurdity: Reflections on denials of citizenship in the Anglophone Caribbean postcolony.”

Elias Nankap Lamle is Nigerian. He is for the moment living in Belgium and is enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Social and Cultural Anthropology of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. He is working with Professor Filip De Boeck. The paper he applied to the seminar with was entitled “The Role And Implication Of Trans Saharan Trade On The Genealogy And Social Construction Of The African Diaspora.”

Lyndon Phillip is of West Indian origin. He is currently living in Canada, where he is enrolled in the Ph.D. Program of the OISE/UT at the University of Toronto, Canada, where his Advisor is Dr. Rinaldo Walcott. The paper he applied to the seminar with was entitled: “The Modern Caribana: Examining the relationship between Multiculturalism, Caribana Organizers and Black Canadian Youth, 1985 to 2002.”

Stéphane Robolin is of French origin. He is in the process of completing the Ph.D. Program in Literature at Duke University. The paper he applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Conjunctions and Identifications: South African and African American Cultural Imaginaries.”

Sophie F. Saint-Just is from Martinique, although she grew up in France. She is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. Program at the City University of New York, Graduate Center. Her Advisor is Professor Édouard Glissant. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “French Caribbean Films and the Genealogy of Black Performativity.”

Maboula Soumahoro is French with origins in the Ivory Coast. She is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in history/anthropology at the Université François Rabelais-Tours, France. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled : “Black Peoples, Black Gods: A Comparative Analysis of the Nation of Islam and Rastafari, 1930-1950.”

Maria Taglioli is Italian. She has been working on South African literature for some time now. She is enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Literature at the University of Padua. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Voices From South Africa: A Redefinition Of The African Identity Paradigm.” She will be a visiting scholar at the Ph.D. Program on the African Diaspora at the University of California Berkeley during the academic year 2004-2005.

Melisse Thomas-Bailey Ellis is Trinidadian. She is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in History at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: "(Re)Imaging Self: Revisionist Discourses of the Afro-Caribbean Intelligentsia, 1840s-1950s."

Daphine Washington is African American. She has been interested by the African diaspora in Latin America for years. She is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in social and cultural anthropology at the University of South Florida, where her advisor is Dr. Susan Greenbaum. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Identity And Political Process In The Global African Diaspora.”