Key research themes
1. How did racial dynamics and international perceptions shape Protestant missionary activity and racial identity in early 20th-century Dominican Republic?
This research area investigates the intersection of race, religion, and international influence through the lens of North Atlantic Protestant missions in the Dominican Republic pre-U.S. occupation (1905–1911). It explores how racial ideologies motivated missionary strategies and contributed to shifting global perceptions of Dominican racial identity from 'black' to racially ambiguous 'Latin.' Understanding these religious and racial dynamics sheds light on broader Caribbean racial politics, post-emancipation identity formations, and transnational missionary networks.
2. What was the role of Dominican community agency and guardians in shaping and sustaining education during the U.S. military occupation (1916-1924)?
This theme centers on educational developments during the U.S. military occupation of the Dominican Republic, emphasizing grassroots participation by Dominican guardians (parents and caretakers) in the establishment, maintenance, and operational shaping of local schools. It challenges dominant historiography that credits U.S. and Dominican officials alone by highlighting bottom-up agency that ensured the continuity and expansion of education despite financial crises, thus contributing to understandings of social resilience and civil society formation in occupation contexts.
3. How have Haitian intellectuals and literature critically engaged with Dominican-Haitian relations, genocidal violence, and identity from 1937 to the contemporary era?
This research area focuses on Haitian literary and intellectual responses to critical historical moments shared with the Dominican Republic, particularly the 1937 Parsley Massacre and subsequent racial-nationalist policies. It addresses themes of genocidal ideology, class struggle, postcolonial identity, and intersectionality, exploring how Haitian authors use literature to critique colonial legacies, confront ongoing racialized exclusion, and advocate for healing and justice within broader Caribbean and transnational frameworks.
4. How did ethnic Japanese migrants navigate and influence the Dominican Republic's pigmentocracy and national identity in the mid-20th century?
This research examines the placement and self-perception of ethnic Japanese in the Dominican Republic's hierarchical pigmentocracy—a system privileging whiteness and lighter skin—within historical and geopolitical contexts aiming to 'whiten' or 'de-Haitianize' the population. It also explores ethnic Japanese attitudes toward other minority groups, revealing assimilation to dominant racial discourses and complex exclusionary dynamics that affect ethnic inclusivity and alliance-building in Latin American racial orders.
5. How have colonial and postcolonial historical narratives and material culture been contested and interpreted through archival discoveries and commemorations in the Dominican Republic?
This theme investigates the politics of history, memory, and identity through material and archival evidence related to colonial figures and legacies in the Dominican Republic, focusing on contested claims such as the 1877 discovery of Christopher Columbus's remains. It engages with how archaeological finds, religious ritualization, political contestation, and cross-national debates contribute to nation-building processes, cultural heritage politics, and the shaping or contesting of historical narratives in postcolonial Caribbean contexts.