From one of my proudest achievements, biking from Santo Domingo to Haiti (2008).
BIOGRAPHICAL BLURB: I am an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida. My life has been a study in border crossing. I was born in Kansas City, Missouri but brought home and raised in Kansas. A child of rural elite migrants, I learned to appreciate eating rice and yogurt (a South Indian dish) as much as riding go-carts (a rural Kansan wish). At different stages, I attended both private and public elementary schools, Jesuit and public high schools, and Ivy League universities and a public community college. I have conducted research in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
RESEARCH AND TEACHING OVERVIEW: I am interested in the anthropology of mobility, political economy, and education within Caribbean and the rest of the Americas.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND SERVICE: From 2013-2017, I worked with the Université d’Etat d’Haïti to help establish a doctoral program in Anthropology with funds from a Wenner-Gren Foundation Institutional Development Grant. I have been on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology since 2018. Previously, I was the Coordinator of the Transnational Hispaniola Working Group (Caribbean Studies Association), the Program Chair for the Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology (2015-2017), a former Co-Chair for the Haiti-Dominican Republic Section of the Latin American Studies Association (2010-2016), and a co-founder of Transnational Hispaniola.
Hello Dr. Jayaram,
I took your Haitian Creole course at the University of Florida. It was an amazing course and I still use what I learned today. What I enjoyed the most was that it wasn’t just about language, it was about culture.
I just randomly thought about you and decided to look you up. Congrats on all of your success!
An pale kreyòl!
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Mèsi anpil, Henley. I remember you. I am touched that you sought me out 15 years later to communicate with me. Thanks for the kind words. You can contact me directly via my professional e-mail kjayaram AT u s f DOT e d u.
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