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 crossing borders. For example, I was born in Kansas City, Missouri but brought home and raised in Kansas. A child of rural 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, in the US and abroad.
RESEARCH AND TEACHING OVERVIEW: My research interests focus on the anthropology of education, political economy, and migration/mobility in the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent. As of 2022, I am focusing on reinforcing the higher education system in the Dominican Republic and India. #Haitianstudies #Dominicanstudies #Caribbeanstudies NOTE: I am actively looking to recruit students to assist me with research and publication. If you know anyone, please contact me.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND SERVICE: Since 2019, I have been working on the project of Island Anthropologies, a project initially funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation that considers the past, present, and future of anthropologies on Hispaniola. Since 2018, I have been on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology. From 2013-2017, I worked with the Université d’Etat d’Haïti to help establish a doctoral program in the Department of Anthropology with funds from a Wenner-Gren Foundation Institutional Development Grant. Previously, I was the Coordinator of the Transnational Hispaniola Working Group (Caribbean Studies Association, (2016-2018), the Program Chair for the Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology (2015-2017), and a former Co-Chair for the Haiti-Dominican Republic Section of the Latin American Studies Association (2010-2016). In 2010, I co-founded Transnational Hispaniola with Prof. April J. Mayes.
Kiran C. Jayaram, Ph.D. 
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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