Wednesday, August 14, 2024, 1:00-2:30PM EDT / 10:00-11:30AM PDT / 11:00AM-12:30PM MDT / 6:00-7:30PM BST & CMT / 7:00-8:30PM CEST / 8:00-9:30PM UTC+1 & IDT
This International Center for MultiGenerational Legacies of Trauma Webinar is held on August 14th to commemorate the 1791 Bois-Caiman/Bwa Kayiman, the ceremony that inspired the Haitian Revolution, the liberation of black slaves from their white masters, and the creation of Haiti as the first black republic in the world. International panelists explore the spirit of Vodou in the arts of Haiti and Africa, both in the past and in the present.
English
Haitian Creole
Speakers:
Dah Daagbo AVIMADJÈNON AHOUANDJINOU KPLEDOMAGBOLOKO
Hereditary high dignitary Vodoun, Great Priest of Vodou in Quidah (Republic of Benin-formerly Dahomey), he presides over Association of Family Collectivities, communities and dependencies. His Majesty’s contribution to preserving and transmitting Vodoun traditions is legendary. He participated in scholarly projects in Africa and Latin America, as in the documentaries Atlantico; Negro: Sur la Route Orixás; Pedra da Memoria. As chief religious practitioner-leader, he crowned many chiefs and established cultural bridge between Benin and the global African diaspora.
Her Royal Majesty Queen Mother of the African Diaspora, Bénin Republic Dr. Dòwòti Désir
The Founder of the Imperial Corps Agoodjié of the African Diaspora, a leadership program for women of African descent, a Manbo Asogwe, Dr. Désir was Fellow of the Interfaith Civic Leadership Academy. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Organization of Religious & Traditional Intellectuals of Benin/ORITRAB, Center for Dharma Practice and the Advisory Council of the God Box Foundation, and is the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute 2024 Scholar-in-Residence.
William Leslie Balan-Gaubert
A native of Haiti, William is a Haitian History & Society Scholar in Residence and Lecturer at the University of Chicago. With extensive studies in Haiti, France, and the United States, he focuses on and explores Haitian Vodun as both cultural memory and ethical life. Through numerous lectures and writings, Balan-Gaubert has significantly contributed to the understanding and appreciation of Haitian Vodun and its profound impact on societal and cultural dynamics.
Kenrick Demesvar
Kenrick Demesvar holds a PhD in Ethnology and Heritage from Laval University, a MA in History, Memory and Heritage from the State University of Haiti (UEH), and a BA in SC from the École Normale Supérieure. A researcher and lecturer at ISERSS and the coordinator of the UNESCO Chair in History and Heritage at CUHP-UEH, he has dedicated his career to studying and promoting Haiti’s cultural heritage, including its tangible and intangible aspects.
Leslie G. Desmangles
Leslie G. Desmangles is an anthropologist of religion who studies the religions of Africa and the Caribbean. He is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He was first president of the Haitian Studies Association and founder of the Journal of Haitian Studies. He has published widely, one of which is an award-winning book The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti.
Moderator:
Dr. Yael Danieli
A Clinical psychologist, traumatologist, victimologist and psychohistorian, Dr. Danieli is Founder and Executive Director of the International Center for the study, prevention and treatment of MultiGenerational Legacies of Trauma; Director, Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children and Past-President, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
