Mediating Disaster :
Haiti and the Politics of Representation
April 2, 2010 | 10-11 a.m. | Location: Kaleidoscope (3rd floor), Newcomb Hall
View the video of this session here.
From Pat Robertson's literal demonizing of the Haitian revolution to the adoptive gaze cast on the bodies of Haitian children, this panel will center on recent portrayals of Haiti that have garnered public attention and the ways in which these serve to re-affirm centuries old myths and stereotypes of Haitian pathology.
We will examine the historical genealogies and symbolic purchase of these representations and discuss the work of journalists and bloggers who are unsettling these narratives by foregrounding the complexity of Haitian realities and the agency of the Haitian people.
Speakers:
- Joel Dreyfuss , TheRoot.com
- Diane Hoffman, University of Virginia
- Wadner Pierre , Journalist and Blogger
- Z'etoile Imma , University of Virginia, moderator
Hosted by the U.Va. - Haiti Working Group, in collaboration with the Department of Anthropology, the Magnitude Collective, and the Ralph Bunche Society.