Yveline Alexis

  • Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies

Education

  • BA, history/Africana Studies, Cornell University, 2002
  • PhD, history/Latin American, Caribbean, and Latina/o studies, and MAUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst, 2011
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Africana Studies/Critical Caribbean studies Rutgers University, 2011-2013

Biography

Research and Teaching Interests

  • History of the Caribbean, the Americas, and African Diaspora
  • Resistance, Agency, and Political Acts
  • Memory Studies and oral history of silenced and ignored minority groups

Scholarship

Alexis’s first monograph relies on international archives to examine Haitian resistance to the US occupation that spanned from 1915-1934. Relying on multilingual sources, including Haitian Kreyòl, French, and English, Alexis locates and brings to light the different ways that Haitians responded to US imperialism. The work closely looks at the life of a politician and guerrilla fighter and locates the Haitian women and men who also protested in intellectual, artistic, and religious ways. The book Haiti Fights Back: The Life & Legacy of Charlemagne Péralte is available online.

  • 2020 Review of The Unfinished Revolution: Haiti, Black Sovereignty and Power in the The Unfinished Revolution. Karen Salt. H-LatAm. August, 2020
  • 2020 “My Dear Charlemagne,” by Widow Massena Péralte from THE HAITI READER: HISTORY, CULTURE, POLITICS, Edited by Drs. Laurent Dubois, Kaiama Glover, Nadève Ménard, Millery Polyné and Chantalle Verna (Duke University Press, 2020) 
  • 2018 Review of We Dream Together: Dominican Independence, Haiti, and the Fight for Caribbean Freedom. Anne Eller. The Journal of Haitian Studies, Volume 24 No. 2, 2018, pp. 158-160 
  • 2018 Review of Haiti and the Uses of America: Post U.S. Occupation Promises. Chantalle F. Verna. Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean History/ Revue canadienne des études latino-américaines et caraïbes, 43:3, 445-447

Fall 2024

Caribbean Survey: Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic: Indigenous to 1898 — AAST 122
Archives ReImagined — AAST 126

Spring 2025

Introduction to Africana Studies — AAST 101
Empire and Resistance in the Caribbean — AAST 357

Notes

Yveline Alexis Presenter at The Caribbean Digital Conference

December 20, 2023

Yveline Alexis was invited to Yale University for The Caribbean Digital conference to present on Caribbean Studies and social justice. She, along with scholars from Jamaica, Antigua, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Belize, and Trinidad & Tobago discussed digitizing projects like Irish slaveowners in Cuba, the presence and destruction of colonial records, and how Caribbeans archive their stories.

Yveline Alexis Writes Commissioned Essay

November 29, 2023

Public Books and Dr. Marlene Daut commissioned Yveline Alexis to write an essay, which she named, "Tracing Women: Haitian and Black Cuban Women Archivists." The work explores themes between Drs. Grace Sanders Johnson and Takkara K. Brunson's books about feminism, black political organizing, and our multilingual archives.

Yveline Alexis Keynote Speaker at the Fet Gedé, Haiti Group

November 21, 2023

Yveline Alexis was the keynote speaker on the origins of Haitian Vodou(n) at the Fet Gedé, Haiti Group in the United Kingdom. The talk combined history with live performances by acclaimed percussionist Ted Beaubrun.

Yveline Alexis Launches Consult Website

August 8, 2023

Yveline Alexis has launched her historical consult LLC available at https://yvelinealexis.com/. The project offers academic coaching, historical reviews, and research services.

Yveline Alexis Speaker at National Council on Public History's Conference

April 26, 2023

Yveline Alexis was part of the National Council on Public History's conference opening plenary where she spoke about “Considering the [US American] Revolution: The Rhetoric of Freedom" in Atlanta, GA.

Yveline Alexis Featured Speaker at Brown University

April 19, 2023

Yveline Alexis was a featured speaker for Brown University's Archival Voices lecture series where she gave a talk on "Haitian Voices and Multilingual Sources." She was also a guest panelist for Brown's Watson Institute's symposium on "Haiti's Overlapping Crises: Is There a Way Through?"

Yveline Alexis Gives Interview on Recent Book

April 29, 2022

Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies Yveline Alexis was interviewed by Alejandra Bronfman, a Cornell University alumna, for the New Books Network.

Yveline Alexis Delivers Talk at University of Buffalo

March 31, 2022

Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies Yveline Alexis delivered a talk about Womyn Fighters during the U.S. invasion of Ayiti for the University of Buffalo. She also educated young scholars at a middle school about this heavy topic. Finally, she engaged with LatinX/Caribbean scholars for their Haiti Week program as a keynote speaker on the subject of resistance in the Americas.

Yveline Alexis Gives Talk on Haiti's Independence Day Soup

March 1, 2022

Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies Yveline Alexis gave a talk on Haiti's Independence Day Soup (Soup Joumou) for the African-American fraternity Omega Psi Phi at Tufts University. Planners included a nutrition graduate student (Diego Meritus) and their Africana Studies Department. Organizers partnered with Haitian restaurants who served the delicious soup to the attendees. 

Haiti Fights Back by Yveline Alexis a TLS Book of the Year

December 15, 2021

Times Literary Supplement (TLS) Contributor Sudhir Hazareesingh selected as their book of the year Haiti Fights Back, by Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies Yveline Alexis. It is “written with sensitivity and verve” and “tells a powerful story which draws out the courage and patriotism of ordinary Haitian men and women,” says Hazareesingh.

Yveline Alexis interviewed on the Haitian Diaspora show Tele Lacaye

October 15, 2021

Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies Yveline Alexis was a guest on the Haitian Diaspora show, Tele Lacaye (At Home)." Professor Alexis discusses her book, Haiti Fights Back: The Life and Legacy of Charlemagne Peralte, with host Jimmy Jacques. The interview is available here.

Yveline Alexis participates in panel discussion for Haitian Flag Day

May 26, 2021

In celebration of Haitian Flag Day on May 18, the Haitian Times founder Garry Pierre-Pierre featured Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies Yveline Alexis along with Wyclef Jean, Nedjine Paul Deroly, and Dave Fils-Aime as panelists for a discussion about "Upholding L'Union Fait La Force (Unity is Strength) in our Community."

Yveline Alexis presents at University of Rhode Island

April 16, 2021

Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies Yveline Alexis was a featured speaker at the University of Rhode Island. She presented about the significance of using Caribbean archives and multilingual sources in writing about Charlemagne Péralte’s life and legacy.

Yveline Alexis gives lecture on resistance during U.S. invasion of Haiti

March 30, 2021

Yveline Alexis, associate professor of Africana studies and comparative American studies, was a guest speaker for Bloomfield College's Holley/Humanities Series on "Looking Back and Looking Forward: Discussions about Race, Gender, Voice and Power." She delivered a lecture about resistance in the Americas during the United States invasion of Haiti.

Yveline Alexis appointed faculty success coach

December 9, 2020

The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) hired Yveline Alexis, associate professor of Africana studies and Comparative American studies, as one of its coaches for is faculty success program for 2021.

Yveline Alexis raises funds to support organizations in Haiti

November 20, 2020

Yveline Alexis is part of a team that planned a fundraiser for Ayiti Community Trust. We raised funds to help support organizations based in Haiti that are headed by Haitians.  View the full global program in multiple language formats. 

Shelley Lee, Yveline Alexis, Meredith Gadsby, and Gina Perez Co-Author Op-Ed

January 3, 2018

Shelley Lee, associate professor of history and comparative American studies, Yveline Alexis, assistant professor of Africana studies, Meredith Gadsby, associate professor of Africana studies, and Gina Perez, professor of comparative American studies, co-authored the op-ed “Selective Compassion: The US Approach to Haitians Hasn’t Changed in Hundreds of Years” in Truthout.