Spring 2026 Events
4th Annual CFFS Caribbean Digital Humanities Lecture
Preserving Ingenuity: Editing the Revue des Colonies (1834–1842)
Maria Beliaeva Solomon (University of Maryland College Park)
Virtual Event | Friday, March 20th, 2026 | 11:00 AM -12:00 PM CST
9:00 -10:00 AM PST | 12:00 -1:00 PM EST | 6:00-7:00 PM CET
This talk offers a glimpse into The Revue des Colonies: A Digital Scholarly Edition and Translation, an open-access project providing a complete transcription, critical annotation,
and English translation of the first French periodical directed by people of color.
Founded by Martinican abolitionist Cyrille Bissette, the Revue circulated antislavery
arguments across the French colonial empire and beyond, confronting both surveillance
and censorship. The project’s editorial and technical choices are guided by the commitment
to remain faithful, as a matter of method, to the journal’s own innovations in form.
This lecture will showcase how this ambition shapes our collaborative workflow across
transcription, TEI encoding, translation, and bilingual annotation, including protocols
attentive to historically charged vocabulary and archival silences.
Please RSVP for this virtual lecture here. You will receive a reminder in the days before and the zoom link on the morning of the presentation
Fall 2025 Events
TUKKI: From the Roots to the Bayou
Film Screening and Q&A with Senegalese jazz musician Alune Wade
Tuesday, October 21st | 6-8PM
French House 135
In Wolof, tukki means journey. Join Senegalese musician and composer Alune Wade as
he travels through West Africa to New Orleans to explore the connections between jazz
on both sides of the Atlantic. Tukki, directed by Alune Wade and Vincent Le Gal, was
shot on location in Dakar and Saint-Louis, Senegal, Lagos, Nigeria, Accra, Ghana,
Paris, France, and New Orleans, United States. It is produced by Crescendo-SUNU Production
and the Neighborhood Story Project. Cinematography and editing by Vincent Le Gal (La
Chemise Productions).
Alune Wade is a Paris-based Senegalese bassist, vocalist and composer dedicated to promoting the musical traditions of his native Africa.
Co-sponsoed by The Neighborhood Story Project.
Symposium: “1825–2025: France, Haiti, and the Question of Indebtedness”
October 8, 2025 from 1PM to 5pm | Hill Memorial Library Lecture Hall, LSU
Gathering scholars from LSU, Tulane University, Texas A&M, UC-Berkeley, and Scripps
College, this interdisciplinary event will explore the facts and fictions of a crucial
moment in the history of Franco-Haitian relations: the 1825 imposition by France of
a massive indemnity on Haiti in exchange for recognition of its independence. Supported
by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, this symposium is LSU’s contribution
to a broader programming including partners at Yale University and Brown University.
Please check the dedicated page for this symposium for more information on the program.
Photo: Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer receiving Charles X’s decree recognizing Haitian independence on July 11, 1825, Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
Student Engagement
On February 7th and 8th, 2025, the CFFS hosted the Spring 2025 Villa Albertine Resident
Mélissa Laveaux. Mélissa Laveaux is a Haitian-Canadian singer-songwriter with a 16 year career based
out of Paris, France. She is a self-taught guitarist who has been writing songs since
the age of 16. During her visit, she visited the Memorial Hill Special Collections
and did guest lecture presentations at a graduate course on Disability and Anthropology and a French senior seminar course. She also met with Department of French Studies
graduate students.
On Thursday, November 14th, 2024, the CFFS hosted Didyer Mannette, Manick Siar-Titéca, and Amandine Vélin for a creative writing working where they presented Antillean folktales (le conte antillais) from their home island of Guadeloupe. This workshop was open to all students in French 2101 or higher.