[Click here for a high-resolution photo of Colin Dayan.]
Haiti expert Colin Dayan is available to discuss the aftermath of the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti that has killed tens of thousands and affected 3 million Haitians.
Dayan, whose mother and other family members are Haitian, spent the first two decades of her career studying Haiti and is the author of Haiti, History, and the Gods. She can speak on most aspects of Haitian history, including the theory brought up by evangelist Pat Robertson that a pact with the devil by Haitian slaves in 1791 is responsible for the disaster.
Dayan can also address:
• How to help Haiti with donations
• Haitian history, which includes the first successful revolution of slaves
• Haiti‘s importance to the United States now and throughout history
• The occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934 by the United States
• The coups that overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power in 1991 and 2004
Dayan, the Robert Penn Warren Professor in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University, is a specialist in Caribbean social history and literature, especially Haiti and Jamaica.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu