Negotiating Dominican Citizenship: Education, Race, and Nation during the 1916 US Occupation

The CRPES Race & Education lecture series
Date: 
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Time: 
11-12:30 pm
Event Location: 
Zoom Webinar

The CRPES Race & Education lecture series welcomes Dr. Alexa Rodríguez, Mellon Postdoctoral Research Associate with UVA's Center for Race and Public Education in the South and Research Fellow in the Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Urban and Minority Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Rodríguez’s research sits at the intersection of schools, migration, and the formation of racial and national identities in both Latin America and the US. Prior to joining UVA, Dr. Rodríguez worked as a postdoctoral research associate in the Dominican Studies Institute of the City University of New York (CUNY DSI). Dr. Rodríguez completed her Ph.D. in History and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, her M.S. Ed. in Educational Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and her B.A. in History and American Studies at Fordham University. Dr. Rodríguez was also a 2020 dissertation fellow for the National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation.  

What does it mean to be a citizen of a country ruled by another? What rights and responsibilities do citizens have in such a context? What role can schools play in the formation of the next generation of citizens? During the turn of the twentieth century, Dominicans across the country were deep in conversation, debating these very questions. Dr. Rodríguez will discuss her book manuscript, Crafting Dominicanidad, an intellectual history that examines how Dominican stakeholders used public schools to articulate and circulate competing notions of Dominican citizenship that were shaped during the US occupation between 1916 and 1924. Using the documents of the US Military Government, Department of Justice and Public Instruction, as well as letters written by concerned parents and community members, Dr. Rodríguez will discuss how Dominicans across the country used this moment to reflect on, discuss, and practice Dominican citizenship.

Register HERE: https://virginia.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_s0Z4akWwT5O0MNe9o64e5g

Graduate student session to follow: Email CRPES@virginia.edu if you wish to attend.