Language Resources

Creole/Kreyòl at Duke

The Department of Romance Studies at Duke University works with the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), the Haiti Lab, and the Duke/ UVA/Vanderbilt  Partnership for Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTL’s) to offer a full sequence of Haitian Creole / Lang kreyòl courses. Linguist and translator Jacques Pierre teaches Elementary Creole I (101/701), Elementary Creole II (102/702), Intermediate Creole (203/703), Advanced Intermediate Creole (204/704), and a Research Independent Study in Creole. Creole linguistic grounding is an important element of Caribbean studies at Duke; courses in Caribbean Studies are taught by Romance Studies faculty Laurent Dubois and Deborah Jenson, as well as by faculty in other humanities departments. French and Creole studies are historically linked through the history of French colonialism in the New World arena, just as Creole and African studies are linked through the African heritage salient in Haitian language, religion, music, and dance, etc. Creole studies are also linked to American and diasporic studies as Haitian-Americans and Haitian migrants play an increasingly prominent role in US culture; simultaneously, Americans are going to Haiti in ever greater numbers for work in NGOs, missions, journalism, academic research, business investments, relief work, and global health.

Majoring in Romance Studies with Creole/Kreyòl

Students may count the Creole sequence toward a major in Romance Studies, which involves advanced study in two of the department’s language/culture sections and an international and experiential learning experience. The major consists of foreign language study at the major level (300 level or above taught in the language) within two departmental fields. Example combinations include: two continental fields, for example peninsular Spanish and Italian; two fields encompassing the diversity of cultures and engagement in the “developing” and the “developed” worlds, such Creole and French; or two fields in geographically proximate postcolonial spaces such as lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) and francophone Africa, or Spanish and Portuguese-speaking environments in South America. Students with unusual depth of study in Creole or Portuguese may petition the Romance Studies faculty to substitute one sequence of five foreign language departmental courses with a combination of three courses and a required thesis (involving two semesters of independent study courses) in Creole or Portuguese. The Romance Studies major in French, Italian, or Spanish and Creole or Portuguese therefore requires unusual initiative and experience in the field of either Creole or Portuguese. Petitions to undertake this option must include a one-page abstract of the project, a bibliography, and the names of three committee members who have consented to serve on the thesis committee. A growing number of Creole students have written theses for distinction in either Romance Studies or French, including, in spring 2017, a thesis written entirely in Haitian Creole. 

Students may also count the Creole sequence toward a Certificate in Latin American Studies.

Who Can Take Creole/Kreyòl Classes?

Romance Studies Haitian Creole courses are open to students from Duke, UNC, NCCU, NCSU and other institutions through inter-institutional registration.

Haiti Lab

Founded in 2010 and concluded in Spring 2013, the Haiti Lab was the first humanities laboratory at the Franklin Humanities Institute. The lab merged research, education, and practical applications of innovative thinking for Haiti’s disaster recovery and for the expansion of Haitian studies in the U.S. and Haiti. Located at the FHI’s headquarters at the Smith Warehouse, the Haiti Lab took its inspiration from the collaborative and discovery-driven model of research laboratories. Undergraduate and graduate students worked with specialists in Haitian culture, history, and language on projects featuring vertical integration of Duke University expertise across disciplines and schools. The Haiti Lab is also a resource for media outlets seeking to gain knowledge of Haiti. See the Haiti Lab archive.

Duke Language Labs

  • 114 Languages Building (West Campus)
  • 101 Carr Building (East Campus)