Diasporic transcontinental and intercontinental processes in the Americas

Research on diasporic phenomena to, from, and within the Americas, based on analysis of the transcultural phenomena, is a fundamental field of study for social sciences and humanities. Crucial factors for understanding contemporary ethnic realities require consideration of forced diasporas, especially African, compared to voluntary diasporas, especially European, from long-term procedural perspectives.

This requires the creation of opportunities that promote and support research favoring analyses integrating interdisciplinary projects using comparative perspectives in the different regions and nations impacted by various diasporas. As examples of topics pertinent to pursue in these projects, we have identified the following:

  • Definition and analysis of diasporic populations in the Americas.
  • Intercontinental diasporic migration and mobility.
  • Visibility of diasporas: racism, pigmentocracies, miscegenation and ethno-genesis and other transcultural phenomena.
  • Lived experiences through cultural impacts with social and political integrations and marginalizations.

 Objectives:

  • Foster various inter-institutional and collective projects on the African diaspora to Spanish, Portuguese, and French colonies in America, from a comparative perspective on issues related to multiculturalism.
  • Investigate free communities, Colombos or Palenques, in various places, with a focus on their everyday life.
  • Promote the development of projects on forced diaspora of indigenous peoples in the pre-hispanic era in the Andes, in the colonial era from northern New Spain to Havana and Veracruz and from Tlaxcala, Mexico to northern New Spain and the Philippines, and of the Yaqui in the nineteenth century from Sonora to Yucatán and elsewhere.
  • Encourage research on Asian disaporic movements to the Americas, including the Chinese, Japanese (especially in Brazil), and East Indians to Trinidad, Surinam, and Guyana.
  • Compile collections of documents, material culture, folklore, music and other cultural artifacts such as medical practices and cuisine in digital formats.
  • Create research publications and establish major websites with the results of these projects and offer links to other major research collections, films, and documentaries.
  • Establish a fellowship program to support both collective and individual research.
  • Develop and encourage opportunities for graduate student training on research projects.
  • Create an international panel of scholars and community leaders from the Americas to share in the development of the program.
  • Secure funding for these initiatives.

 

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