Michel DeGraff

Michel DeGraff
Michel DeGraff at MIT-Haiti Symposium in 2010
Born1963 (age 60–61)
Haiti
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
Scientific career
FieldsLinguistics, Haitian Creole
InstitutionsM.I.T.
ThesisCreole grammars and acquisition of syntax: The case of Haitian
WebsiteOfficial site

Michel Anne Frederic DeGraff[1] (born 1963) is a Haitian creolist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His scholarship focuses on Creole studies and the role of language and linguistics for decolonization and liberation.[2] He has advocated for the recognition of Haitian Creole as a full-fledged language.[2]

Early life and education

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DeGraff was born in Haiti in 1963.[3] He grew up in a middle-class family and attended a top school where the instruction was in French. Despite not being a top student, he felt that French was a hindrance as not speaking it well caused complexes of inferiority among otherwise bright children.[4] He believes that he spoke one and a half languages, with Haitian Creole being the "half", when in fact the language that all children spoke well by default was Creole.[4] He recalls that French, although imposed at home and at school, was never used for jokes or on the soccer field.[4]

DeGraff moved to New York in 1982 and enrolled in City College of New York, where he studied computer science.[5] He developed an interest in linguistics during an internship at Bell Labs in New Jersey in 1985, as a Summer Intern at AT&T Bell Laboratories' Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence department.[5] In 1992, he earned a PhD in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania, with a dissertation on the role of language acquisition in the formation of the syntax of Haitian Creole.[5]

Academic career

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DeGraff is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[2] He previously served on the board of the Journal of Haitian Studies.[2] He is also a founding member of the Haitian Creole Academy.[6]

In the fall of 2012, he received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to introduce online Creole language materials in the teaching of STEM in Haiti.[2] He believes that Haitian children should be taught in their native language at all levels of instruction, contrary to the tradition of teaching them in French.[4][dead link] DeGraff believes that instruction in French, a foreign language for most Haitian children, hinders their creativity and their ability to excel.[4]

DeGraff's research is meant to contributes to an egalitarian approach to Creole, Indigenous and other non-colonial languages and their speakers, such as in Haiti. In addition to linguistics and education, his writings engage history and critical race theory, especially the links between power-knowledge hierarchies and the hegemonic representations of non-colonial languages and their speakers in the Global South and beyond. DeGraff's academic work promotes language and linguistics for decolonization and liberation, especially in Haiti and other Creole-speaking communities.[citation needed]

In 2022, Degraff was elected as a fellow of the Linguistic Society of America.[7]

In response to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, DeGraff wrote in support of universal justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians,[8][9] and criticized MIT's leadership's stance on Gaza protests and counter-protests.[10] He resigned from his position on the executive council of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) in protest against the organization's stance on the conflict.[11][non-primary source needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Mercéus, Bertrand, ed. (4 December 2014). "Les 33 académiciens du créole haïtien investis dans leur fonction". Le NOuvelliste. Retrieved 22 June 2016. (in French)
  2. ^ a b c d e Zéphir, Flore (Fall 2012). "Creolist Michel Degraff: A profile of Commitment, Advocacy, Excellence and Hope". Journal of Haitian Studies. 18 (2): 268.
  3. ^ "2005 LSA Institute - People - Michel DeGraff". web.mit.edu.
  4. ^ a b c d e Ulysse, Katia (11 August 2011). "Michel Degraff: Our Word is Our Bond". Voices from Haïti. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Dizikes, Peter. "A Champion of Creole". MIT. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Michel DeGraff named charter member of the Haitian Creole Academy". Whamit!. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  7. ^ Lanier, Alison (October 13, 2022). "Professor Michel DeGraff named a fellow of the Linguistics Society of America". MIT News. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  8. ^ Lewis, David (November 30, 2023). "Standing Together Against Hate: From the River to the Sea, From Gaza to MIT".
  9. ^ "Every person is a person — #ToutMounSeMoun". Mondoweiss. January 1, 2024.
  10. ^ DeGraff, Michel (24 May 2024). "MIT's Orwellian language masks its stance on Gaza protests". Le Monde diplomatique.
  11. ^ DeGraff, Michel (13 June 2024). "When Language Is a Weapon". Inside Higher Ed.
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