- Email:
- wecorne@iu.edu
Websder Corneille is a Haitian Linguist and Adjunct Lecturer of Haitian Creole Language and Haitian Studies at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. He started his MA in Psychosociology in 2022 at the State University of Haiti where he has earned his BA in Linguistic with a focus on Critical Discourse Analysis. His personal and professional interests include Second language acquisition, Linguistic hybridity and Cultural identity in the Caribbean, Storytelling and Literature. He is the founder and Director of the flagship Haitian Creole Language and Culture Program, which aims to break barriers and bridge communities through language and culture. He co-founded the Haitian Midwest Scholars Society which is located at the University of Michigan. He is the Haitian Creole ESL Reading Interventionist at Promise Prep Elementary School in Indianapolis, and he serves as an ad hoc interpreter for Haitian parents with limited English proficiency (LEP).
AWARDS, HONORS & FELLOWSHIPS
2023 - William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (National Defense University), fellowship for Climate Change and Implications for Defense and Security Seminar in Washington
2023 - Center for the Francophonie of the Americas (Canada), fellowship for Summer School in Louisiana
2020 - French Philippe Chaffanjon Prize for Journalism, winner
2016 - Writing Residency Grant, Pen Center in Haiti
Public Lectures/Talks:
October 2024 - Language Inequality and Fight for Free Speech in Haiti: Two Sides of the Same Coin, at Iowa State University
October 2022 - Haitian Studies Association (Emerging Scholars Café), topic “Coupé Cloué, ambiguïté, musique Populaire”
Media Coverage:
2024 - Cultural Legacy and Linguistic Identity in Haiti: Reflections from Websder Corneille (Iowa State Daily, Student independent newspaper)
2024 - Bridging cultures with IU’s Haitian Creole Language Program (WISH-TV, Indianapolis-based media)
2024 - Haitian Creole voices in school (Mirror Indy, Indianapolis-based media)
2024 - ¡Hablemos! with Websder Corneille (Im/migrant Well-Being Scholar Collaborative, D.C.-based platform)