Reena N. Goldthree
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| Office Location: | Currently conducting dissertation research in England and Jamaica (2007-08 AY) |
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| Email Address: | rg3@duke.edu |
Education
- Latin American and Caribbean Studies Certificate Duke University, 2006
- MA Duke University, 2005
- BA (magna cum laude) Columbia University, 2003
Research Interests
Between 1915 and 1918, tens of thousands of men from the British Caribbean volunteered to fight for the Allies in World War I and nearly 16,000 men, hailing from all ten colonies in the region, served in the newly-formed British West Indies Regiment (BWIR). Official appeals to patriotism and manly duty during the wartime recruitment campaigns, as well as the fevered postwar commemoration movement, linked the British Empire, civilization, and Christianity while simultaneously promoting new roles for women vis-à-vis the colonial state. In Jamaica and Trinidad, the two Caribbean territories that contributed over seventy percent of the troops for the BWIR, discussions about the meaning of the war for black, Indian, and Chinese residents sparked heated debates about the relationship among race, gender, colonial identity, and imperial loyalty. Foregrounding the social and political trajectories of BWIR soldiers—as well as their female partners and children—my dissertation draws upon archival documents, military recruitment materials, oral histories, legislative records, and biographical accounts to examine how the dislocations of World War I transformed colonial identity and imperial policy in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago during the first four decades of the twentieth-century. Departing from previous works on the BWIR, I hypothesize that the experiences of racism and discrimination soldiers faced overseas did not fully discredit British rule in the Caribbean; but rather, led to new racial and gendered loyalties and heightened sociopolitical claims-making on the imperial state during the postwar period.
Awards/Recognitions
Participant, "Interogating the African Diaspora" International Graduate Student Seminar, African New World Studies Program, Florida International University, Summer 2005
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
- Harvey Fellowship, Mustard Seed Foundation, 2007-2008
- Mellon Travel and Research Grant, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, August 2007
- Advanced International Fellowship, Graduate School, Duke University, 2007-2008
- Provost's Pre-Dissertation International Field Research Grant, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Duke University, 2006
- Mary McLeod Bethune Writing Award, African and African-American Studies Department, Duke University, 2005
- Provost's Pre-Dissertation International Field Research Grant, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Duke University, 2004
- Race and Gender Award, Women’s Studies Department, Duke University, 2004
- Social Science Research Council Mellon Mays Predoctoral Research Grant, 2004, 2005, 2006
- Summer Travel Grant, Institute for Critical U.S. Studies, 2004
- Duke Endowment Fellowship, Duke University Graduate School, 2003-2007
- Andrew W. Mellon Graduate Fellowship in Humanistic Studies, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, 2003
- John Kluge Fellowship, Columbia University, 2002-2003
- Astor Presidential Scholarship, Columbia University, 2000-2003
- Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship, 2000-2003