Audra A. Diptée, Ph.D.

 author, historian & educator

Welcome.

 

I’m a historian, author, and educator who studies the ways in which historical thinking can advance social justice issues today.  My research focuses on the Caribbean and Africa.

I’m a history professor at Carleton University in Ottawa (Canada).

Why is history important?

Because ideas of the past shape our perception of the present and influence how we imagine the future

Isn’t that enough?  – Audra A. Diptée

About me …

I believe that the discipline of history is important for anyone who wants to have a positive impact in this world.

Afterall, our ideas of the past shape how we perceive the present.

They also influence how we imagine the future.

In other words, history shapes our perception of reality.

Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to have some great opportunities.  I’ve held research and writing fellowships at The Rockerfeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Italy and Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition.  I was also an Invited Professor in Paris at the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3 (l’IHEAL).

I’ve been interviewed on the BBC podcast HistoryExtra to answer listeners’ questions on the episode The history Jamaica: everything you wanted to know.

In addition, I wrote the TEDed animated lesson The records the British Empire didn’t want you to see and produced the occasional podcast series History Watch.

I’ve worked as consultant to develop curriculum and pedagogic material for various organizations.  I have also been a consultant for the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.

My research has been funded by a number of organizations and agencies including the Social Science Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Organization of American States, the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University, and the Atlantic History Seminar at Harvard University.

Some fun facts about me:  I’m a shameless francophile and will use any excuse to speak in French.  I write poetry as a hobby.  I was born in Trinidad & Tobago.

Latest Project

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