An Assistant Professor at the University of Warwick’s School of Law has received a prestigious grant to study the Haitian slave revolution of 1791–1804.

Dr Philip Kaisary, who is also a PhD graduate of the University of Warwick’s Department of English & Comparative Literary Studies, has received a Fulbright Scholar Award which will see him travel to the US in July to begin the year-long research project at Vanderbilt University, on one of the most selective scholarship programmes operating worldwide.

His project will aim to provide a more complete critical picture of how constitutionalism, nationality, and citizenship figured in the jigsaw puzzle of Haitian, American, and Atlantic politics in this period, exploring how the birth of the world’s first black republic generated an enduring ideological inheritance and blazed a radical trail long into the 19th century Atlantic world.

Commenting on receiving the award, Philip said: “I am delighted to have been selected as a 2015–16 Fulbright Scholar. I am thoroughly looking forward to working alongside and learning from Vanderbilt’s wonderful legal and cultural historians of the Atlantic world.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to have been offered this opportunity to develop as a researcher and a writer while I learn more about the way in which the story of Haitian independence impacted upon the discourses of free black men and women in the 19^th century United States. And, of course, I am also looking forward to a year in Nashville!”

The US-UK Fulbright Commission is the only bi-lateral, transatlantic scholarship programme, offering awards for study or research in any field, at any accredited US or UK university – selecting scholars through a rigorous application and interview process.

Penny Egan, Executive Director, US-UK Fulbright Commission said: “I know our 2015 cohort will do us great credit during their time in the US and beyond. Only exceptional scholars and students win Fulbright awards: one of the world’s most competitive merit-based international scholarships.”

Amy Moore, Director of the Fulbright Awards Programme, added: “It’s very rewarding seeing a group of talented, inspirational and very deserving individuals, embark on a life changing trip to the US. This year's cohort are no exception, and have been carefully selected for their impressive accomplishments, academic excellence, and a genuine desire to delve into US culture, collaborate with new people and experience new ideas.”

About Philip Kaisary:

Philip Kaisary is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Warwick. He holds a Ph.D. in English & Comparative Literary Studies, a Masters degree in Postcolonial Studies, and he qualified as a solicitor in 2012. Long fascinated by global black history and culture, Philip is author of The Haitian Revolution in the Literary Imagination: Radical Horizons, Conservative Constraints, published by the University of Virginia Press in 2014.

Philip has received awards and scholarships including an Inns of Court Lord Haldane Scholarship and a University of Warwick Merit Award. On his Fulbright year at Vanderbilt University, Philip will be researching the impact of the Haitian Revolution – the only successful slave revolt in world history – on nineteenth century U.S. and Atlantic debates over liberty and bondage. An aficionado of the American South, and with interests in jazz, Americana, and the arts, Philip is looking forward to making the most of his year in Nashville.

Notes to Editors:

Issued by Lee Page, Communications Manager, University of Warwick. Tel: +44 (0)2476 574 255. Mob: +44 (0)7920 531 221. Email: l.page@warwick.ac.uk.

Fullbright contacts: Amy Moore, Director Awards Programme, Tel: +44 (0)207 498 4016. Email amy@fulbright.org.uk; Jamie Dunn, Manager, Advising and Marketing, Tel: +44 (0)207 498 4019. Email: press@fulbright.org.uk.

About the US-UK Fulbright Commission: The US-UK Fulbright Commission was created by treaty on 22 September 1948. The Fulbright Commission offers grants at postgraduate and postdoctoral level for study in any discipline and at any accredited institution in the US and UK, as well as a number of special exchanges programmes for shorter projects or for younger scholars. During the last six decades, approximately 15,000 UK nationals have studied in the US and 12,000 US nationals in the UK as part of the Fulbright Programme. Prominent alumni of the Fulbright Programme include poet Sylvia Plath, Charles Kennedy MP, journalist and author and Commissioner Toby Young and the economist and Nobel prize winner Milton Friedman.

About the Fulbright Awards Programme: Each year, the Commission supports UK and US citizens to study, lecture, conduct research or focus on professional development at leading institutions in the US and UK respectively. Nearly 300,000 extraordinary women and men from all over the world have had their lives changed as participants in the Fulbright Programme. Of these alumni, approximately 15,000 UK nationals have studied in the US and nearly 12,000 US nationals in the UK on our educational exchange programmes.

About the Fulbright Advisory Service: The US-UK Fulbright Commission also supports US-UK exchange through its Advisory Service. The Fulbright Advising Team provides a wide range of information and hosts events for individuals interested in any level of US study. The Fulbright Advisory Service is the UK’s only official source of information on educational opportunities in the US and is part of the EducationUSA network of over 450 US advising centres worldwide.

PR107 26 May 2015

Contact:

Lee Page

Communications Manager, University of Warwick

Tel: +44 (0)2476 574 255

Mob: +44 (0)7920 531 221

Email: l.page@warwick.ac.uk