Shauna Rigaud, PhD
Black Scholar | Caribbeanist| Community Engaged Teaching and Research
About Me
Beginning my career in youth work as a young person, I have a deep passion for empowering youth and community history. This is the thread that weaves together my twenty year career history of working in both out-of-school time and in Higher Education. My research seeks to draw dotted lines between the Black Diaspora, through the work of women, cultural practices, and ideas of solidarity and nation building.
My dissertation, Harvesting Home: Economies, Gender, and Identity in the Crop Over Festival, uses the Crop Over festival as a lens to understand postcoloniality in Barbados. Through the use of archives, ethnography, and participant stories, I explore the impact of colonialism on the island’s economy and constructed identities. I argue that the festival is driven by relationships and histories with the island’s colonial past while simultaneously attempting to break from those relationships. Using postcolonial theory, I examine how the festival is part of the island’s continuous pursuit of freedom even after emancipation. In the end, I conclude that within the festival, postcoloniality is communicated in a series of negotiations between old and new relationships.
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I am currently a visiting faculty fellow in University Honors at the University of Maryland, College Park
My work reveals underrepresented histories. I make visible the stories of cooks and cane cutters. I share the dreams of those who left their islands in search of a better life. I amplify the voices of those who made homes in places where the air and the people were often cold, harsh, and unwelcoming.
Transforming scholarship into practice at the intersections of Caribbean studies, Black feminism, and community engagement.
I welcome invitations to share my work and expertise through keynotes, lectures, and interactive workshops designed in collaboration with your team. Whether you are part of a community-based organization, government agency, school district, or academic department, I tailor each speaking engagement to your specific context, goals, and audiences. Drawing on my experience in the non-profit sector and my research in Caribbean histories, African diasporic formations, Black feminist thought, and community-engaged learning, I create sessions that are both intellectually grounded and deeply practical. I offer participants conceptual frameworks, historical context, and concrete tools they can use in their own institutions and communities. I am available to speak on topics including Caribbean history and culture, African diasporic identities, Black feminism, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and community-based learning and civic engagement.
