Lydia Bradford becoming the first Duke student to write an undergraduate honors thesis in Creole.
Earlier this month, Bradford received a bachelor of arts in Romance Studies.
Lydia Bradford came to Duke from Oklahoma City four years ago expecting to immerse herself in global health issues. But when she discovered that Duke offered Creole language courses, her plans changed.
“I actually assumed that my thesis had to be written in Haitian Creole, so from the beginning, I had already planned to write it in Creole.” Said Lydia.
“In addition to this, throughout the Haitian Creole program our professor, Jacques Pierre, always encouraged us to understand the importance of fighting for the language in the language itself.
Lydia became interested in middle school because of the beauty of the country.
It’s such a beautiful island in the Caribbean.
“As I would continue to explore Haiti more in the classroom, begin to speak the language and visit Haiti, I would learn more about the culture and history and people. The culture, history and language are rich and full of beauty.”