معرفی
Claire Andrade-Watkins, Ph.D., serves as Professor at Emerson College's Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts & Interdisciplinary Studies, recognized as the institution's first tenure-track professor of color and inaugural Full Professor of color in Visual and Media Arts prior to her transition to the Institute. A second-generation Cape Verdean American filmmaker and interdisciplinary scholar, her work centers on reconstructing absent narratives of the African diaspora through historical and cinematic lenses.
Her academic foundation includes:
- B.A. from Simmons College
- M.A. from Boston University
- Ph.D. from Boston University
Dr. Andrade-Watkins' research pioneers intersections of African American history, Cape Verdean diaspora studies, and postcolonial cinema, with particular expertise in French and Portuguese-speaking African film traditions. Through her community-based Fox Point Cape Verdean Project (founded 2007) and SPIA Media Productions (founded 1998), she employs documentary filmmaking and digital humanities to explore identity, cultural memory, and historical erasure. Her methodology uniquely blends academic scholarship with community-engaged practice, creating accessible archives of marginalized narratives.
Her filmography demonstrates consistent thematic focus on Cape Verdean history and diasporic identity across decades, evolving toward digital archival projects like the OUR RHODE mapping platform that reconstitutes Rhode Island's waterfront communities. Recent works emphasize interactive storytelling while maintaining core commitments to historical accuracy and community representation.
Major recognitions include:
- Fulbright Scholar in Cape Verde (1995-1996)
- American Philosophical Society Grant (1997)
- RISCA Fellowship in Film & Video (2017)
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston retrospective (2016)
- Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship (2009)
- Competitive grants from LEF Foundation and state humanities councils
Her grant-funded projects support documentary production on Cape Verdean labor history and community narratives, complemented by significant academic appointments at Brown University including Visiting Scholar roles in Africana Studies (2019-2021) and the Center for Study of Slavery and Justice (2015-2017). These collaborations demonstrate sustained interdisciplinary engagement beyond her home institution.
As President of SPIA Media Productions, she maintains an active production company whose documentary collections are featured on Kanopy streaming service. Current work centers on developing the OUR RHODE digital humanities platform, representing her transition from traditional filmmaking to immersive historical reconstruction through emerging technologies.
