Marie Lily Cerat

Marie Lily Cerat has a Ph.D. in Urban Education and a Certificate in Africana Studies from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). Dr. Cerat is Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Global Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Brooklyn College of CUNY and currently serves as the Director of the CUNY Haitian Studies Institute.

A decolonial scholar and culturally responsive pedagogue, the work of Dr. Cerat examines the effects of the exclusion of Haitian language and culture in the education of Haitian learners. Her research articles have appeared in various academic journals including Caribbean Studies, Rethinking Schools, Journal of Haitian Studies, and International Journal of the Sociology of Language. She is a coauthor of the 2022 publication: Education Across Borders: Immigration, Race and Identity in the Classroom (Beacon Press).

In addition to her scholarly activities, Dr. Cerat has a long history of community organizing within the New York Haitian community. She is the co-founder of Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, a group that was established in 1992 to provide ESL and adult literacy programs to Haitian immigrants and refugees. Today, the organization also offers leadership training to help members advocate on their own behalf for civil and educational rights, social, labor/economic and immigration justice.