Ilioney Thelemaque

Ilioney Thelemaque is a Ph.D. student and a Graduate Assistant at Florida International University (FIU) studying Ph.D. in Global and Sociocultural Studies (GSS) with a concentration in Sociology at the Department of Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. He earned an Associate of Arts (AA) at Palm Beach Community College (Currently known as Palm Beach State College) in the fall of 2009. Ilioney then transferred to FIU, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in International Relations, a minor in Economics, and a certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies in the summer of 2012. In 2013, he returned to FIU to obtain a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Global Governance with concentrations in globalization and security. To fulfill the requirements of this M.A. program, he collaborated with fellow student Fred Noel on a research study, “Wildlife Trafficking on the African Continent and Its Nexus to Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorist Funding.” The study was a collaborative effort between FIU and the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM). Our adviser was Mr. Joseph Sinicrope, manager of the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security portfolios for the Applied Research Center (ARC) at FIU. Dr. Shlomi Dinar, a professor at the Department of Politics and International Relations at FIU, served as the mentor for the project. In the project, we examined the link between wildlife trafficking and transnational crime used as a basis for financing terrorism. Mr. Jeffrey Andrews, chief of environmental security at USAFRICOM, indicated that they would utilize the findings to justify USAFRICOM’s continued engagement in wildlife trafficking. Furthermore, he completed an M.A. in African and African Diaspora Studies (AADS) in the summer of 2018. To fulfill the requirements of the MA program in AADS, he conducted, under the supervision of Dr. Percy C. Hintzen, a research study on “Global Capital and the Crisis of Underdevelopment in Haiti.” This study revealed the role U.S. policies played in the Haitian revolution and during the U.S. occupation. It also examined how U.S. policies have impacted development in Haiti during the Duvalierist era, the Lavalas (Creole for Flash Flood), and the Tèt Kalé (Creole for Bald Head) regimes. Ilioney’s current work focuses on the link between coloniality and state failure in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, Ilioney received significant hands-on training working as Dr. Hintzen’s research assistant in the fall of 2017 and the summer of 2018. As a research assistant, he helped Dr. Hintzen conduct research studies on migration, globalization, and identity in South Florida and Caribbean responses to HIV/AIDS. In the spring of 2018, he worked as Instructor Zablon Mgonja’s teaching assistant. He assisted Instructor Mgonja in teaching AFA 2004: Black Popular Cultures (Global Dimensions).