Dr. Daina Nathaniel

Dr. Daina Nathaniel, assistant professor in the School of Communication, presented at the 34th annual Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) conference, this year hosted at the Hilton in Kingston, Jamaica. Her paper, titled "The Fall of the Golden Arches: Why McDonald's Failed in Trinidad and Tobago," assessed the factors that brought the demise of this fast food empire in Trinidad, as it has consistently been used as the yardstick for Americanization and the quintessential symbol of globalization. About the conference, Dr. Nathaniel says, "The paper was well received and I was particularly honored to be on the same panel with a well-known scholar in the region, Dr. Lynette Lashley, whose work on the impact of the American media in Trinidad greatly influenced my MA thesis."

At Queens, Dr. Nathaniel has taught undergraduate and graduate level courses including intercultural communication, public speaking, interpersonal communication, political rhetoric and various courses related to writing for the media. Her primary research area is cultural studies which looks at the relationships between cultures within societies, issues of power and domination, issues of race and ethnicity between disparate groups, and all the attendant challenges that arise as all people try to find a sense of place within their various environments: home, school, work, church, community and nation.

The CSA is an independent professional organization devoted to the promotion of Caribbean studies from a multidisciplinary, multicultural perspective.