J. R. Díaz-Ríos holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico, an M.A. in Educational Communications from New York University and a PhD in History from the Centro de Estudios Avanzados (CEAPRC). His dissertation about the Kingdom of Haiti (1811-1820), was declared an outstanding dissertation by the defense committee. Díaz-Ríos is interested in the history of the black peoples of the Americas, from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century, with particular interest in the Caribbean region, as well as in the ‘Gran Caribe Cultural’ zone, which includes from the U.S. American south to northern Brazil.