Graduate Programme in
Cultural Studies

Graduate Programme in Cultural Studies | MA in Cultural Studies |
MPhil in Cultural Studies | PhD in Cultural Studies | Course Descriptions

Aim

Cultural Studies is an emerging discipline that seeks to understand the complexity of culture and its political uses. Its contemporary force and relevance is that it has a wide vocabulary for the accommodation of the comparative understanding of different societies. The central aim of the postgraduate programme in Cultural Studies is to promote the discipline at UWI as an important area of study and research and, by so doing, to stimulate academic discourse and promote understanding of Caribbean culture and identity.

Objectives

• To engage with and explore the concept of Cultural Studies in a Caribbean context.
• To study and document the historical range and diversity of Caribbean peoples and their cultures.
• To examine the many facets of Caribbean cultural expression in an interdisciplinary context and from a variety of theoretical perspectives
• To promote research and publication in the area of Caribbean Cultural Studies.
• To explore the relationships between Caribbean culture and the social and political developments of the region.
• To analyse the uses and abuses of the Caribbean's cultural heritage in the economic development of the region and its people.
• To promote the study of nation and identity as defined by cultural history.
• To critique the formation and existence of gender hierarchies in the Caribbean and the normalising effects of culture.
• To establish UWI as a recognized international centre of excellence for the study of Caribbean Culture and identity.

Rationale

Taking its cue from the Cultural Studies Initiative (CSI) the broad rationale for which has been spelled out in a number of documents, the postgraduate teaching programme in Cultural Studies is grounded in the belief that it is necessary to develop a cadre of trained people in the Caribbean region who are sensitised to the region's history and cultural heritage, and who can articulate and disseminate an understanding of that history and heritage at all levels of Caribbean Society and beyond. Graduates in Cultural Studies are likely to become an important resource in the formulation of national, sub-regional and regional policies for sustainable economic and social development in the Caribbean.

The programme in Cultural Studies at the graduate level will lead to the following:

• delivery of a taught Masters programme in Cultural Studies, leading to the award of the degree of Master of Arts - Cultural Studies;
• delivery of research degree programmes, namely, the M.Phil and the Ph.D. in Cultural Studies;
• the creation of a cadre of trained professionals in Caribbean Cultural Studies;
• the development of methodologies, research materials and databases for the study of key aspects of Caribbean culture and identity;
• the fostering of knowledge and understanding about the region's cultural heritage both within the Eastern Caribbean and beyond.

The programme is interdisciplinary in its design. It comprises a common core of courses in Cultural Studies and a selection of electives drawn from different disciplines in the Humanities and Education and other faculties within the University. The common core sets out key theoretical issues and methodological approaches relevant to the study of Culture. Synergies between disciplines will be translated into innovative forms of delivery, including articulation with other postgraduate programmes in the Faculty of Humanities and Education. In all the degree programmes candidates will be required to read a specified number of courses as indicated for each programme and complete a research paper or thesis according to the specified requirements. All the core courses will be designed for face-to-face and online delivery and both modes will be used to deliver the programme.

The core courses comprise the following:

CLTR 6000 - Theory and Conceptualisation of Culture

CLTR 6010 - Debates in Caribbean Cultural Identity

CLTR 6030 Dynamics of Caribbean Culture

CLTR 6100 - Methods of Inquiry in Cultural Studies

The required number of electives can be chosen from selected courses across disciplines. The electives include but are not restricted to the following:

CLTR 6200 - Language and Culture

CLTR 6210 - Caribbean Multilingual Lexicography

CLTR 6230 Caribbean Popular and Creative Culture

CLTR 6250 - Caribbean Cultural Diasporas

CLTR 6270 Under Western Eyes: Rethinking Cultural Hegemony in Caribbean Gender Relations

Students can refer to the Faculty handbooks in Humanities as well as from other disciplines for relevant courses across disciplines that are offered in any given year. Students who select courses outside of the remit of Cultural Studies must seek approval of their Supervisor.

All courses are of 36 hours duration (12 weeks x 3 hours).

Graduate Programme in Cultural Studies | MA in Cultural Studies |
MPhil in Cultural Studies | PhD in Cultural Studies | Course Descriptions