Graduate Student Initiatives

Graduate Student Activities in Barbados

Diana Thorburn & Dwaine Plaza

The Caribbean Studies Association is committed to the professional development of Caribbean and Caribbeanist graduate students. Our organization can thrive and grow only if we continue to count among our active members those academics, researchers, policy makers and professionals whose work is Caribbean-related. We recognize the constricted space that exists for those interested in the Caribbean, given its small size and population, and that the CSA represents a unique and nurturing space for young intellectuals with Caribbean-related academic interests.
As a part of our efforts to nurture and encourage Caribbeanist graduate students to be active CSA members, we host a number of activities at each CSA meeting. In 2009 the CSA staged its seventh panel for graduate students called, “Finishing the Ph.D., getting a job and doing Caribbean studies.” We also, for the fifth year, hosted an “aunty and uncle” reception for graduate students where the specific aim was to foster faculty-student interaction. Year after year these events have been very successful, as measured by attendance, participation, and follow-up feedback. We are happy to boast that many of our recent faculty panel lists and aunties and uncles started out attending the panel and participating as “nieces or nephews”.
Initially these activities were independent initiatives by CSA members. However, in the past three years, they have been codified by the CSA leadership as essential and important elements of the organization’s raison d’etre, and are fully supported by the CSA executive council as integral elements of the annual conference agenda. Most recently, our activities fall under the auspices of the specially convened special sub-committee of the CSA executive council, the Gender and Young Scholars committee (GYS) which meets to decide on specific measures to support and nurture our graduate students.
In 2010 in Barbados we would like to continue our efforts to reach out to graduate students in the organization. In light of this we will again have a welcome breakfast, a panel on how to finish your Ph.D. and get an academic job, and a senior scholar mentorship program (aunties/ uncles).
In 2010 we would like to expand the mentoring program beyond the conference and have the mentors stay in contact with their mentees throughout the year. We will also be introducing two new prestigious awards for graduate students. One for the best graduate student research paper presented at the conference and the other for the best graduate student paper presented at the conference which is focused on social justice. In the near future the gender and young scholars subcommittee hopes to write a funding proposal to the Ford Foundation for support of our graduate students to attend CSA meetings and for future leadership training sessions.
If you would like to get more involved in the activities of the young scholars program as a volunteer mentor or as a graduate student please contact Dwaine Plaza dplaza@orst.edu, Lindsey Herbert lherbert@uclink.berkeley.edu, or Diana Throburn diana.thorburn@gmail.com. We look forward to meeting you in Barbados in 2010.