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Past events
Master of Arts in Island Studies Program Information Session
You are invited to an information session focusing on UPEI’s Master of Arts in Island Studies program. In addition to the traditional thesis-based option, you are now able to take one of three course-based streams specializing in Island Tourism, Sustainable Island Communities, and International Relations & Island Public Policy. Join MAIS Program Coordinator Dr. Laurie Brinklow online for a brief presentation and to answer any questions you may have. Joining the call will be some current students to provide their perspectives on the program. An information session will take place on Zoom on Tuesday, March 19, at 10 a.m. AST. Everyone is welcome!
Seminar/Webinar: The Bridge Effect: A Case Study of Prince Edward Island, Canada, with Some Implications for Gozo. Laurie Brinklow, Island Studies, University of Prince Edward Island
May 24th, 2023 at, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. ADT (4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. CEST)
The idea of a permanent link joining the mainland to Prince Edward Island, on Canada’s Atlantic coast, goes back to 1887 when a Canadian Senator suggested the government lay an iron subway across the floor of the Northumberland Strait; the price tag was $5 million. A few years later, they suggested a $12 million tunnel. Neither came to fruition, but over the next century, the conversation continued until 1989, when a plebiscite was held to determine whether or not Islanders wanted a “fixed link.” The vote was close: 59% in favour, 41% against. Thus the way was paved to build the Confederation Bridge, a $1 billion 12-9-kilometre-long bridge across the Northumberland Strait. It opened on May 31, 1997, as the world’s longest bridge over ice-covered waters.
Bridging an island is often a polarizing subject: an islander can cherish the bounded flavour that an island provides or can valorize the benefits of a link―for instance, the convenience and monetary benefits of transporting people and goods on- and off-island. A permanent link might even allow an island to remain a viable place to live. This presentation tells the story of Prince Edward Island’s bridge and its socio-cultural, economic, and political impacts on the Island in the 25 years since it opened. A conversation about how these lessons might apply to Malta and Gozo will follow.
Tribute to Harry Baglole. Charlottetown, PEI (October 18, 2022)
Historian, educator, and publisher, Harry died on May 29th, 2018 at 76 years. Due to the Pandemic, we have been unable to offer this celebratory classical concert in honour of a man devoted to his Bonshaw community and to the ongoing renewal of the Bonshaw Hall. Since 2005 when the Church, built in 1867, was decommissioned, Harry was passionately involved in saving and repurposing it as a Community Hall.
Harry loved classical music and in his honour, a classical concert will be held Sunday, November 6th at 2:00 pm at the Bonshaw Hall and will include the dedication of a refurbished area for the Hall’s ongoing book sale, now called “Harry’s Nook”.
Cam MacDuffee will be our MC. Our entertainers are Karen Graves (violin), Dale Sorensen (trombone), Lana Quinn (harp), and Jed, Keziah & Twila Dawn Stoltz.
Admission is a suggested donation of 10$ in support of Bonshaw Hall.
~~Submitted by Bonshaw Hall Board Member Ruth Lacey
MAIS Program Well-Represented at Two International Conferences
Charlottetown, PEI (July 11, 2022)—
The MAIS program was well-represented at two recent international Island Studies conferences in Croatia and Shetland. Attending and presenting their research at the 18th International Small Islands Studies Association (ISISA) “Islands of the World: Nature and Culture” conference hosted by the University of Zadar, Croatia, June 13-17, were MAIS students Jenna Gaudet, Helena Ryan, and Richard Wedge. MAIS sessional instructor and PhD student Andrew Halliday (University of New Brunswick) also presented, as did Prince Edward Island scholars Laurie Brinklow, Godfrey Baldacchino, and Anna Baldacchino.
Special congratulations go to Jenna and Andrew on receiving student scholarships from ISISA and the conference organizers!
To give you a glimpse into MAIS research, here are the presentation titles:
– Jenna Gaudet: “Islands of Control: Gated Communities and the Future of Island Life”
– Helena M. Ryan: “Female Island Youth in Parts Per Million (ppm) Volumetric Voices: Sustainable Development through the Islandness of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Autumn Peltier, and Greta Thunberg “
– Richard Wedge: “Neoliberalism and Health in Tonga”
– Andrew Halliday: “The Island Within: Prince Edward Island’s Involvement in the Atlantic Bubble”
– Godfrey Baldacchino: “Doing Island Studies: A Methodology Primer Takes Shape”
– Anna Baldacchino: “A Walk Down Memory Lane: A Review of ISISA Newsletters (2012-2021)”
– Laurie Brinklow: “The Disappearing Island: Exploring Islandness and the Language of Art in the Anthropocene”
– Laurie Brinklow with Brady Reid (Memorial University): “Generosity Through Crisis: Comparing Opportunities of Multi-Jurisdictional Socio-Economic Recovery through Philanthropy in Atlantic Canada”
In addition to a full academic program with 4 keynote speakers, 93 papers presented, and 120 participants from around the globe, the organizing committee led by University of Zadar’s Aniça Cuka also put together three stunning field trips to islands off the coast of Zadar, including Uglijan, Pag, and Dugi otok, giving us a small glimpse of life in this beautiful Croatian archipelago.
The Book of Abstracts can be found here: https://www.isisa.org/userfiles/ISISA_2022_Book_of_Abstracts_FIN.pdf
Two weeks later, MAIS students joined Laurie at the Small Island Cultures Research Initiative (SICRI) Island Studies International Conference (ISIC 16) entitled “Creativity, Ingenuity, and Practice” hosted by the Centre for Island Creativity at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Shetland. They were Andrew MacPherson, Fiona Steele, and Maggie J. Whitten Henry (presenting remotely). Wonderful congratulations go to Fiona for being recognized for the Best Student Presentation at the end of the conference!
You can hear Fiona discuss the conference, and her podcast “the hidden island” on CBC’s Mainstreet.
Presentations at the ISIC 16 included:
– Andrew MacPherson: “Reimagining Canada as an Archipelago: Two Islands as Depicted in Recent Speculative Fiction”
Fiona Steele: “Creative Approaches to Sustainable Island Tourism”
– Maggie J. Whitten Henry: “Recursive islandness in creative practice: Entangled negotiations with abundance, loss, tradition, and time”
– Laurie Brinklow: “My island’s the house I sleep in at night: Nissopoesis and island-making”
Conference organizers were Andrew Jennings from UHI (who is also a member of the Institute of Island Studies Advisory Committee), along with co-convenors Evangelia Papoutsaki and Meng Qu from SICRI.
Plans for the conference field trip to the northernmost islands of Yell and Unst were thwarted when the ferry to Yell broke down, but in true island fashion, conference organizers came up with an equally fabulous program: a bus tour of Shetland narrated by Andrew and his colleague, UHI professor and archaeologist Simon Clarke. Conference-goers did get to experience a short ferry ride later to another island in the archipelago: to Bressay, across Lerwick’s harbour, for an evening at the local arts and community centre.
On behalf of the students, Laurie would like to thank the Office of Development and Alumni Engagement, the UPEI Student Union, and ISISA and the University of Zadar for funding assistance that allowed them to participate in these invaluable experiences.
Dr. Laurie Brinklow named President of ISISA. Charlottetown, PEI (July 11, 2022)
At the International Small Islands Studies Association (ISISA) General Meeting in Zadar, Croatia, June 17, Laurie Brinklow was acclaimed President of ISISA. She succeeds Godfrey Baldacchino who had served in the role for eight years.
Serving on the new Executive for the next four years are Sarah Nimführ (Vice President), Anna Baldacchino (Secretary), Andrew Jennings (Treasurer), and Ordinary Members Rosemarie Azzopardi, Aniça Cuka, Ayano Ginoza, and Adam Grydehøj. Tomislav Oroz joins as a Co-Opted Non-Voting Member.
Thanks go to the outgoing executive committee, in particular President Godfrey Baldacchino and Vice President Beate Ratter, for their hard work and contributions over the years!
The Executive looks forward to planning the next ISISA conference in 2024, the location for which is yet to be confirmed.
For further information, or to become a member of this pre-eminent Island Studies organization, please check out isisa.org or follow us on Facebook.
Island Studies joins University of the Arctic’s New Thematic Network. Charlottetown, PEI (July 5, 2022)
Island Studies at UPEI is pleased to be part of the newly established Thematic Network on Northern and Arctic Island Studies Research, one of four thematic networks approved at the University of the Arctic Assembly meetings June 1-3 in Portland, Maine. Hosted by University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), Scotland, the Northern and Arctic Island Studies Research network consists of members from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Uppsala University, Holar University, University of Northern British Columbia, University of the Faroe Islands, University of Greenland, UHI, and UPEI.
The goal of the network is to support Arctic and Northern Island communities to socially, materially, and culturally benefit from the discipline of Island Studies, which at its core believes that islands have the human and intellectual capital to undertake research for themselves.
This follows on UPEI becoming a member last year of the University of the Arctic, which is “a network of universities, colleges, research institutes, and other organizations concerned with education and research in and about the North. UArctic builds and strengthens collective resources and infrastructures that enable member institutions to better serve their constituents and their regions.”
If you’re interested in being part of this new Arctic and Northern Island Studies Research network, please send a note to Laurie Brinklow (brinklow@upei.ca) or Andrew Jennings at UHI (Andrew.Jennings@uhi.ac.uk).
MAIS Grad joins UPEI as Assistant Professor. Charlottetown, PEI (June 30, 2022)
Last summer we announced that MAIS graduate Patrick Augustine had received his Ph.D. from the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies at Carleton University. This month we’re thrilled to announce that Dr. Augustine will be joining UPEI as an Assistant Professor in the new Faculty of Indigenous Knowledge, Education, Research, and Applied Studies (IKERAS).
Congratulations, Patrick! This is SUCH good news for UPEI and for Island Studies.
And with Patrick comes partner Margaret Augustine (nee Mizzi), another MAIS graduate; Margaret is currently finishing up her Ph.D. looking at women’s work on Gozo, Malta, using a feminist island-geographical lens.
Welcome back to the Island, Patrick and Margaret!
Dr. Laurie Brinklow takes over as Island Studies Chair/MAIS Coordinator. Charlottetown, PEI (April 25, 2022)
The University of Prince Edward Island is pleased to announce the appointment of Assistant Professor Dr. Laurie Brinklow as the new Coordinator of the Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) program and Chair of the Institute of Island Studies (IIS). She has been carrying out the roles in an interim capacity since May 1, 2020, with the retirement of Dr. James Randall.
Dr. Brinklow is no stranger to Island Studies, serving as IIS Publishing Coordinator and research project administrator in the 1990s and 2000s, Coordinator of the IIS and UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability from 2014 to 2020, and as a sessional instructor in the MAIS program since 2014. She herself completed the Master of Arts in Island Studies program in 2007 and went on to do her PhD in Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania. Founder of Charlottetown’s Acorn Press, she has published widely in academia and has two volumes of poetry, the most recent being My island’s the house I sleep in at night (Island Studies Press). She is Secretary of the International Small Island Studies Association and Iceland’s Honorary Consul to Prince Edward Island.
Says Dr. Brinklow, “I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all those who came before me with their own visions for Island Studies: people like Harry Baglole, Brent MacLaine, Godfrey Baldacchino, Jim Randall, Ed MacDonald, Jean Mitchell. They are my mentors and inspirations in this Island Studies journey. And getting to meet islanders from around the world, to be part of a huge Island Studies family – what better way to spend one’s life?”
As MAIS Coordinator, she hopes to continue to grow the program, solidifying UPEI’s reputation as the premier academic institution in Island Studies. Boasting over 60 graduates and 65 local and international students coming from as far away as England, Taiwan, Egypt, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Nigeria, the interdisciplinary program focuses on island tourism, sustainability, international relations, and public policy on Prince Edward Island and other islands. As Chair of the IIS, she will continue to build on networks and collaborations with UPEI colleagues, government departments, and other institutions in Canada and around the world, being a bridge between the University and the community and focusing on PEI’s economic, environmental, and cultural health and well-being. She will continue to help Island Studies Press’s Bren Simmers produce award-winning publications that celebrate the Island’s culture and stories. And she will continue to work closely with Dr. Jean Mitchell, UPEI’s UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, to expand small islands’ sustainability across intersecting socio-economic, cultural, aesthetic, and environmental domains in the Pacific and Caribbean. Dr. Brinklow’s own research explores “islandness” and people’s attachment to islands through the language of art in Tasmania, Newfoundland, and other north Atlantic islands.
The mother of two daughters and soon-to-be four grandchildren, Laurie lives in Charlottetown with her musician husband Michael Mooney and cat Alvin– when she’s not travelling to other islands.
MAIS Students Win SSHRCC Awards
We are pleased to announce that two of our MAIS students, Greg Elison and Alyssa M. J. Gillespie, are receiving awards from last year’s Canada Graduate Scholarships Master’s Program Competition from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC)!
Congratulations, Alyssa and Greg!
Dr. Jean Mitchell named UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (January 20, 2022)
Dr. Katherine Gottschall-Pass, interim vice-president academic and research at UPEI, has announced the appointment of Dr. Jean Mitchell as the next UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability at the University. Dr. Mitchell is an associate professor of anthropology at UPEI with extensive research and project experience in Indonesia, India, and the South Pacific nations of Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. In the role as UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, Dr. Mitchell will take a broad perspective on small islands’ sustainability across the intersecting socio-economic, cultural, aesthetic, and environmental domains. Among other things, she will serve as an effective conduit for transferring innovative ideas; develop connections and collaborations; and contribute to research on small islands and the training of the next generation of island studies scholars and practitioners. The long-term mission of the UNESCO Chair at UPEI is to contribute to achieving the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This has been a UNESCO priority since the articulation of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000. This priority was also extended to Sub-National Island Jurisdictions. The UNESCO chair is hosted by the Institute of Island Studies (IIS). Established in 1985, the IIS is a research and public policy institute based at the University of Prince Edward Island focusing on the culture, environment, and economy of small islands around the world, with emphasis on Prince Edward Island. Drs. Jim Randall and Godfrey Baldacchino were named co-chairs in 2016, and Dr. Randall took on the role of sole chair until his retirement in 2021. Details on the UNESCO Chair’s work to date can be found at islandstudies.com.
Report: Two-year Timeline of COVID-19 Pandemic Impacting Islands Worldwide
From January 2020, the Global Islands Network (GIN) website began to source and feature articles on how COVID-19 was having disparate consequences upon islands worldwide. Over the next two years 1100 articles were posted on the GIN News Desk covering some 150 different countries, territories or local jurisdictions. All these are individually named and listed, together with regions (i.e. Caribbean, Pacific, SIDS), on the contents page so that readers can quickly identify them and their associated articles. In addition, the main purpose of this report is merely to act as a resource enabling all those who are interested to undertake further research. As you would expect, the health and economic impacts of COVID-19 upon islands predominate throughout this series of press articles. Whilst the repercussions for island tourism are manifest there are ten additional thematic areas listing articles covering multiple other topics that are specific to islands.
Latest from the COVID-19 Island Insights Series: Canary Islands & Azores. May 11, 2021
The latest instalment of the COVID-19 Island Insights Series shares critical insights from the Canary Islands and Azores. How have these European archipelagos responded to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and what do their recovery plans hold for future resilience and sustainability? Check out this week’s Insights reports to find out!
The COVID-19 Island Insights Series is a collaborative project between the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG), the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), and Island Innovation.
Latest from the COVID-19 Island Insights Series: St. Helena & Fernando de Noronha. May 4, 2021
The latest instalment of the COVID-19 Island Insights Series shares critical insights from St. Helena and Fernando de Noronha. How have these South Atlantic islands responded to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and what do their recovery plans hold for future resilience and sustainability? Check out this week’s Insights reports to find out!
The COVID-19 Island Insights Series is a collaborative project between the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG), the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), and Island Innovation.
MAIS Thesis Student awarded national scholarship. April 28, 2021
Megan Lane MacDonald, a thesis student enrolled in the Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) program at UPEI, was recently awarded the Canadian Federation of University Women Graduate Studies Scholarship in Arts or Education, offered to female UPEI graduates enrolled in or applying to a full-time Masters or PhD program at a Canadian university. Megan’s research is focused on the poetry of PEI Women throughout history, and analyses themes of nature, modernization, and gender roles.
Congratulations, Megan!
What can island studies show us about sustainable development and public policy today? April 16, 2021
The Institute of Island Studies was invited to submit an article to The Parliamentarian, the Journal of the Parliaments of the Commonwealth, for their recent issue, Parliamentary democracy in the smallest Parliaments and Legislatures of the Commonwealth. Read our contribution, “What can island studies show us about sustainable development and public policy today?” below.
The issue also includes other articles about islands, including one from our colleagues in Malta on “The importance of academic research in studying islands and small states.”
“Islandness: A COVID-19 Superpower?”April 15, 2021
MAIS student and IIS Interim Coordinator Marlene Chapman’s opinion piece, “Islandness: A COVID-19 superpower?”, was recently published in The Guardian. In this article, Marlene discusses the characteristics of islandness and how they have contributed to community resilience on Prince Edward Island – and in Atlantic Canada more broadly – in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the article on the SaltWire website
If you do not have a SaltWire subscription, you can access the article via the IIS Publications Library.
“Institute of Island Studies: Contributing to Public Policy on PEI.” April 14, 2021
The Institute of Island Studies’ Dr. Laurie Brinklow was recently invited to give a presentation to Dr. Carolyn Peach Brown‘s ENV-4010: Public Scholars on Environmental Issues class regarding the Institute and its contributions to environmental awareness and public policy on Prince Edward Island.
Dr. Brinklow’s presentation has been summarized in a document which outlines the many ways in which the Institute of Island Studies has contributed – and continues to contribute – to awareness and education regarding climate change and the environment, with public policy implications here on Prince Edward Island and around the world.
Complete with links to relevant publications, event recordings, and research projects, this document is a valuable resource for anyone seeking an overview of the Institute of Island Studies’ active role in environmental policy education and research.
Latest reports from the COVID-19 Island Insights Series: Lesvos and Croatia. April 13, 2021
The latest instalment of the COVID-19 Island Insights Series shares insights from the Croatian Islands and Lesvos, Greece.
How have these islands in the Adriatic and Aegean Seas responded to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and what do their recovery plans hold for future resilience and sustainability? Check out this week’s Insights reports to find out!
With thanks to our authors:
· Croatia: Prof. Ivana Marčeta Frlan and Prof. Nenad Starc (Institute of Economics, Zagreb)
· Lesvos: Efstratios Sentas and Prof. Thanasios Kizos of University of the Aegean
The COVID-19 Island Insights Series is a collaborative project between the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG), the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), and Island Innovation.
“Who’s your mother? Bringing Women’s work to the fore on Prince Edward Island” – Panel presentations at the 5th International St. Magnus Conference. April 12, 2021.
The Institute for Northern Studies at the University of Highland and Islands will be hosting the 5th International St. Magnus Conference from April 14–16, 2021. Originally scheduled to take place in Shetland in 2020, this three-day conference will be taking place virtually via Webex. This year’s theme is ‘Island Histories and Herstories’ and explores the contribution of women and men in island communities from before the Viking age to the present, revealing the experiences of island life through research and storytelling.
As part of this conference, there will be a PEI-focused panel session on Wednesday, April 14th, from 11:30am-1:00pm ADT (UTC-3), featuring Dr. Laurie Brinklow and MAIS student Marlene Chapman.
MAIS Student wins UPEI Faculty Association Master’s Medal. March 30, 2021
Congratulations to Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) student Joyce Ferguson for winning this year’s UPEI Faculty Association’s Master’s medal for her work on “Prince Edward Island and Renewable Energy: The Preconditions for a Sustainable Future.” The thesis, with co-supervisors Drs. Jean Mitchell and Udo Krautwurst, examines the relationship between energy policy and community in her home province of PEI through a case study of the wind farm expansion controversy in eastern Kings County.
Island Studies Journal moves to new institutional home. March 15, 2021
The Institute of Island Studies is grateful to have been the founding institutional home of Island Studies Journal (ISJ), which has grown over the past 15 years to become an internationally recognized journal of great repute. We look forward to continuing to support ISJ as it embarks on this new chapter at its new institutional home of Fróðskaparsetur Føroya/University of the Faroe Islands, and congratulate Executive Editor Adam Grydehøj and the ISJ editorial board for their hard work and continued dedication to the study and discussion of conditions and issues impacting islands and island life.
COVID-19 Island Insights Series: Jamaica & Barbados. March 9, 2021
What does COVID-19 recovery look like for tourism-reliant islands in the Caribbean?
The latest reports in our COVID-19 Island Insights Series come from Jamaica and Barbados, two island nations that are shifting towards more resilient, equitable, and sustainable tourism models.
Institute of Island Studies launches the COVID-19 Island Insight Series. November 19, 2020
The Institute of Island Studies at UPEI is pleased to announce the launch of the COVID-19 Island Insights Series, an initiative led by the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law & Governance (SCELG) and the Institute of Island Studies, in collaboration with Island Innovation. The series aims to bring together critical assessments of how specific islands around the world have performed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the extent to which their recovery plans are able to promote long-term resilience and sustainability.
The COVID-19 Island Insights Series will lead to a series of “thematic primers” aimed at assisting policy-makers and wider island-related stakeholders to encourage islands to move to a more resilient and sustainable future.
Every two weeks, Island Innovation will release COVID-19 Island Insights Series reports from two different islands via their website (islandinnovation.co/blog).
The first two instalments of the series were launched on November 2, and feature insights from Malta and the Egadi Islands (Italy). The next installments, released on November 16, focus on Grenada and Trinidad & Tobago.
Two UPEI Faculty Members Win Publication Award. June 29, 2020
Two faculty members at the University of Prince Edward Island, Laurie Brinklow and Lori Mayne, have been awarded SSHRC Exchange Publication Awards. Two $5,000 awards are given out annually to support the publication of manuscripts written or edited by UPEI faculty in the social sciences and humanities.
Both of these books will be published by Island Studies Press in 2021. Island Studies Press would like to congratulate the award recipients and thank the University of Prince Edward Island for supporting faculty publications.
Vital Signs report provides snapshot of quality of life on PEI. November 19, 2019
A new report from the IIS in partnership with the Community Foundation of PEI (CFPEI) provides a snapshot of the quality of life and well-being on Prince Edward Island. Vital Signs brings together publicly available research data, the analysis of subject experts, and focus group feedback from private, public, and not-for-profit sectors from different regions of the Island. The result is an easy-to-digest, comprehensive look at a wide range of interconnected topics from health to housing to education and the environment.
UPEI co-hosts international conference with the University of Aruba. April 2, 2019
The 1st International Conference on Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions was hosted March 26-29, 2019 by the University of Aruba, in collaboration with the Centre of Excellence for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (COE) and the UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, which is shared between the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) in Canada and the University of Malta.
The theme of the conference was “Island States/Island Territories: Sharing Stories of Island Life, Governance and Global Engagement.” The conference appealed to scholars, policy-makers, NGO representatives, students and members of the general public who networked and shared knowledge on Sustainable Development on islands. In total, the conference had approximately 100 participants. Several geographic regions were represented, including the Caribbean, Pacific and Africa, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea (AIMS), Australasia, and the North Atlantic.
There were 18 local conference presenters, with a multi-disciplinary participation, which included local lecturers from three University of Aruba faculties: the Faculty for Accounting, Finance and Marketing of the University of Aruba (FEF), the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS), and the Faculty of Hospitality & Tourism Management Studies (FHTMS).
The conference also awarded 6 international Student Travel Scholarships and 20 local University of Aruba students joined the sessions as part of their curriculum. Scholarship winners included Owen Jennings, a graduate of the UPEI MAIS program and now a PhD student at the University of Hawai’i; and Patrick Lévêque, a current student in the UPEI MAIS program.
The international participants enjoyed an “Aruban Welcome” with a conference dinner at the Old Cunucu House and a field trip to Aruba’s San Nicolas district, where they also visited the Industrial Museum to get to know about Aruba’s island history.
Additionally, the hosts were very proud to have had two female Heads of Government as keynote speakers addressing integrity in governance and the resilience of islands; both the Honourable Evelyna C. Wever-Croes, Prime Minister of Aruba & Minister of General Affairs, Integrity, Energy, Innovation, & Government Organization, as well as the Honourable Leona Romeo-Marlin, Prime Minister of Sint Maarten & Minister of General Affairs, graced us with their insights.
The community enjoyed a free public lecture by Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino organized alongside the conference on the evening of March 28, whereby the University was honoured to receive the attendance of the Governor of Aruba.
The conference’s international planning committee is chaired by UNESCO co-chair, Dr. Jim Randall of the University of Prince Edward Island. Local co-hosts included Deborah Alexander from the Centre for Lifelong Learning at University of Aruba, Glenn Thodé, Rector of the University of Aruba, Patrick Arens, Business Director of the University of Aruba, and Arno Boersma and Francielle Laclé from the COE. The planning committee comprises scholars from several academic institutions including the University of the West Indies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of Malta, Leiden University, and the University of the West of England.
Jim Randall noted that this was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the intellectual capacity and hospitality of the University of Aruba and the island in general. “Several first-time international delegates said to me that this will not be the last time they plan on visiting Aruba,” he said.
The Planning Committee is grateful for the contributions made by the sponsors to this event. These include The Dutch Ministry of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations, Guardian Group Fatum, the University of the West of England, Aruba Tourism Authority, the Think to Do Institute, Smit&Dorlas, and Aruba Aloe.
UPEI signs MOU with University of the West Indies. January 7, 2019
In December, the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) signed their first ever Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), to pursue collaboration in teaching and research to inform social and economic development in developing countries.
The collaboration is to be implemented through the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at The UWI and the Institute of Island Studies (IIS) at UPEI and may involve activities such as joint research, collaborative development of academic programmes, joint teaching and supervision of students, student and faculty exchange, joint publications, and staging of joint seminars and conferences.
The UWI, which is rated in the top five percent of universities globally by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, was established in 1948 and currently serves 17 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean, all of them with the exception of one being island states. With eight faculties across its campuses in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and an Open Campus with a presence in all 17 countries, The UWI’s vision is to be an excellent global university rooted in the Caribbean.
SALISES is a research and graduate teaching entity located within The UWI’s School of Graduate Studies and Research. It aims to be an internationally renowned institution for graduate education and research-based solutions in development. Its mandate is to conduct training and research of a regional, multidisciplinary and policy-oriented nature to serve the needs of small developing countries like those in the Caribbean.
Remarking on the collaboration, Professor Aldrie Henry-Lee, University Director of SALISES, said, “We at SALISES are pleased to collaborate with colleagues at the Institute of Island Studies. We share similar research and teaching interests. This collaboration will enhance our publication, research and teaching on sustainable development for small and vulnerable economies.”
For his part, Professor James Randall, Chair of the Executive Committee under the direction of which IIS operates and co-chair of a UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, said, “The IIS and its affiliated academic programs at the University of Prince Edward Island have established research and post-graduate learning networks with island-based colleagues and institutions around the world. We are pleased to start developing productive research and exchange relationships with the world-class scholars and graduate students at SALISES and The UWI.”
The MOU is for an initial period of three years.
UPEI signs MOU with Japan’s University of the Ryukyus. November 22, 2018
On November 21, University of Prince Edward Island President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz and Island Studies professor and UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability Dr. Jim Randall welcomed a delegation from the University of the Ryukyus, an island university based in Okinawa, Japan. The purpose was to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the two universities, to facilitate academic exchange of students and of faculty.
Said University of the Ryukyus President Hajime Oshiro, “The University of Prince Edward Island and the University of the Ryukyus have been engaging in academic exchange led mainly by faculty members, specially, in the field of island studies. I myself specialize in island economics and was making research collaboration with the Institute of Island Studies of your university. The Research Institute for Islands and Sustainability of our university has also been collaborating with the Institute of Island Studies.”
Faculty from the two universities have visited back and forth since 2014, when Prof. Yoko Fujita, University of the Ryukyus Vice President and Director of their Research Institute for Islands and Sustainability, visited UPEI to attend the Excellence Network of Island Territories (RETI) annual conference.
In 2017, the University of the Ryukyus hosted RETI; both co-holders of the UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, Drs. Jim Randall and Godfrey Baldacchino, attended.
New report and survey conducted by the IIS for the Government of PEI: Recruiting talent to PEI. October 1, 2018
In 2018, in a bid to create evidence-based policy-making around the theme of repatriation, the Prince Edward Island Department of Workforce and Advanced Learning contracted the Institute of Island Studies to undertake a research project to determine the opportunities for and barriers to Islanders returning home. This report is the result of that research.
UPEI hosts SSHRC-funded meetings to create research relationships and partnerships in field of Island Studies. September 10, 2018
UPEI’s Institute of Island Studies and the UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability hosted a weekend of meetings with representatives and researchers from a dozen islands around the world. This unprecedented gathering of scholars in the field of Island Studies is made possible by a Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The project will build relationships between researchers and will fund up to twelve graduate students.
“The Institute of Island Studies and the UNESCO Chairs in Island Studies and Sustainability are to be commended for organizing this very important initiative, which will bring together representatives of small island states to develop strategies to address their unique issues regarding sustainability and sovereignty,” said Dr. Robert Gilmour, UPEI’s Vice-President Academic and Research. “Island jurisdictions are often viewed as vulnerable, poverty-stricken, and destitute, but research shows many of these islands are better described as innovative and entrepreneurial.”
This meeting brought together six representatives of small island states (Iceland, New Zealand, Mauritius, Palau, Cyprus, St. Lucia and Grenada) and six representatives from non-sovereign, sub-national island jurisdictions (Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, La Réunion, Lesbos, Guam and Tobago). These groups will compare experiences, to see whether statehood is a boon or hindrance when implementing sustainable practices in social-political, cultural-artistic, economic, and environmental areas.
“Take an island’s ability to respond to a natural crisis, such as a hurricane,” said Dr. James Randall, co-holder of the UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability. “If that island is a sub-national jurisdiction, is it a benefit to know the larger government will be there to help them respond, or will an independent island state be better equipped to determine what is needed and implement that plan.”
The project will develop a set of measures of sustainability and sovereignty by undertaking household and focus group surveys using comparisons of six pairs of islands. The Institute of Island Studies and the UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability will coordinate these activities, bringing together island researchers and solving issues using a local-to-global integrated approach.
UPEI announces UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability. July 22, 2016
Dr. Robert Gilmour, Vice-President Academic and Research at the University of Prince Edward Island, today announced a new UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability. The chair will be co-held by Dr. James Randall, a geographer and coordinator of UPEI’s Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) program, and Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino, a professor of sociology at the University of Malta and an Island Studies teaching fellow at the University of Prince Edward Island.
“The UNESCO Chair is a singular achievement for the university, particularly for the program in Island Studies,” said Dr. Robert Gilmour. “The chair formalizes and reinforces the combined efforts of our former Canada Research Chair, Dr. Baldacchino, and the current coordinator of UPEI’s MAIS program, Dr. Randall, and, as such, significantly enhances the international impact of one of the university’s signature initiatives.”
The UNESCO Chair in Island Studies will work to establish and expand academic and research programmes on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Sub-National Island Jurisdictions (SNIJs). It will operate from the premise that SIDS and SNIJs are innovative, entrepreneurial, and connected, not vulnerable, lacking, and isolated. The chair is one of 700 UNESCO chairs around the world and is the first in Atlantic Canada.
“The relevance of islands to our world at the moment is unparalleled. From political turmoil in the South China Sea, to the impacts of climate change, to refugee movements through Europe, to the role of offshore financial centres, stories about islands and islanders seem to be in the news every day,” said Dr. James Randall. “This Chair brings together the people and the organizations doing island studies research and learning in order to help us solve some of the great challenges facing our world.”
The principal long-term mission of the Chair of Island Studies and Sustainability is to contribute to the sustainable development of SIDS—a UNESCO priority since the articulation of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000—and to extend this priority to SNIJs. The chair proposes to harness the insights and experience of island studies scholars, students, governments, and organizations worldwide, many of which the co-chair-holders, the Institute of Island Studies, and partners and supporters have already established.
“It is a great privilege to be the co-holder of the UNESCO Chair Program at UPEI along with my colleague Dr. Jim Randall,” said Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino. “UPEI has made huge investments in island studies over almost four decades and has developed a world class and world renowned reputation and expertise as a result. Most island studies roads lead to, or pass through, Charlottetown; the UNESCO Chair is a natural transition which now allows us to take the game to the next level, whether in public engagement, cutting edge scholarship, or research funding.”
“It is most edifying to see the strong relationship between the University of Prince Edward Island and the University of Malta cemented with this prestigious UNESCO Chair appointment—a first for both our institutions,” said Professor Alfred J. Vella, Rector of the University of Malta, in Malta. “In this way, our respective expertise in the study of islands and small jurisdictions is better recognized. I look forward to an even stronger island studies program, driven by the competitive advantage that our two institutions enjoy in this field.”
This chair is created through the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme, which has promoted international inter-university cooperation and networking since 1992 to enhance institutional capacities through knowledge sharing and collaborative work. The programme supports the establishment of UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks in key priority areas related to UNESCO’s fields of competence – i.e. in education, the natural and social sciences, culture, and communication.
Final report of the Institute of Island Studies Futures Committee. April 22, 2014
In the fall of 2013, the University of Prince Edward Island created a committee to advise on the future operations of the University’s longstanding and widely respected institute for research and public policy: the Institute of Island Studies. The Institute of Island Studies Futures Committee, in cooperation with UPEI’s Vice-President Research and Graduate Studies, and Interim Vice-President Academic has released its final report, entitled One Step Back, and Two Steps Forward, which is available for download and review.
Using as its starting point an external consultants’ report commissioned in 2013, the Report endorses the current mandate of the Institute as a centre for the comparative study of Prince Edward Island and other islands, and outlines a number of options for its future structure and operations. Two of the key recommendations entail adding a national and international scope to the membership of the Institute’s advisory committee and a strong commitment to the Institute’s role as an honest broker of public dialogue about key issues confronting Prince Edward Island. To that end, the Institute will organize two public forums during 2014, one in the spring and one in the fall, on water resources and land use issues.
In its report, the Committee expresses its confidence in the future of the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island and of the strong support from the University and community.