Brock University has launched a Canada-Caribbean Institute with University of the West Indies.
With its headquarters in Jamaica, the University of the West Indies also has physical campuses in Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Antigua & Barbuda, as well as a virtual Open Campus that provides academic programming in 17 nations across the Caribbean.
Officials from Brock and the University of the West Indies celebrated a year of collaborative planning by formally launching the Canada-Caribbean Institute (CCI).
The CCI will support studies and research into specific Canada/Caribbean issues.
Brock President Gervan Fearon, who is considered to be a leading advocate behind the new international body, is personally contributing to funding the new Dr. Gervan Fearon Scholarships.
Starting in September 2020, these will be awarded annually to graduate students studying Canadian Caribbean issues at Brock.
The scholarships will be awarded to a student or students from Canada one year, and a student from the Caribbean in the alternating year.
“I have had many discussions with my Brock colleagues, and we know this partnership is a wonderful opportunity for many people to collaborate and make a positive difference that creates very real future benefits both in Canada and across the Caribbean,” said Fearon.
The goal of the CCI is to facilitate collaborative academic and research initiatives; faculty, student and staff exchange programs; and institutional capacity building in areas of shared interest between Canada and the Caribbean such as socio-economic development, environmental and health promotion, gender studies, and trade and economic policy.