Institute for Global Africa Affairs
In March 2017, The UWI and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the establishment of an Institute for Global Africa Affairs. The
Institute, jointly owned by The UWI and UJ, will be managed by a board of directors, and will operate at both universities. It will focus on research and policy development and assist with curriculum development. Its establishment will create an opportunity for the exchange of professors and students, and for the examination of issues pertinent to both regions, including economic development; entrepreneurship; post-colonial governance; climate change; and youth and their identity. It is expected that a joint Master's degree in Global Africa Studies will soon be introduced, to be followed by a joint PhD programme.
UNILAG-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies
In May 2017, The UWI and the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in Nigeria also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of the UNILAG- UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies, to advance the exchange of cultural, social ideas and research excellence for the development of Africa and the African Diaspora. It will be located at UNILAG. Starting in the 2017/2018 academic year with a Master's degree in African and Global Studies, the Institute will see the exchange of faculty and students, collaboration over Caribbean, African and international publications, as well as collaborative research in disciplines such as democracy in Africa and the African Diaspora; reparation for slavery; poverty; economic governance; culture and national development; language development; the philosophy behind national integration; and the fostering of solidarity in global issues.
The SUNY-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development
The SUNY-UWI Center is a direct response to
the critical need to increase the leadership
skills and capacities and opportunities for full
civic participation among young people in the Caribbean, the Caribbean diaspora and the urban areas of New York. The UWI and the State University of New York (SUNY) individually have significant ties to the Caribbean diaspora, a largely untapped resource for impacting sustainable economic development in the Caribbean and New York.
The Center is a deliberate effort to combine these interests toward increased impact as The UWI
and SUNY manage their roles as agents of change and sustainable development. SUNY is the largest comprehensive public university system in the US and this partnership signals a key activation of The UWI's strategic global expansion agenda. The Center is preparing to launch the first dual Master's degree in Sustainability and Leadership in 2018.
The UWI China Institute of
Information Technology
Following the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement confirming the Institute in February 2016, a software engineering programme designed with
a concentration in mobile application technologies (Android and iOS environments) was officially offered in September 2017 with a beginning cohort of 40 students. The programme follows a 2+2 format,
in which students spend the first two years in the Caribbean at any of The UWI campuses—in this initial phase either Mona or Cave Hill—and the second
two years in China at the Global Institute of Software Technology (GIST). This partnership allows students to take advantage of the strong industrial links between the Institute and technology companies in the heart of China's “Silicon Valley”, including the guarantee of paid internships at Fortune 500 companies in Suzhou Industrial Park. In 2018, The UWI readies its first cohort of 35 students to embark on the China leg of their studies.
