Teaching transnationalism in the Caribbean: toward an understanding of representation and neo‐colonialism in human geography

Abstract

Undergraduate geography courses provide a significant entry way into representing and challenging dominant images of places and identities. Teaching geography in the Caribbean raises significant issues in terms of providing materials that explore representations of places and topics that are grounded in the region, while also moving beyond representations of islands as simply ‘Third World’, separate and distant. The author draws on the case study of teaching human geography courses at the University of the West Indies‐Mona, to explore the usefulness of transnationalism as a pedagogical framework—in conjunction with the use of films and fieldtrips—while examining processes of representation and neo‐colonialism.

Keywords:

• Transnationalism
• representation
• critical pedagogy
• Caribbean
• identity

Notes

Correspondence address: Susan P. Mains, Department of Geography and Geology, University of the West Indies‐Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies. Email: [email protected]

UWI is a federal, government‐funded university and has campuses at Mona (Jamaica), St Augustine (Trinidad and Tobago), and Cave Hill (Barbados). Initially affiliated with the University of London, UWI became an independent degree awarding institution in 1962.

Unfortunately (and unexpectedly)—particularly given the positive student feedback—as of September 2003, the fieldwork component of this course has been temporarily suspended due to current budget constraints at UWI, limited resources and growing class size. It is hoped that this part of the class will be reinstated in the very near future.

This voluntary survey was distributed to all students present in the GG10A lecture—approximately 100 students (out of a possible 118 listed on the class register)—96 students completed and returned the questionnaire. Students were asked for permission to quote their responses.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susan P. Mains

Correspondence address: Susan P. Mains, Department of Geography and Geology, University of the West Indies‐Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies. Email: [email protected]