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“One of the best things that has happened to me has been sharing my love of travel, learning about people and places, with my two daughters Phoebe na Mara and Gabriela María. I believe that I have an opportunity to be a positive role model for my daughters and students in terms of combining family and research experiences in a way that encourages a more holistic approach towards being an academic. I would be the first to admit that this is not always easy. For example, packing car seats, laptops, diaper bags, field exercises and essays to be graded takes a highly nuanced understanding of space (even for a geographer!) But I hope that as I develop further as a scholar and as my children grow up, that they, along with my students, research collaborators and the wider community, will come to benefit from the interconnections we make between these worlds.”

Dr. Susan P. Mains

LECTURER IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY
MONA CAMPUS, JAMAICA
Tel: ((876) 927-2129 • Email: Susan.Mains@uwimona.edu.jm

PROFILE

Dr. Susan Mains’ early studies took place at the University of Glasgow (MA Joint Honours, Geography and Theatre Studies) and San Diego State University (MA, Geography). She then undertook a PhD in Geography at the University of Kentucky (UK) in Lexington, where she also completed Graduate Certificates in Social Theory and Women’s Studies. Her doctoral dissertation explored the role of community organizations, immigration policy, and media representations at the US-Mexico border. During this period she received several awards including a Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers Annual Young Researcher Award; two UK Geographical Society Annual Outstanding Teacher Awards; a UK Dissertation Year Fellowship; and received the Geographic Perspectives on Women Association of American Geographers Specialty Group Janice Monk Distinguished Service Award for services to women and gender equality in Geography. Once receiving her PhD she worked as a Research Officer and Conference Director at the British Film Institute (London), and then moved to UWI Mona in 2001. Her current work exploring transnational cultural geographies and Jamaican Diaspora experiences has been published in a range of internationally refereed journals and book chapters, and has been funded by an Association of American Geographers Research Grant, the American Geographical Society McColl Family Fellowship, a University System of Georgia Global Partnerships Grant, a UWI Mona New Initiative Grant, and a UWI Mona Research Fellowship.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Main’s current work is focused on three interlinked areas of interest: diaspora communities, immigration policy and transnationalism in the context of Jamaican migration; media representations of urban landscapes; and images of tourism and development policies. The first, and central area of research, explores government policy and representations of cultural diversity in the context of Jamaican migration between Kingston, London, New York, Miami, and Toronto. Through a series of in-depth interviews with migrants, policy makers, media practitioners, and community organizations, she explores the opportunities and challenges faced by migrating Jamaicans as well as changing concepts—and media images—of citizenship, home, community, and nation. This work is being compiled as a book and documentary film, ‘Ackee, Burgers, and Chips: An ABC of Jamaican Migration.’