Dr. Wanda Chesney
Lecturer, Communication Studies
Room 312A, 3rd Floor East
St. Augustine
Trinidad and Tobago
Telephone: 868-662-2002 Ex 83032
I am a research methodologist and a Postcolonial Scholar. My work is grounded in decolonizing methodologies and strategies and serves to create a space for the marginalized, the invisible and the silenced to ‘talk back’ and to stand in their power through a process of Detranslation. My multidisciplinary background informs the lenses through which I problematize and interrogate phenomena and this allows me to negotiate and (re)present positions of difference. My academic experience spans leadership, administration and teaching at the Graduate and Undergraduate levels at the University of Guyana, the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, the University of Technology in Jamaica, the University of Sheffield in the UK and the University of the Southern Caribbean in Trinidad. I have supervised graduate students in the areas of Social Media Trends and Media Management, Representations of Male Masculinity, Manifestations of Domestic Violence in the Arts, Perceptions of HIV Serodiscordant couples, Parenting Styles in the Caribbean, Clinical Supervision and Teacher Performance and Student Performance at SEA to name a few. Additionally, I have worked on a number of national and community-based projects with the various UN agencies, Government Organisations, NGOs and CBOs throughout the Caribbean in the area of education policy, gender-based violence, sustainable development, cultural development, promotion of indigenous cultures and women’s empowerment. I currently teach graduate courses in Research Methodology and Communication Studies at the Department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies in the School of Humanities and Education at the St. Augustine Campus.
Click here for a copy of my full CV.
Qualification
- PhD. Educational Studies, University of Sheffield
- MSc. Development Studies, University of the West Indies
- PgD. International Relations, University of Guyana
- PgD. Education Administration, University of Guyana
- BSc. Communication Studies, University of Guyana
Research Interests
- Postcolonial Studies
- Crisis Communication
- Social Media Representation & Identity Formation
- Alternative Facts, Fake News & Misinformation
- Social Media & Online Relationships
- Representations of Cultural Resistance
- Indigenous Research Methodologies
- Gender & Cultural Diversity
- Cultural Traditions & Rituals
- Health Communication
Featured Work
- Chesney, W. (2023) ‘Indigenous Rituals of the Preparation of the Departed: The Case of Guyana,’ Chapter Two in Post-Colonial Burial and Grieving Rituals of the Caribbean, Eds. Huggins, C. Bissessar, AM and Hinkson, G.; Springer, Switzerland.
- Campbell-George, L., Cassie, D., Sealy, D., Phillip, D., Warner, S., Chesney, W., and Bisnath, T., (2021) “Overcoming Covid 19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A Caribbean Perspective Using a Quantitative Design.” ISBN 978-955-3450-09-8. (Published Abstract)
- Chesney, W. (2021) ‘The Intersectionality of Race, Religion and Cultural Traditions of Death Rituals within the Guyanese Society.’ Book Chapter in Caribbean Cultures of Funerary Rituals and Practices. 2021.
- Chesney, W., and Mitchell, C., (2021) ‘Everybody with a Box - Changing Food Consumption Patterns in Trinidad Tobago.’ Paper presented at the UWI National Health Research Conference.
- Chesney, W. (2022) Academic Advisement as Praxis in Higher Education: A Transformative Education Experience." Caribbean Educational Research Journal: Special Issue on Academic Advising and Mentoring Caribbean Perspectives
- Chesney, W., Mitchell. C., (2022) "Crisis within a Crisis: Threats of Covid-19 to the Health, Wellbeing and Resilience of the University Students at a Tertiary Level Institution in Trinidad and Tobago." Journal of Developing Studies.
- Campbell-George, L., Cassie, D., & Chesney, W., (2022) "Covid-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Conspiracy Beliefs Among Students at a Caribbean University." Journal of Developing Societies.
Courses Taught
- COMM699 Communication Research Methods (Course developed)
- COMM600 Crisis and Issues in Communication (Course developed)
- COMM595 Research Methods in Communication (course developed)
- COMM560 Interpersonal Communication (course developed)
- COMM620 Mass Communication (course developed)
- COMM599 Master’s Thesis
- COMM640 Emergency and Disaster Communication (course developed)
- EDTE490 Research Methods in Education (course developed)
