News Releases

Dr. Sue Ann Barratt Appointed Head of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies

For Release Upon Receipt - August 13, 2021

St. Augustine


Dr. Sue Ann Barratt

The UWI St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago. Friday, August 13, 2021 - Dr. Sue Ann Barratt has been appointed Head of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), St Augustine Campus. Dr. Barratt’s appointment took effect from August 1, 2021. 

A graduate of The UWI, Dr. Barratt holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, an MA in Communication Studies and a BA in Media and Communication Studies with Political science. Dr. Barratt has also participated in several professional development activities throughout her career. 

Dr. Barratt has a wealth of experience and knowledge in academia and media at several departments across The UWI St. Augustine and at CARIMAC, The UWI, Mona Campus Jamaica and, at the Trinidad and Tobago Broadcasting Network respectively. In service to the university, she has acted on the Campus Ethics Committee, a Search Committee Member for Communication Studies, a Faculty Board member of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, a member of the Gender Advisory Board, and has reviewed several university courses.  Dr. Barratt has taught a plethora of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at The UWI, guest lectured and has been and is currently an academic supervisor to several postgraduate and undergraduate students accentuating her areas of expertise. 

Dr. Barratt is no newcomer to the Institute for Gender and Development (IGDS) at The UWI. She has operated in several positions at the IGDS since 2014 including Assistant Lecturer, Instructor III and most recently Lecturer and Graduate Coordinator. As an adjunct faculty member, she has always been dedicated to gender awareness and sensitivity training through face-to-face sessions and mass media outreach. Her mantra “Think outside of the box to make the invisible visible” has propelled her passion and research focus on interpersonal interaction, social media use, gender and ethnic identities, beauty and body image, and carnival studies. 

Dr. Barratt’s areas of specialization comprise of communication conflict and gender based violence, interpersonal interaction, mass media and computer mediated communication, social media and user generated content, gender and ethnic identities, person perception, feminist studies and carnival studies. She has presented at several conferences, engaged in numerous workshops, outreach and media interviews and appearances focusing on her areas of expertise locally and regionally. 

Her research has been cited extensively and has many referred journal articles, chapters in referred books, magazine articles and booklets. She has functioned as both a reviewer and editor of peer-reviewed journals with many forthcoming projects on the way. As a consultant she has employed her expertise to aid in the development of several policy and institutional frameworks highlighting gender support, social support services and flood alleviation. 

She currently serves on various international committees and professional association. She is the RC32 Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean in the International Sociological Association (2020) and a member of the Caribbean Studies Association (CSA), the International Communication Association (ICA), the International Sociological Association (ISA) and the International Association of Media and Communication (IAMCR). 

Dr. Barratt has successfully intertwined her passion for gender studies, expression and thought, human communication and media into her everyday life and career. Her main career objective is “to actively engage students and the wider society in discussions about gender and to encourage recognition of gender’s role in human communication activity through multiple mediated platforms”. She aspires to “add to the body of research which accounts for how gender is infused in all aspects of human life, especially everyday communication, and the consequences of this infusion”. 

Dr. Barratt succeeds Dr Gabrielle Hosein. The UWI St. Augustine Campus recognises and thanks to Dr. Hosein for her contributions. 

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About The UWI

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region. 

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. 

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world. 

Ranked among the top universities in the world, by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. In 2020, it earned ‘Triple 1st’ rankings—topping the Caribbean; and in the top in the tables for Latin America and the Caribbean, and global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the top universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action. 

For more, visit www.uwi.edu. 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

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