 Among our eight honorees this year is Robert Moore, an educator and broadcaster who has lectured extensively on several issues. Dr Moore, who was named a distinguished graduate of The UWI in 1998, was a Ford Foundation Fellow and was presented with the UWI Vice-Chancellor’s Award in 2010. He was a Founding Member of “Caribbean Contact,” a regional newspaper which ran for 25 years. Dr Moore will be conferred with the D.Litt at the St. Augustine campus Graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Humanities and Education in October 2014. He shared some thoughts on the regional landscape with editor, Vaneisa Baksh.
VB: What made you choose the field of radio broadcasting?
RM: I went back to Guyana from the University College of the West Indies in 1955 eager for Guyanese to become aware of the history of the other British colonies in the Caribbean, especially as talk of a federation was in the air.With my new position on the staff of Queen’s College, I was brimming over with the desire to teach West Indian history to the students, but was astonished to learn that the curriculum was limited to British and empire history. TheHead of the History Departmentwas not interested in changing that focus, and he was supported by the Principal.
That prompted me to contact Rafiq Khan at Radio Demerara with a proposal to find a place somewhere in their monthly broadcasts for a six-minute segment on Guyanese history.He agreed and the public response was overwhelming; such was the hunger among Guyanese for knowledge of their past. Thus the field of radio broadcasting came into my life.
When the Principal realized that the six-minute segment was arousing interest among the public, he summoned me to suggest that we try a weekly lesson in the fourth form on aspects of Guyanese history. And that is how the teaching of West Indian history made its way into the curriculum at Queen’s College.
It developed into a full course, with great excitement among the Upper Fourth boys and considerable interest from the parents. That, in turn, stimulated the Radio Demerara audience to ask for more Guyanese and Caribbean history.
Thus began a long and most rewarding relationship between me and Radio Demerara which lasted until I went to Canada as Guyana’s High Commissioner.
VB: How would you say the standards of regional radio broadcasting have fared over time?
RM: I think radio broadcasting now owes less to the BBC and more to local cultural and regional assumptions than I when I first started.In short, West Indians, right through the Caribbean are being made aware of their past which has been helping them to forge their future.
VB: What are your thoughts on the current state of CARICOM and regionalism – how relevant are both?
RM: This is a very difficult question to deal with. West Indian educators have been trying, over the past 40 years, to make students more aware of their environment and their own past. I believe that the seductive power of North American culture and its easy accessibility through the media makes it a very strong rival to the understanding of the West Indians about their history and collective culture.Much has been done in the last four decades, but the North American competition is very strong.
The most positive thing about CARICOM is its capacity for survival, even as theallure of the United States often takes many of our finest thinkers away from the Caribbean.This makes it a constant struggle to assert our own mores in the face of such competition. At its inception, CARICOM was considered to be an excellent medium for West Indian cultural and economic independence.But current models may have stalled in the wake of American and European influence on regional economy and capacity. The fact is that some Caribbean states seem to prefer dealing with the world at large on their own terms and invoke CARICOM when the complexities of these times make it difficult to achieve their goals unilaterally.UWI decentralization is reaching a growing number of Caribbean students through regional campuses and distinctly more relevant courses. This gives the university a greater capacity to nurture a Caribbean comity and regional identity with skills and commitment to help the region find its place within globalization.
VB: Which of your achievements do you value most?
RM: It is the organic mix of my academic and diplomatic achievements with my global experiences that have had a great effect in my life. My formative years gave me both a love of language and a pride in my Guyanese heritage. My UWI years gave me a regional outlook and opened the way for a more global consciousness which is very important at this particularly point of time in history.
VB: What does this honorary D.Litt mean to you?
RM: This honour has come to me at age 82, and has inspired me to reflect on my achievements to date and the importance of UWI in defining many of the paths I have taken. It has woven together various experiences I have had and the effect that they may have had on me. If my pedagogue’s life has helped others to expand their own horizons to work within a world that is rapidly becoming smaller by communications and larger by responsibility to each other, then I can rest satisfied that my life has not been in vain.
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