Message from the Principal: Sport and development
 The further we go towards engaging multi-disciplinary approaches to the research and teaching that we do here at the St Augustine campus, the more we are finding that it enriches the substance of our work.
Thinking outside of the silos that have traditionally defined but limited the work of academia has enabled innovative perspectives that allow more holistic analyses and solutions.
A fine example of this is the January conference which we hosted along with the First Citizens Sports Foundation. Broadly titled, “Science, Higher Education and Business: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Sports Studies, Research and Development” it was a project of the Sport and Physical Education Centre (SPEC) under the auspices of our Deputy Principal, Professor Rhoda Reddock. The pioneering conference brought practitioners of various disciplines together to share findings that covered a wide range of issues pertaining to the development of sport and the ways sport can be integral to development. Over time, we will be featuring some of the fascinating presentations from this conference in the paper and you can judge for yourself what I mean.
The UWI has long been associated with sport—the development of SPEC years ago under the watch of Dr Iva Gloudon, with the primary aim of marrying the ideas of sport and academia; our many sport-based programmes, such as the BSc, Masters, and the FIFA/CIES post-graduate Diploma in Sport Management as well as the Certificate in the Art and Science of Coaching, all delivered by the Faculty of Social Sciences; the recent T20 tournament; our annual half-marathon; and our broad support for engaging our communities and promoting healthy lifestyles through a wide variety of sporting activities that take place on our Campus on a daily basis are tangible evidence of this.
Researchers and practitioners in the discipline attest to the potential of sport to contribute to national and regional development; often, excellent work is constrained by limited resources. But we will continue to work at enhancing our facilities and hopefully, one day soon, with public and private sector support, we will make the Jehue Gordon athletic track a reality at the UWI St Augustine Campus.
We’re confident though, that through sustained efforts to underscore the value of sport to development, we will be able to strengthen the sector and position more of our national and regional athletes, our sports practitioners and scholars at the very top in the international arena.
EDITORIAL TEAM
Campus Principal: Professor Clement Sankat
Director of Marketing and Communications: Mrs. Dawn-Marie De
Four-Gill
Director of Marketing and Communications (Ag.): Mrs. Wynell Gregorio
Editor: Ms. Vaneisa Baksh
Contact us:
The UWI Marketing and Communications Office
Tel: (868) 662-2002 exts. 82013, 83997
Email: uwitoday@sta.uwi.edu
|
