March 2019


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Dr Winston McGarland Bailey, “The Mighty Shadow”, who passed away in October of 2018, stated with great authority in his classic Dat Soca Boat, “I belong to the house of music”. What a powerful statement of commitment to culture. What an audacious statement of pride in our creative forms.

We too at The UWI belong to the house of music – and dance, drama, festival, literature, art, history, philosophy, language and education, the areas that falls under what we refer to as “the humanities”. We reside in every form of cultural and creative expression that exists on these islands. We promote them, preserve them, further their development, seek out new opportunities for them, and train generations of professionals in their industries.

Science, technology, innovation – all of these are the solid underpinnings of successful and competitive economies. As such, it is our belief, even more, our recommendation, that the Student Learning Outcomes for the 21st Century Learner in Trinidad and Tobago must of necessity include creativity and collaboration. While the role of the science-based disciplines as well as law is clear in the agenda for innovation, it is not as obvious for the humanities. The aim of this edition of the Principal’s message is precisely to clarify that role and show its significance.

Critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity are all widely accepted as crucial to Learning for the 21st Century. Studies show that these are all in the domain of the “right brain”. The logical capabilities necessary for mastery of the sciences resides in the left brain. Science suggests that we get the best of both worlds when we stimulate the interconnections between the two halves of the brain. Much has been made of the need to strengthen STEM education – teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. However, we at The UWI have proposed to the Ministry of Education that in order to achieve national and regional goals, our national and regional system of education must shift its paradigm from the purely functional approach in STEM, to one that actively facilitates and integrates function and form with design in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics –STEAM.

Evidence of practice and research has shown that STEAM is the educational paradigm to bridge innovative thinking for 21st Century Learners since it stimulates and nurtures the left and right brain thinking skills.

Indeed, Steven Pomeroy in his Scientific America article notes that “Nobel laureates in the sciences are 17 times likelier than the average scientist to be a painter, 12 times as likely to be a poet, and four times as likely to be a musician.”

Evidence of the powerful nexus between technology and the arts exists through known history, as shown by the works of the likes of Pythagoras and Da Vinci and more recently, by the clever inspiration of Steve Jobs at Apple. Even closer to home, in Trinidad and Tobago, we all know of master mas’ man Peter Minshall, whose design sketches for his early Carnival portrayals often displayed a potent combination of art and technology.

I spoke of this issue at arecent workshop hosted by the Faculties of Humanities and Education (FHE) across the UWIverse some weeks ago. I stressed the fact that the disciplines spanned by the humanities – art, dance, theatre, music, literature, language and linguistics, history, and philosophy – are crucial to the creation of the culture of innovation. Indeed, by their very nature, much of the work of the humanities requires a creative step. So, for example, every painting created by an artist is a physical embodiment of a new concept that conjures up some desired effect in those who view it. By definition, then, each new work of art is an innovation.

This creative capability is what must be infused in other disciplines to stimulatethe imagination of its students and experts, thus enhancing their problem identification and solving skills and, in alignment to a critical UWI strategic agenda, to fashion new inventions, processes and systems that could be commercialised or otherwise implemented for beneficial application. Indeed, this stronger infusion of the humanities must be a hallmark of our national education systems, formal and informal, from early childhood to tertiary to give true meaning to the oft spoken mantra of a well-rounded education. In this regard, I note that we need to urgently curtail the practice of streaming students at the secondary level. Apart from the fact that it limits their mental stimulation, it also creates a dilemma when young teens are asked to make a career path. This is not an optimal system for forging productive and innovative citizens.

There are different ways in which we could use the Humanities to boost this stimulation process. First and foremost is the inclusion of a humanities stream in other faculties – agriculture, engineering, science, medicine, law and social science. This is the norm in American university programmes, and for good reason which I will address in a while. One effort of note is the delivery of courses and modules that treat with how science fiction has influenced the course of science itself. I am proud to say that this is actually the subject of a course that is delivered at St Augustine.

One other channel of imaginative stimulation is through the design of the physical environment by the creation of art artefacts, colour and pattern schemes to stimulate and provoke thought in walkways, classrooms, dorms, and conversation spaces. This, of course, requires collaboration with designers in the built environment.

I mentioned above that many programs in the US include a strong component in the humanities – the liberal arts as it is known there. Whether it was through pure intent or quite by accident, many agree that this has contributed in no small way to US dominance in innovation in science and technology. As Holden Thorp writes in his September 2010 article “The entrepreneurial university”in the Inside Higher Ed journal, “… liberal arts education has fueled American innovation.” He goes on to explain that the “largest differentiating factor between international higher education and the US is the breadth of learning.... Innovation that addresses major problems facing the world requires an understanding of the human condition, an appreciation of human relations that brings different viewpoints to the table, and a relentless pursuit of collaboration.The study of the humanities and social sciences is critical to the skills and worldview needed by successful entrepreneurs in all sectors.” Need I say more?

Students and staff of the humanities can, of course, be more directly engaged in and therefore more directly benefit from the invention to innovation process, even in technology. There are already local examples beyond the efforts of musicians, artists and sculptors. For example, the PHI – the electronic pan invented at The UWI that will be launched by mid-2019 – was fashioned for aesthetics and ergonomics by designer Leslie-Ann Noel from the St Augustine Campus using a concept she contrived for a suite of furniture while studying in Brazil.

At the workshop, I was also reminded of the fact that sci-fi movies have employed linguists to create whole new language structures. The most famous of these, for sci-fi buffs at least, would probably be Klingon from the Star Trek franchise, a language that now has online translator support and is extensively used in the latest series, Star Trek Discovery. There are others as well, such as the Na’vi that was used in Avatar, theElvish language in the Lord of the Rings franchise and most recently the Dothraki language for the Game of Thrones TV series. It should also be mentioned that linguistics is essential to the development of technology for computer language software for translation, text to speech and speech to text systems.

And what of history? There appears to be little innate creativity in recounting stories from long ago. However, this discipline, which has unfortunately been removed from the school curriculum is absolutely essential in understanding who we are and where we came from. A critical consequence of this self-awareness is that it serves to “attract talent, enhance business development, and fortify local economies” (https://www.historyrelevance.com/value-history-statement). History is also a critical element in understanding other societies with whom we must engage for trade in goods and services. When fashioning products and developing marketing strategies for the international market, one cannot assume that their tastes and habits are the same as yours. Significantly, one must be aware of their past to understand the nuances of cultural sensitivities.

I trust that this message has dispelled all notions that the innovation agenda and the creation of an entrepreneurial university lies strictly in the domain of science-based faculties – engineering, science and medicine. If anything, the discourse has provided justification for the reengineeringof the curriculum to nurture creativity and mold bold, confident andentrepreneurial spirits. We need initiatives for the creation of an environment that would excite and nourish creativity by finally breaking the academic silos that have typified The UWI for so long. At a time when our regional societies, ecologies, and economies are delicately poised, we need the humanities and the arts as much as we need the sciences to place us on a robust trajectory to sustainable development. It requires a culture change of no small proportion – but change we must.

Professor Brian Copeland
Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal

EDITORIAL TEAM

Campus Principal: Professor Brian Copeland
Director of Marketing and Communications (Ag): Mrs Wynell Gregorio
Editor (Ag): Joel Henry (Email:joelhenry@sta.uwi.edu)

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