18
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 1ST FEBRUARY, 2015
OUR PEOPLE
JH:
Dr Cateau, how long have you been with the
Faculty?
HC
: About 20 years.
JH: And you have been deputy dean for quite
some time as well?
HC:
I was deputy dean for four years and then I
was head of department for an additional four
years, approximately.
JH:
That’s a considerable amount of time. How
do you balance your academic work with all
of your administrative duties?
HC:
It’s difficult. I think my academic work may
have suffered in some ways. I make sure
that at least every year I manage to publish
something, but in terms of larger projects it
has been difficult. You keep telling yourself
that you will get to it and it doesn’t happen.
It’s a delicate balance but I believe that as
lecturers we also need to contribute to our
institution in more than one way. It’s not just
about you and your research; it is also about
contributing to the unit. At certain times you
need to give precedence to one thing and at
other times to other things. I haven’t perfected
that balance but I’m still working on it.
JH: Why did you accept such a demanding
administrative position?
HC:
I have been with this university for a long
time. I started in fact as a tutor, then went on
to research assistant, lecturer, senior lecturer,
deputy dean and then head of department. I
worked as residence manager for Milner Hall
for six years. I have literally grown up in this
institution – we won’t go into the years before
as an undergraduate and graduate student.
I love this university. I love my Faculty. I
believe in what my Faculty does. I have been
part of the Faculty management team for
the past eight years – and we really had a
team. I worked closely with the previous two
deans. So when they came to me and asked if
I wanted the position and expressed support
for my deanship, it meant a lot to me that
they would see me in that light. I felt I had the
necessary administrative experience and the
support of a very powerful team. I believed
that together we would have what it takes to
take the Faculty through the next four years.
JH:
You worked with Professor Aiyejina for
quite some time. What do you think his
legacy will be?
HC:
With all the talk of mentorship we bandy
about now, I think we do so without truly
understanding what it means. When I look
back I have been well mentored. What made it
so good was that I had no idea that I had been
well mentored. I have been a lucky person
to be mentored throughout my career in
university without even realising it. It started
in the History Department through Professor
(Bridget) Brereton (Professor of History).
Professor Aiyejina is an excellent mentor. He
built a team which has really changed this
Faculty and the way we function. He knew
where we would be best positioned and left
our portfolios for us to handle. I have inherited
a dream team and he was the one who built
that team and prepared me for deanship even
when I didn’t realise that is what he was doing.
I think that is his most powerful legacy.
JH:
And what is your vision for the Faculty?
HC:
My vision is to change the perception of
what we do in the Humanities. We have to be
honest, I think few people are thrilled when
their son or daughter says “mommy I want
to do history.”We still want our children to
be doctors or lawyers. That is the only way
we see a meaningful contribution to our
society. That is as a consequence of people not
understanding what the Humanities are about.
They don’t understand how our Faculty has
expanded and the extent of the things you can
do with the humanities.
We need to rebrand ourselves. People think
that all historians do is memorise dates; not
understanding that we analyse society. I
want to change the perception of what we
do. I want people to understand what the
Humanities and Education are about. And to
understand that our societies’ concentrations
in the past have not made the world a better
place. I think our societies are in crisis and I
think we need to shift focus to what I call the
“human sciences”. And understand what is
required to create the meaningful changes
that this society needs. I think my Faculty has
to be at the centre of that shift in focus.
JH:
What kind of resources do you think the
Faculty needs to make that vision a reality
(in a perfect world)? What would you like to
have?
HC
: Twenty more lecturers (laughter). I think two
things. We have done a lot but we have to be
better at sharing what we do. Part of it has to
be marketing and communications because
many people have an understanding about
the Humanities and Education from about
20 years ago and it is very limited. We need
some professional assistance in positioning
ourselves to the world outside. We are good at
what we do internally but that is not enough.
We need to get ourselves out there.
We also have to show the practical
applications of the Humanities and Education
to society – how we can influence policy,
education and social systems in society.
We have to focus more (we do it somewhat
already) on applied research, because people
need to see how we can affect their lives.
We can have all the books and theories
“I love this university. I love my faculty. I believe in what my faculty does,” says
Dr Heather Cateau
, Senior Lecturer in The UWI St. Augustine’s
History Department and recently appointed Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education (FHE). In July of 2014 it was announced that Dr
Cateau had been made Dean following the retirement of Professor Funso Aiyejina.
Joel Henry
sat down with the new Dean of FHE to discuss
growing up in the UWI, the faculty’s well-developed team and the pressing need for the humanities to prove their relevance.
Dean of a
Dream Team
Heather Cateau, New Head of Humanities, says Human Sciences are the New Building Blocks
