Record Number of Social Scientists in Professorial Ranks

When then Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Dr. Justin Robinson, was promoted to Professor of Finance in 2019, it was the first time in a few years that colleague faculty had seen such an elevation among themselves. His rise followed that of former Head of the Department of Economics, and now Deputy Principal, Professor Winston Moore, who had advanced to Professor of Economics in 2016.

Since Professor Robinson’s achievement, however, six fellow social scientists have seen similar advancement, attaining for themselves the highest academic recognition within The University of the West Indies. Today, the Faculty of Social Sciences is home to its highest number of professors on staff since inception.

Among the latest were Professor Don Marshall, as Professor of International Political Economy and Development Studies; Professor Cynthia Barrow-Giles, as Professor of Constitutional Governance and Politics; and Professor Corin Bailey who is currently awaiting ratification of his area of specialty. They joined earlier recipients Professors Troy Lorde (Professor of Tourism Economics), Dwayne Devonish (Professor of Management and Organisational Behaviour) and Philmore Alleyne (Professor of Accounting).

Also advancing in the period were

Professor Don Marshall Professor Cynthia Barrow-Giles

three colleagues within the Faculty of Humanities and Education: Professor Donna-Maria Maynard, Professor of Psychology; Professor Isabelle Constant, Professor of French, Francophone African and Caribbean Literatures; and Professor Aaron Kamugisha, Professor of Caribbean and Africana Thought who has since transitioned to the recently established Faculty of Culture, Creative and Performing Arts.

Professor Constant, who advanced as one of the latest four that also included Professors Marshall, Barrow-Giles and Bailey, is noted for her original and valuable contributions to Caribbean Literature and Caribbean Studies. She is considered “a superb scholar, a gifted researcher and a talented writer [with] original ideas, penetrating analyses and insightful studies.” She has served on the Administrative Board of the Conseil

International d’Études Francophones

(CIEF) and also as its representative for the Caribbean region. She was also a reviewer for the journal on Francophone Studies,

Nouvelles Études Francophones (NEF)

from 2009 to 2018, and from 2015 to 2016, she was a reviewer for Parallèles – a translation studies journal.

One external assessor summarised, “Professor Constant’s major contributions have been in the areas of Francophone postcolonial literature where she has been very successful in increasing the visibility of marginal literature and working to canonise authors who deserve more critical attention … the impact of Professor Constant’s Le

Professor Isabelle Constant Professor Corin Bailey

Rêve dans le roman africain et antillais

cannot be overstated.”

In 2016, Professor Constant was named Most Outstanding Researcher by the Faculty of Humanities and Education at Cave Hill.

Her rise to the professorial ranks preceded that of Professor Marshall, a celebrated scholar in International Political Economy and Development and current Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at Cave Hill, a position he has held since 2015. Over the years, he has been actively involved in teaching and curriculum development, and editing academic publications.

Professor Marshall’s current research projects focus on the globalisation phenomenon, offshore financial centres, scientific finance as a discourse, industrial policy issues, and democracy and governance in the Eastern and wider Caribbean.

One external assessor noted, “A criterion for promotion of teaching and research staff [at The UWI] is a record of distinguished original work done before or after coming to the university. Dr Marshall has met and surpassed this criterion. Indeed, he is a prolific and meticulous scholar who deserves to be praised for his outstanding achievements. I rate his scholarship and publications as excellent and his overall record as distinguished.”

Professor Marshall has participated in numerous media-related discussions on the political economy of development, as a subject specialist. He is also a current member of the Cave Hill Campus’s Academic-Industry Liaison Committee, aimed at bridging the gap between academia and the private sector.

Following Professor Marshall’s advancement into the professorial ranks, the most recent Cave Hill academic to rise to this level was Professor Cynthia Barrow-Giles who served twice as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and as Head of the Department of Government, Sociology and Social Work, as it was then named.

While reviewing her body of work, one external assessor observed, “The candidate is a recognised leader in her field of research, a voice for the values of constitutional democracy, a respected and trusted advisor to international organisations, and a prominent ambassador for the university. The university is fortunate to have the candidate in its ranks.”

The proud alumna and academic has published widely on political parties, election campaigns, political party financing, and women’s political participation. Her publications include nine peer-reviewed journal articles, five books and fifteen book chapters. She has also written over seventy other academic publications.

In a fifteen-year career so far at The UWI, since joining SALISES at Cave Hill in 2006, Professor Bailey has set about a research programme within the field of sociology, specialising in crime and later poverty-related research, that quickly cemented his elevated scholarship in these areas.

Colleague scholars noted that these issues merged within Professor Bailey’s work as his thesis remained consistent: that the structural determinants of crime in the Caribbean are most crucial and ought to form the basis of multi-faceted policy interventions. This line of argument has been augmented by parallel research into prison rehabilitation and reforms. He has emerged as a leading contributor to knowledge and theory about crime and violence in the Caribbean.

The professorial appointments were made after thorough evaluation, by internal and external assessors, of the quality and quantity of the candidates’ research, publications and other professional activities. The academics all received outstanding reviews in their respective areas of specialty.

In addition to their academic distinctions, they emulate The UWI’s mission: “To advance learning, create knowledge and foster innovation for the positive transformation of the Caribbean and the wider world.” l