About the Programme

The discipline of Cultural Studies seeks to unpack the complex and often contested nature of cultural practices, expressions, and representations. It recognizes culture not just as a reflection of society, but as a tool used to understand, challenge and reshape social norms and political systems.

The Postgraduate Programme in Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill) is designed to foster a deep engagement with these critical questions in the particular context of the Caribbean. The program stimulates a nuanced, interdisciplinary approach to the study of culture, while also encouraging critical reflection on the role of academics, artists and cultural practitioners in shaping Caribbean identities and experiences within the region, its diaspora and beyond.

What Will I Study?

Upon completion of this programme, students will be able to:

• Analyse key dimensions of culture.
• Examine a wide array of cultural expressions as they are manifested within the Caribbean and its Diaspora.
• Examine perspectives offered in seminal works written or created in the Caribbean or its Diaspora.
• Collaborate and network with cultural workers and artists.
• Enhance and interpret their cultural products using the benefit of the scholarly process.
• Utilise the techniques of cultural analysis in developing frameworks for examining the dynamics within Caribbean culture.
• Undertake higher level graduate studies in culture.

Research

The research interests of our faculty and students are diverse and include Caribbean Cultural Thought, Identities and Traditions; Migration, Diaspora and Transnational Identities; Caribbean Museology, Art, Film, and Visual Culture; African Diaspora Religious Cultures and Spiritualities; Caribbean Music, Dance and Popular Culture; Cultural Policy; Festival Arts and Masquerade; Critical Pedagogy and Humanism. 
 

Career Opportunities

A postgraduate degree in Cultural Studies offers a broad range of career pathways, thanks to its interdisciplinary nature and its focus on critical thinking, research, and analysis of cultural and social issues. Graduates are well-equipped to work in various fields, particularly those that intersect with culture, identity, media, politics, and society. 

Career choices for Cultural Studies graduates include the following fields:

• University lecturer
• Policy Consultant 
• Archivists
• Curators
• Teachers
• Creative Director
• Journalists/Writer/Editor
• Cultural Attaché / Cultural affairs manager 
• Cultural Entrepreneur

Why Study in Barbados

Students have the unique ability to study Caribbean culture within the Caribbean, drawing on the resources of the UWI which collectively constitutes the premier place for the study of the Caribbean in the Anglophone world today.
 

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