The Institute of Gender and Development Studies (Regional Coordinating Office)

THE UNIVERSITY DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

Dr. Halimah DeShong

A warm Caribbean welcome to the Institute for Gender and Development Studies!

For more than three (3) decades, the regional IGDS has delivered a comprehensive programme of teaching, research and outreach, in service of just Caribbean livities. With focused training in the area of feminist/gender analysis, our researchers confront some of the most urgent regional and global concerns, including the climate crisis, violence and conflict, political economy, unpaid labour and care, culture and identity relations. In this work, we account for how the pursuit of gender justice is connected to our political and embodied experiences of race, class, dis/ability, sexuality, indigeneity, ethnicity, space and other dimensions of power and difference.

We are proud beneficiaries and protectors of legacies grounded in Caribbean anti-racist and ant-sexist movements. Birthed out of Caribbean women’s and feminist movements and a UWI activist tradition, our work centres communities, collaboration, interdisciplinarity, and a commitment to just social transformation. This is reflected in our public scholarship and refereed publications; in our teaching and learning; and the numerous grant funded research and outreach projects of the regional IGDS.

We are a vibrant community of students, faculty, office professionals, creatives, activists, and senior administrators, ready to ensure your time with us is both exciting and rewarding. We invite you to join our community, where you we will apply the knowledge, skills and competencies derived in our courses and training workshops on activism, men and masculinities, violence and conflict, feminist theories, gender and sexuality, and policy analysis. Our research, teaching and learning, outreach and public service are done in collaboration with Caribbean governments; national, regional and international development partners; partners in civil society and community-based organisations; and other international higher education institutions across various regions of the world.