Funding
Small amounts of money are available (for MPhil & PhD students)
directly from the Department on the recommendation of the supervisor.
These small grants are used to support research and work related
activities such as:
- Writing up theses
- Travel for the purposes of study and/or research
- Literature searches & reprint purchases (interlibrary)
- Purchase of equipment and materials etc.
For further advice, consult Department’s Head.
Larger grants are available from the Board for Graduate Studies
and Research. Grants for travel to distant archives and for large
computer projects are examples. The Board is also very interested
in encouraging cross-campus research, meaning that a semester or
year could be spent at Cave Hill or St. Augustine carrying out work
on a comparative topic. Grants, from the Board, must be applied
for by the supervisor.
Scholarships of various sorts are available from UWI and, occasionally,
special scholarships are awarded to History. In 1992/93 the Spirits
Pool Association funded a scholarship for research on the history
of rum in Jamaica. Jablum has also financed a scholarship for research
into the history of the Jamaican coffee industry. All scholarships
are announced in the press.
When a thesis or research paper is ready to be typed, a small grant
can be obtained to assist, on the recommendation of the Head of
Department. In this case the student should apply directly to the
Head.
Outside funding of projects is sometimes possible. Here it is necessary
for both student and supervisor to seek help through embassies,
agencies and so on.
Facilities
THE SOCIAL HISTORY PROJECT
Graduate students are encouraged to make use of the resources of
the Social History Project (SHP). These resources include indexes
and finding aids. The SHP was established in 1979 to encourage the
study of West Indian social history in the period since the abolition
of slavery.
Specifically, the Project attempts to achieve this end by:
- Acting as a loosely institutionalized clearing house for information
on source materials, methods and comparative studies
- promoting the collection and preservation of social documents
and artifacts
- Directing research into areas of high priority on a cooperative
basis
- Communicating findings to the public.
The SHP is not meant to become a repository for materials, but
cooperates with existing institutions in the work of collecting
and preservation. The Project functions as a centralized guide to
information. Initially, attention is being concentrated on Jamaica,
but it is hoped that a Caribbean-wide perspective can be achieved
through comparative work.
The SHP has so far been able to purchase microfilm copies of the
Jamaica governors' dispatches for the period 1832-1880. These are
available for use in the Main Library at Mona. It has also published
a new edition of the Jamaica Censuses for 1844 and 1861, and produced
an index of Jamaican periodicals of the early 20th century. This
index is available for use in the Department, and also in the UWI
Main Library and the National Library of Jamaica. The SHP has also
acquired a copy of the Thomas Thistlewood Diaries on Disk.
The SHP had the services of Research Fellows in Oral History for
1989-1994, who collected material on the history of occupations
in 20th century Jamaica. Tapes and transcripts of these data are
stored in the SHP office.
A Newsletter is published by the Project twice a year, in June
and December. Anyone wishing to receive this Newsletter should contact
the Director, Dr. Kathleen Monteith.
Computers in the SHP office may be used by students, for typing
their theses and other kinds of data management. Special workshops,
designed to introduce students to the use of the computer, will
be held from time to time. All use of these facilities is controlled
by the Director.
Large-scale computing projects are best undertaken through the
mainframe at the Computer Centre. The Computer Centre will perform
computations and give technical advice, generally without charge.
Students must however find funds to pay for data entry or perform
this operation themselves.
Oral history projects can be assisted by the SHP through the loan
of tapes and tape recorders. Arrangements should be discussed
with the Director.
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