Research and publication remains a vibrant activity of the Department of History and Archaeology as we work towards maintaining the rich legacy of scholarship within the discipline and the region. Keep abreast of recently published works or research in progress by faculty members:
Dr. Karl Watts is a Lecturer in History. He teaches courses in Sports History, the history of the Jamaican Landscape, a survey course in modern Caribbean history and a course in Heritage Studies. He conducts research primarily in the field of business and economic history of the Caribbean, particularly the history of government finance. Dr. Watts’ writings, so far, have focused on the history of the savings bank system in Jamaica. He is currently conducting research on the development of the sport of boxing in the colony of Jamaica for the period 1892-1945.
Dr. Renee A. Nelson is a lecturer in the Department of History and Archaeology at The University of the West Indies, Mona. Her research interests include Caribbean regionalism, Social History and Digital History. She is the Department’s representative on the FHE Ethics Committee. She is also the Department’s Graduate Student Staff Representative. She is the vice-president of the Archaeological Society of Jamaica and a member of the Jamaican Historical Society. She also holds membership in the Association of Caribbean Historians. In pursuit of her research interests, she has published articles and has presented papers at academic conferences and seminars.
For Dr. Nelson, the discipline of History is foundational to society and key to understanding the human experience. The present is very much connected to the past. This reality underscores the continued relevance of History to the needs of the contemporary world. As such, Dr. Nelson’s philosophy of the discipline is grounded in the declaration of E.H. Carr (1961) that History is “an unending dialogue between the present and the past.”
This is particularly reflected in the Department’s diverse, topical course offerings, of which Dr. Nelson teaches HIST1604: “Out of Many”: The Development of Jamaican Society, HIST2807: Digital History, HIST3203: The Black Experience in the United States since 1865, HIST3614: The African Diaspora in the West and HIST3902: A Century of Politics in Free Jamaica, 1838-1938. The Digital History course is particularly noteworthy, as it introduces students to the resources provided by computer technology and the Internet to make History fascinating and accessible to a wider audience in the 21st century.
Our 7 faculties and 12 professional schools offer more than 200 programmes to some 18,000 graduate, undergraduate and continuing studies students.
The UWI, Mona ranks first in Jamaica among accredited tertiary-level programmes. In 2012, the University was again one of Jamaica’s Top 100 Employers.
