About Us
The Department of History and Archaeology, Mona
operates a Social History Project (SHP), which was established
some 25 years ago. The SHP is administered by an executive committee
consisting of staff members and graduate students in the Department
of History and Archaeology. The positions of Director, Finance
Officer and Newsletter Editor are held by persons appointed by
the Head of the Department of History and Archaeology, and are
held normally for a period of three years. Other positions are
held by persons co-opted by the Director. The work of the SHP
executive is voluntary. That the SHP has thrived over the past
twenty-five years attests to the commitment of all who have given
service in their various positions.
When it was first established, the SHP was seen
primarily as an instrument to guide and support postgraduate research
into Jamaica’s social history beginning in the immediate
post slavery period. Accordingly, much of the SHP’s efforts
in its early years were concentrated in making more accessible
research material, and included the collection and preservation
of documentary and oral material pertaining to Jamaica’s
social history. Having received a new mandate from the Department of History & Archaeology, the SHP's work as of 2007 now includes promoting research in slavery, post slavery, archaeology and heritage studies in the Caribbean, with primary focus on Jamaica .