“W. Arthur Lewis Day” carded for on 23 January amid 70th anniversary celebrations.
Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. 15 January 2018—The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has declared 23 January, 2018, “W Arthur Lewis Day”. As The UWI celebrates its 70th anniversary, its Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) will commemorate the work of Sir Arthur, the University’s first Vice-Chancellor, and celebrate 70 years of research contributions to economic policy and process in the Caribbean.
St. Lucian born Economist, Sir W. Arthur Lewis was a Nobel Prize Laureate (1979) as well as a former President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). His legacy surrounds pioneering research in economic growth and development—particularly involving developing countries. Although the institute named in his honour was established in August 1999, its origins stem from 1948 when the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) was founded. ISER later merged with the Consortium Graduate School of Social Sciences (CGSSS) in 1985 and was later renamed after Lewis.
W. Arthur Lewis Day will see a series of events hosted across the University’s Cave Hill, Mona and St. Augustine campuses including forums to discuss the current relevance of Lewis’ work amid the economic challenges facing the region. An outline of the day’s activities at each campus follows:
Cave Hill
- 10:30 a.m. (Barbados time) - Round Table Discussion themed: Relevance of W. Arthur Lewis’s Work to the Challenges of Caribbean Development.
Venue: Cave Hill School of Business
Mona
- 9:00a.m. - 1:00 p.m. (Jamaica time) - Vice-Chancellor’s Forum themed: Economic Transformation with Social Growth: Arthur Lewis’s Contribution.
Venue: The UWI Regional Headquarters
Livestream: http://salises.crownstreams.com
- 1:00p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Jamaica time) - Open House featuring exhibits on the research of the last 70 years, including by the Institute of Social and Economic Studies (1948) to the current SALISES, and presentations on teaching and research programmes by alumni and SALISES Research Fellows.
Venue: SALISES
St. Augustine
- 9:00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m. (Trinidad and Tobago time) - All day symposium on the life and work of Sir Arthur Lewis.
Venue: Teaching and Learning Centre.
- 7:00 p.m. (Trinidad and Tobago time) - Distinguished Lecture by Professor Stuart Corbridge, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Durham, UK themed: Sir W. Arthur Lewis and the Possibility of Development.
Venue: Daaga Auditorium on the St. Augustine Campus.
Notes to the editor
Related links:
- The UWI launches milestone anniversary celebration:70 years of service, 70 years of leadership
- 70th Anniversary website: www.uwi.edu/70
More about SALISES
Formed in 1999 with a merger of the Consortium Graduate School of the Social Sciences (CGSS) and the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) has branches in Mona, Cave Hill and St. Augustine. The institute boasts its own documentation centre, databank and publications section. The Norman Girvan Documentation Centre, named after a former Director of SALISES and an eminent Caribbean scholar, provides access to over 70,000 books, documents and journals. The Derek Gordon Data Bank, named after a distinguished Caribbean sociologist, provides an on-line resource of Caribbean data on important aspects of Caribbean development. SALISES (Mona) is also home to the leading Caribbean social science journal, Social and Economic Studies. Website: www.uwi.edu/salises
About The UWI
Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, The UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. The UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation. Website: www.uwi.edu
(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)
