An overview of the nature of crime in the Caribbean and the different approaches used to understand criminal behaviour. The course seeks to ground students with an understanding of the causes of crime, the major methods for measuring crime, as well as the dominant theoretical perspectives in the field of Criminology. ‘The purpose of this course is to provide the students with an in-depth understanding of the nature, causes and consequences of crime and its relation to security and justice. In addition, this course also brings into question, the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in dealing with the nature of criminality.
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This course explores the distinct foundations upon which modern Caribbean politics rests. It attempts to identify the unique characteristics and experiences of Caribbean states to enrich the field of comparisons with other political systems. The special characteristics of small states, the varied impact of colonialism in the region, the nature of the political culture, along with class and ethnic influences, the founding roles of Caribbean leaders, the main state formations that have emerged, as well as the emergence of civil societies in the Caribbean are the main areas covered. The main purpose is to be able to understand the nature of contemporary Caribbean politics from the continuing impact of these foundations.
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Among the biggest challenges facing the global community today is to reconcile the difference between economic advancement and social development. This course introduces students to the history of the concept of poverty, the culture of poverty, the causes of poverty and its effects. Intersections between poverty, education, health, and welfare will be explored in a variety of international contexts. Policies designed to reduce poverty will be analysed at both the international and community levels. This course presents students with the opportunity to comprehensively understand the nature, scope and dynamics of social development and its interplay on the lives of individuals, families, communities and groups. It interrogates the contributions of education, income, health, and technology and welfare system in contributing to an egalitarian society with opportunity and mobility for all.
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This course will therefore be devoted to provoking critical thinking about the political, economic and social challenges and opportunities in the implementation of ICTs for e-Government and in the wider context of e-Governance. It will introduce the student to a variety of theoretical ways of thinking about technology within the broader framework of political science. This is important because convergence of ICTs is reshaping traditional methods of social discourse and the way we interact; exacerbating traditional methods of how knowledge and information are created, managed and utilized as a competitive asset for development; redefining core concepts in contemporary political life such as power, sovereignty, privacy, security, representation, accountability, transparency, individual rights, liberty, democracy, moral agency and ethics. Moreover, the assertion those developing countries will be able to leapfrog traditional technologies and engage newer ones to realise their development goals, have also not been realised. By studying e-governance, students will not only be investigating technical issues, but also the less overt political machinations that go into how these technologies are being used in making decisions about how to engineer information infrastructure for political agendas and the significant implications for political life.
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The course is intended to be a general introduction to the discipline of comparative politics and government. It will clarify and synthesise some of the major theoretical directions found in the literature. The emphasis will be on the examination and assessment of the major theoretical trends, as well as themes in approaches to and concepts in the study of comparative politics.
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This research project course is designed to give students an appreciation for conceptualising contemporary issues from a psychological perspective. Students also have the opportunity to integrate psychological theories and research methods to investigate selected issues.
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This course is designed to provide students with a historical understanding of development and its antecedents of the modern world.
In this course students will examine development as a concept and practice in the era beginning around 20th century. This epoch is considered to be the heyday of ‘development thought and practice’. New thinking about social change associated with improvements in the quality of life of the less well off in the global village emerged as major contestants to Development. However, in order to properly understand these and the ways in which post- Colonial societies such as Caribbean are changing in the 21 Century, it is necessary to understand earlier thinking on the subject.
