– from September  2010
The University of the West Indies (UWI), through the Institute of International Relations (IIR), will be offering an 18-month Master’s of Science (MSc) in Global Studies, to commence in September 2010. This information was shared Thursday at a formal introduction, at the Regency Suites in Georgetown, facilitated by a distinguished panel of regionalists and renowned West Indian academics, including Professor Mark Kirton and Dr. Clement Sankat, Principal of UWI , St. Augustine Campus. They were joined by the Director of the IIR, Dr. Timothy Shaw.
The thrust of the information sharing exercise was to outline the work of the University in outreach programmes that are ongoing in CARICOM countries and to introduce the Global Studies MSc in Guyana.
Professor Shaw indicated that the institute was attempting to increase capacity through CARICOM and found that there is great relevance and applicability of the MSc to Guyana and the rest of the region. It is currently being undertaken, off-campus, by 20 students in Suriname.
Noting that the 45-year-old institute has an alumni consisting of 1100 post-graduates, functioning in the fields of diplomacy, government, private sector, media and civil society, Shaw said that global studies now go beyond traditional realms of international relations and broadens the scope of the field.
Interested persons are being offered an internationally accredited, on-site, MSc taught programme, with research components consisting of seven courses, and the classes will be taught on Thursdays and Fridays, from 5-9 pm and on Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm. Lecturers will come to Guyana to deliver classes and Guyanese students will have full access to all online libraries.
There will be ten days spent at the St. Augustine Campus where sessions with the final thesis supervisor will be available, and there will also be the opportunity to interact with peers doing the same MSc programme, at UWI.
In addition to the international teaching staff that includes Professors Vaughan Lewis, Godfrey St. Bernard and Norman Girvan, guest lecturers will also provide students with expert tuition by specialists in specific areas of study. Each course is examinable and carries a course work component.
All aspects of the programme as it is offered at UWI will be replicated in Guyana and all tests and examinations will be conducted at the same time on both campuses. The cost of the programme is US$9,000, to be paid in three trances, including a 10-day stay in Trinidad and Tobago at the University of the West Indies campus, St. Augustine.
There will be the provision of cutting edge expertise in the area and opportunity for advancement into other programmes offered at the University, in general, and the institute of international relations in particular, which offers internationally accredited Masters of Philosophy and doctoral courses.
The MSc in global studies will be formally advertised by the University of the West Indies in two weeks and the application process will be conducted online, where they will be reviewed and evaluated by the selection committee in Trinidad and Tobago.  Thirty seats are available and the public will be duly informed on the location of classes.