St. Lawrence University
Trinidad and Tobago Program

Curriculum

Students travel to Trinidad and Tobago in early January. All students take four courses -- 2 required courses and 2 elective courses at the University of the West Indies (UWI).

Required courses:

• In January, a course is taught by the program director in his or her specialty to acquaint students with some aspects of Caribbean Studies. Students spend a few days with a host family on Trinidad and one week in beach cottages on Tobago, with a focus on the environment, during this course. The course continues several weeks after the start of the UWI semester.
  (4 credits; 1.11 SLU units)
  
• The “core course” is Caribbean Culture and Society. Students participate in ceremonies, work with local artists, attend special lectures and performances, tour holy sites, and experience the ecology of the islands. The course is comprised of twenty guest lectures and all the field components offered throughout the semester (day-long and overnight trips).
  
  Students study and participate in Trinidadian festivals and celebrations -- Afro-Euro Carnival, Hindu Phagwa, Muslim Hosay, Orisha rituals, and Easter processions – some of which last late into the night.

  The course also includes a service learning component. Students are required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in a service learning placement. They keep a journal on the experience, and write a paper on it.

  This is a complex course with many elements changing throughout the semester; therefore, it requires flexibility and maturity.
  (6 credits; 1.66 SLU units)

Elective courses:
Students select two courses at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine that begin in late January. Students have typically taken courses in the Creative Arts, Gender Studies, Ecology and Environmental Studies, Religious Studies, and Psychology, as well as other fields.

The program staff and administrators, who are familiar with the UWI curriculum and professors, can offer excellent advice on appropriate courses. Students should heed that advice.

Students may take any course offered at the University of the West Indies as long as the student is qualified and the course receives prior approval by the appropriate SLU department chair and by the appropriate UWI faculty person and dean.

Students can look at the UWI offerings. On their web page, scroll down go to the Faculty Booklets ("Faculty" is comparable to "Department") and click on the appropriate undergraduate Faculty Booklet (course catalog) for course numbers and descriptions.

Or students can look at the UWI Faculty Booklets in the Center for International and Intercultural Studies.

It is critical that students have preliminary discussions with department chairs and the program coordinator while still on campus as to which courses they plan to take at UWI. Sometimes, students make their final course selection during the January course in Trinidad after consultation with the program director and UWI dean. If so, those students will notify the Center for International and Intercultural Studies, their academic advisor, and the appropriate department chairs of their final course selection.

It is the responsibility of individual students to check with departments about how credits will be transferred back to St. Lawrence. The grades will be averaged into the student’s cumulative St. Lawrence G.P.A.

Students can check out the UWI catalog from the Center for International and Intercultural Studies. Course information is also available on the University of the West Indies web site.