Mr. John A. Aarons, now retired, was Executive Director of the National Library of Jamaica (1992–2002), Government Archivist of Jamaica (2002–2008), and University Archivist of The University of the West Indies (2009–2014).
Professor Jeannette A. Bastian is Emerita Professor at Simmons University. She is currently an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Library and Information Studies at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.
Dr. Stanley H. Griffin is Deputy Dean, Undergraduate Matters (Humanities), and Senior Lecturer in Archival and Information Studies in the Faculty of Humanities and Education, Department of Library and Information Studies, at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica.
Dr. Dave Gosse is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Caribbean Studies, The UWI, Mona, and currently its Director. He formerly taught numerous courses in the Department of History and Archaeology at The UWI, and served as the Coordinator of the foundation course, Caribbean Civilization. He is a graduate of Howard University and his first book is on “Abolition and Plantation Management in Early Nineteenth Century Jamaica, 1807-1838”. His second book, “Alexander Bedward, The Prophet of August Town: Race, Religion and Colonialism” has just been published by The UWI Press. He is currently serving as Chairman of the Board of Management of Ardenne High School.
Dr. Doreen Gordon is a Lecturer in Anthropology in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at The University of the West Indies, Mona. She works on Africa and the African diaspora, social inequalities, beauty and the body, family and gender, development, health and environment. She has carried out research in Brazil, South Africa, and the Caribbean. Doreen Gordon engages with post-colonial theories, critical race theory, feminist theory, decolonial and creative methodologies in her work and is concerned to make her work relevant beyond academia.
Professor Gilbert Kodilinye is Professor Emeritus at The University of the West Indies. He is a barrister (England and Wales) and an attorney-at-law (St Lucia).
Dr. Natalie Corthésy holds a PhD from CCLS, Queen Mary University of London; an LLM from UCL, University of London; an LEC from Norman Manley Law School, Jamaica; and an LLB from The UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados. She is an attorney-at-law (Jamaica) (non-practising) and Associate Dean of Outreach and Continuing Legal Education in the Faculty of Law at The UWI, Mona, Jamaica.
Dr. Ramona Biholar is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. She is the Chair of the University Sub-Committee on the Sexual Harassment Policy Review, and a member of the University Faculty of Law Rights Advocacy Project (U-RAP) where she serves as international human rights law specialist. She conducts socio-legal research in the areas of international human rights law and gender and the law, and has authored and co-edited books. She has been contributing to building the capacity of Caribbean governments as well as of civil society organisations under United Nations treaty-based mechanisms concerned with women human rights (CEDAW), children human rights (CRC), racial discrimination (ICERD), civil and political rights (ICCPR) and economic, social and cultural rights (ICESCR).
Dr. Dacia L. Leslie is Research Fellow, and Chair of the Crime Prevention and Offender Management Research Cluster hosted by the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. She has over 10 years of experience undertaking research and evaluation, and is author of Recidivism in the Caribbean: Improving the Reintegration of Jamaican Ex-prisoners (2019) and co-editor of Critical Caribbean Perspectives on Preventing Gender-Based Violence (2022). Her non-commissioned research concentrates on lived experiences of inmates, ex-prisoners, removed migrants and their child dependents, to the intersection of her teaching focus, which is on Development Studies, with specialisation in Monitoring and Evaluation.
Dr. Trevor Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Research Methodology at Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM), University of the West Indies. He is the Unit Head for Marketing, International Business, Entrepreneurship and Strategy (MIBES) at MSBM. He has published in a number of rated International Journals in two streams of research – Consumer Psychology and Management. Dr. Smith also served in management capacities in both private and public sectors in Jamaica with his last position (prior to joining UWI in 2007) being Director of the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH). He currently serves as Chairman of the National Conservation Trust Fund of Jamaica (NCTFJ). Dr. Smith co-authored the texts Compulsive Buying: Consumer Traits, Self-Regulation, and Marketing Ethics, 2022.
Dr. Lorna Down is an education specialist and a former Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. She has published regionally and internationally in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Teacher Education and Literature. Her publications include the co-edited book (with Thelma Baker), Caribbean Writers on Teaching Literature.
Dr. Therese Ferguson is a Senior Lecturer in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the School of Education, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. She has published internationally and regionally in the areas of ESD, climate change education, and peace education. Amongst her publications is the co-authored book SDG4 – Quality Education: Inclusivity, Equity and Lifelong Learning for All.
Ambassador Dr. Richard L. Bernal, OJ. Professor of Practice, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, UWI, has held a number of distinguished leadership positions including, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Global Affairs, University of the West Indies; Member of the Broad of Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank; Director General for the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery; Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organisation of American States; and Lecturer in Economics at The UWI, Mona. He has authored six books, numerous articles in scholarly journals, books, and monographs, as well as opinion editorials in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. He holds the degrees of B.Sc., MA, Ph.D. (Economics), and MIPP (International Public Policy). He is one of 50 Distinguished Graduates of The UWI.
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles is Vice Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (The UWI). He is a distinguished academic, international thought leader, United Nations committee official, and global public activist in the field of social justice and minority empowerment. He has served several noble organisations and has received numerous awards. In 2017, the Town of Hartford in the state of Connecticut (USA), declared 21st March, “Sir Hilary Beckles Day” in recognition of his global contribution to social justice and human equality. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Award for global advocacy, academic scholarship and intellectual leadership. Under his leadership as Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, the institution established a fifth Campus – the Five Islands Campus in Antigua and Barbuda and has maintained favourable ranking in the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking. In 2021 it was ranked among the top 1.5% of universities. Sir Hilary has published over 100 peer reviewed essays in scholarly journals and more than 20 academic books.
Professor Emeritus John Ayotunde (Tunde) Isola Bewaji has had a long, distinguished, international career. He is currently Distinguished Researcher at the PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica, and Visiting Research Fellow at the Rhodes University Center for African Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa. His single or joint authored and edited books include, Beauty and Culture (2003), An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge (2007 – Awarded Significant 50 Books in 50 Years of UWI), Narratives of Struggle (2012), Ontologized Ethics (2013), Black Aesthetics (2013). Professor Bewaji is Founding Editor, Caribbean Journal of Philosophy among several others. He holds or has held several titles including, Founding President, International Society for African Philosophy and Studies, and Former Citizen Ambassador in Philosophy to Hungary/Russia.
Dr. Rotimi Omosulu is lecturer in philosophy in the Department of Language, Linguistics and Philosophy, The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Jamaica, and is presently Coordinator of the Philosophy Section. He earned a B.A (Hons) 2002, M.A (2006), Ph.D. (2015) in Philosophy from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He was also awarded a Certificate in Sustainable Development Goals and Cultural Transformation from the University of Bergen, Norway, in 2015. His research interests cover Environmental ethics, Logic, Metaphysics, Philosophy of development, Philosophy of law, Socio-political philosophy and Philosophy of religion. He co-edited Introduction to Philosophy and Logic in 2014, and Fragmented Identities of Nigeria: Sociopolical and Economic Crises in 2022.
Ms. Tracy Robinson is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona, Jamaica where she teaches undergraduate courses in Constitutional Law, Commonwealth Caribbean Human Rights Law and Family Law. She joined Mona Law in 2011 after teaching for a decade and a half at the Faculty of Law, UWI, Cave Hill. At The UWI, she is a co-founder and co-coordinator of the Faculty of Law, The UWI, Rights Advocacy Project (U-RAP), which works to promote human rights and social justice in the Caribbean through strategic litigation, legal education and research.
Professor Verene Shepherd is Director of the Centre for Reparation Research, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. Her many publications include I Want to Disturb My Neighbour: Lectures on Slavery, Emancipation and Postcolonial Jamaica; Livestock, Sugar and Slavery: Contested Terrain in Colonial Jamaica; and Maharani’s Misery: Narratives of a Passage from India to the Caribbean. She worked with Sir Hilary McD. Beckles to edit and publish Lucille Mathurin Mair’s pioneering thesis, A Historical Study of Women in Jamaica, 1655–1844
Ms. Gabrielle D.L. Hemmings is a graduate student at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, and former research assistant at the Centre for Reparation Research, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
Professor B.W. Higman is Emeritus Professor of History, The University of the West Indies, and Emeritus Professor of History, Australian National University. He is the author of eleven books on Caribbean history, archaeology and geography, including the award-winning publications Slave Population and Economy in Jamaica, 1807–1834; Slave Populations of the British Caribbean, 1807–1834; Jamaica Surveyed: Plantation Maps and Plans of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; Montpelier, Jamaica: A Plantation Community in Slavery and Freedom, 1739–1912; Writing West Indian Histories; Plantation Jamaica, 1750–1850: Capital and Control in a Colonial Economy; and Jamaican Food: History, Biology, Culture. His most recent books are A Concise History of the Caribbean and How Food Made History.
Ms. Charlene Harris is a Poet, Teacher of Mathematics and Geography, and an Exam Coordinator who is passionate about nature and intrigued by the simplest of life’s encounter. She enjoys relaxing, cooking new dishes and igniting peoples’ smiles despite life’s challenges. Owing to her firm Christian beliefs, Charlene advocates that, “nothing in life just happens. Every series of activity is a learning process and is integral in shaping the person you become.”
Dr. Opal Palmer Adisa is a writer, Gender Specialist, and Cultural Activist. She is the former University Director of The Institute for Gender and Development Studies, RCO at The University of the West Indies. She believes that literature and the performance arts are the best approaches to interrogate gender inequality and formulate an approach to gender justice. She has published 22 collections that includes, essays, novels, short stories, poetry collections, and children’s books. Her essays, stories, poems and articles have been anthologized in over 500 publications. She is also the editor-in-chief of two major journals.. Her areas of focus are gender-based violence and ending child sexual and physical abuse. Adisa is the initiator and organizer behind Thursday In Black, an island-wide campaign to educate and bring awareness about gender-based violence.