As we in the Caribbean continue to recognize our importance in the world economy (an inclusion that began since the 15th Century), we must do so realising that our market share in the future will depend on the quality and individuality of the product we are offering to the market place. The University administration, in its wisdom, has critically reflected on this point and has instituted ways of addressing this issue. University Courses like FD11A: Caribbean Civilisation, for example, are now compulsory courses for almost all students matriculating from the UWI…and there is a reason for this: i.e. to ensure that the ‘Caribbeaness’ of our product remains central.

The University has a further role in that it not only seeks to create the awareness of our unique product in the world stage and by so doing create a demand for its unique attributes (i.e. a marketing function), but, through its processes of refining and, as needs be, encouraging the product, the UWI serves a critical role in the very production of the unique product itself. Indeed, in the achievement of these necessary ends there is no other comparable Caribbean institution. The UWI is well placed to lead in the knowledge era as the Caribbean region continues the unavoidable leap into the new millennium. The UWI has not only its record of established regional legitimacy, proven managerial competence and its vital Caribbean oriented people resources but, it has also the established international reputation and legitimacy necessary for our product to be continuously accepted as competitive contenders on the world stage.

In the new thrust of the UWI as we move further into the 21st Century there is no room for complacency. We must focus, not only on current products, but also on creative new products out of the best that the region has to offer. The product that we offer is not only to be differentiated in the way in which it solves issues and presents problematics for solving but also in the way in which it re-constitutes the problematics themselves. In this context the UWI seeks not only epistemological issues and answers but seeks, ultimately, ontological creations as well that privilege new ways of interpreting the world around us. Here, in Faculties like Humanities and Education, we are committed to this broader aim of the University and realize our role in the shaping of the unique ‘Caribbeaness’ of our flagship products. It is only through this realization and by fearlessly accepting the challenge for change can we refine and, redefine, our intellectual products for confident inclusion in the global market. In this informed context then is the UWI unwaveringly committed to accepting its central role and maintaining its relevance deep into the 21st Century. As a knowledge leader and as a reference point for critical thinking UWI can achieve its ultimate purpose.

Dr. John Campbell is a lecturer in History in the Faculty of Humanities and Education. He was educated at UWI and Cambridge.