Island Studies students making an impact internationally
Students and graduates from the Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) program at the University of Prince Edward Island are making their mark in islands research around the world. Dolores LeVangie, Laurie Brinklow, and Kathleen Stuart have each received prestigious scholarships to study in the southern Chilean island of Chiloé, Tasmania, and Australia, respectively.
Master's student Dolores LeVangie has been awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada graduate scholarship for her research on 'Medicine of the land: exploring the use and transition of medicinal practices in island communities of the Mi'kmaq in Eastern Canada and the Williche of Southern Chile.' She has also earned the Erwin and Joyce Andrew Memorial Scholarship and a Robin Rigby Trust Scholarship. In March, she will begin four months of field work in Chiloé to explore the many inter-related causes and effects of the decline in traditional/local medicine use. Her thesis supervisors at UPEI are Drs. Udo Krautwurst and Jean Mitchell.
Laurie Brinklow, who graduated from the MAIS program in 2007, has received a full-tuition Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship to pursue a PhD in the School of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania. Her research focus will be 'Islandness, sense of place, and the importance of 'story' in the islands of Newfoundland and Tasmania.' She will explore the possible connections between islandness and the creation of a strong sense of localized identity, which is then expressed through the arts. Her thesis supervisor is writer and political activist Dr. Pete Hay. Laurie will begin her PhD program in July with a year of study in Tasmania, followed by a year in Newfoundland.
Kathleen Stuart, a MAIS graduate who taught in the Island Studies minor program for three years, has been awarded a PhD scholarship and a Higher Degree Research Merit Scholarship from the Australian National University (ANU). She will research environmental history and related perspectives on biodiversity conservation on islands. Kathy will work with Dr. Libby Robin, Senior Fellow with the Fenner School of Environment and Society and Senior Research Fellow in the National Museum of Australia. She will travel to Canberra to begin her PhD studies later this month.
The Master of Arts in Island Studies at UPEI is an interdisciplinary, policy-driven program that is open to students from around the world. Its basis in comparative study provides students with the practical research skills and knowledge to succeed in a world increasingly defined by interconnections and interactions among peoples and regions.
