UG Press holds inaugural Editorial Board Meeting

Jan 30, 2018 News

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-charts course ahead
Described as a historic milestone in the maturation of the University of Guyana [UG], the University of Guyana Press [UGP] was established. According to Vice-Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith, “it is an integral part of Project Renaissance, and it is intended to boost the institution’s research enterprise and overall credibility.”
He also noted that the research and publishing pursuits will not be limited to academic staff, but will include post-graduate and undergraduate students, especially those in the undergraduate research programme.
The Editorial Advisory Board of the recently-established UGP held its inaugural meeting on Saturday at Duke Lodge, Duke Street, Kingston, Georgetown, and laid the foundation for its work this year and beyond.
The Board, which is headed by Professor George [Ken] Danns of the University of North Florida and a former lecturer at the University of Guyana [UG], comprises distinguished scholars and respected professionals from within and beyond Guyana.
UGP was established in 2017 following the signing of a partnership agreement between the University of Guyana and Ian Randle Publishers of Jamaica. In addition to the local members, the meeting was attended by members from Belize, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and from New York, Georgia, and Florida in the United States. Members from Nottingham in the United Kingdom, Jamaica, and New York and Connecticut in the United States, joined the meeting by Skype.
Among the key outcomes of its work, the Board crafted UGP’s Vision, Mission, and ‘What We Do’ statements to facilitate its operations, and decided on 13 publication themes, namely: Education for Sustainable Development; Information Communication Technology; Economics, Trade, and Public Policy; Public Health and Policy; Indigenous Knowledge Systems; Integrated Natural Resources Management; Institutions and Society; Food Security; Social Protection and Policy; Climate Change, Energy, and the Green Economy; Globalization, Poverty, and Inequality; Restorative Justice; and Disaster Vulnerability and Resilience. Each theme has sub-themes.
In outlining its work plan for 2018 and beyond, the Board agreed to publish four sets of products: books, monographs, scholarly journals, and digital materials.
In relation to books, the first is expected to be “Dynamics of Caribbean Diaspora Engagement: People, Policy, Practice,” which is one of the outcomes of the Diaspora Engagement Conference hosted by the University in July 2017. President David Granger has agreed to write the book’s Foreword.
In addition to manuscripts submitted for consideration, UGP will also solicit works in keeping with its themes and reprint classics of Guyanese history, politics, literature, and other areas.
As regards journals, it decided to put on a firm footing the long-standing and respected University of Guyana journal called “Transition,” which has had a chequered publication history. Working Papers and Occasional Papers will be core monograph publications, with “The Renaissance Papers” being a part of the Occasional Papers series.
The 2018 Renaissance Papers will publish the lectures delivered at the Distinguished Lectures named for Distinguished Professor CY Thomas, Professor Emeritus Sister Noel Menezes, and Dr. Ulric Trotz, as well as the Professorial Lectures delivered by Professors Michael Scott and Paloma Mohamed.
To boost UG’s work in Biodiversity and its support of the Government’s Green State Initiative, the Board decided to launch a new journal, to be called “The Guyana Shield”, and it also established a Task Team to help implement the decision.
The Team is headed by Professor Percy Hintzen of Florida International University, and it includes Dr. Ulric Trotz of the Caribbean Climate Change Centre, Dr. Paulette Bynoe and Mr Alim Hosein from UG, and Dr. David Singh of Conservation International. The journal is expected to be a multilingual publication.
In addition to Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith and Board Chair George Danns, the meeting was attended by: Ms Christine Randle [Ian Randle Publishers]; Professor Percy Hintzen [Florida International University]; Dr. Paulette Bynoe (UG); Professor Gomathinayagam Subramanian [UG]; Mr Alim Hosein [UG]; Dr. Annette Insanally [UWI Mona]; Dr. Kimani Nehusi [Temple University]; Dr. Keith Nurse [UWI Cave Hill]; Professor Olajide Oladipo [City University of New York]; Dr. David Singh [Conservation International]; Dr. Kelwyn Thomas [Morehouse School of Medicine]; Dr. Ulric Trotz [Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre]; Dr. Joseph Tyndall [University of Florida College of Medicine], and Dr. Fitzgerald Yaw [UG].
Dr. Dennis Canterbury, [Eastern Connecticut State University]; Professor Stafford Griffith, [UWI Mona]; Dr. Penelope Seibert, [University of Nottingham)], and Mr Vivian Williams [Vivian Williams and Associates, New York], joined the meeting by Skype.
Ian Randle Publishers Managing Director, Christine Randle, led the meeting’s review of the work done so far on the UGP website, which is expected to be released at the end of February. A competition for a permanent UGP logo will be held soon. Vice-Chancellor Griffith announced that the University of Guyana Press office will be staffed by the Office of Strategic Initiatives, with Ms Danniebelle Mohabir serving as Manager. UGP also has a Management Advisory Board, which is headed by Ambassador Ronald Austin, Director of the Foreign Service Institute. That Board will hold its inaugural meeting soon. Board members applauded the formation of the Press, with several of them noting that it had long been promised. Mr Alim Hosein recalled that his first job at UG in 1984 was to work with a UG Press that never materialised.

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