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Program Description
Graduate students seeking to strengthen their expertise in Caribbean studies and expand career options are encouraged to earn a Certificate in Critical Caribbean Studies in conjunction with an advanced degree in any Rutgers-New Brunswick graduate program. By completing the requirements of this certificate candidates will attain learning outcomes including, but not limited to:
- Gaining expertise in topics focused on and related to the Caribbean.
- Developing an interdisciplinary Caribbean Studies methodological framework.
- Enhancing professional scholarly development through training in Caribbean Studies.
- Developing specialized writing and research skills to produce interdisciplinary research in Caribbean Studies.
Students interested in pursuing the Graduate Certificate in Critical Caribbean Studies should meet with leadership from the Rutgers Advanced Institute for Critical Caribbean Studies (RAICCS) to create a plan for fulfilling requirements, which includes:
- Successful completion of 9 graduate level credits (2 courses and 1 independent study, with a grade of B or above in each) in graduate courses offered at Rutgers-New Brunswick, Rutgers-Newark, or Rutgers-Camden that focus on or are directly related to Caribbean studies. At least one of these courses must be taken outside of the student’s degree program. These courses must be approved of in advance by the graduate certificate director and in consultation with the faculty member teaching the course.
- Successful completion of an independent study on Critical Caribbean Studies designed by the student candidate in consultation with a RAICCS faculty affiliate and approved of by the graduate certificate director. This course will focus on major themes, current critical issues, and interdisciplinary research methods within Caribbean Studies as they relate to an aspect of the graduate student’s research interest.
- Successful completion of a research project in Caribbean Studies. This requirement may be fulfilled by a significant research paper written for a graduate level course that satisfies requirement #1; a significant portion of a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation that is focused on the Caribbean and/or employs a methodological framework from the field of Caribbean Studies, or a published scholarly article focused on the Caribbean.