NEW!! Special Topics Course (3 credits): SEED - MAY 12-22, 2018 (before the BITS course)
BITS Program: Required courses
This 4-week-long, 3 days/week course, is co-taught by McGill and University of the West Indies (UWI) teaching staff. McGill and UWI undergrad students will share the learning experience! This course introduces students to the island agri-food system and importation vs local production issues. Visits to the port of Barbados and grocery stores to view imports and current food situation. Visits to tropical orchards, parks, nurseries, and government centres to view varied aspects of local food production.
Tropical Horticultural Ecology course summary
This 4-week-long, 3 days/week course introduces undergraduate students to tropical forages and feeds and domestic and wild animal production in Barbados. Land resources, environmental and socio-economic constraints affecting sustainable forage, feed, and animal production in the tropics are examined. Visits to explore the production of small and large ruminants, dairy and poultry. Visits to see nature parks with wild animals and birds on the island.
Sustainable Land Use course summary
This 4-week-long, 3 days/week course introduces undergraduate students to tropical energy options (biodiesel, solar, wood, etc.) and related food and bioproducts (ie. Rum industry products) in the tropics. Visits to innovative local production facilities and food industry sites to fully illustrate tropical energy sector and agri-food industries in Barbados.
Tropical Energy and Food Technology course summary
This is a project-based, research and communication course, designed to solve real-world problems related to nutrition, food, or energy issues at the local, regional, or international scale in Barbados. Under the supervision of the project director, groups of 2-4 students develop working plans, and carry out a pilot research project, in consultation with academic, industrial, governmental, or non-governmental partners. Students will work directly with mentors at a designated host institution in Barbados for 2 days each week over a 14-week interval and present a final report on their findings.
Barbados Interdisciplinary Projects
NEW!!!
Special Topics (3 credits): SEED
MAY 12-22, 2018
Social Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (SEED) taught through field work and case studies. Project activities with local partners will be done in teams of 3-4 students from Canadian Universities to complement theoretical components. Project groups will work with fledgling or struggling local initiatives to develop sound business plans, market strategies, and evaluation guides to build strong business practices leading to long-term sustainability. Three categories of social entrepreneurship and economic development projects are anticipated in the areas of agriculture, environment and, international development. Evaluation will be done primarily on the basis of a final paper and presented orally by each group; detailing their business plans in relation to the concepts covered in the course and their viability and sustainability in the Barbados business context.
Student Appeal
This course will appeal to entrepreneurial students from various disciplines, including agriculture, health sciences, economics and international development. This course is offered to Canadian students at McGill University, UBC, and Coquitlam College. Students will be accepted on a competitive basis and the course will be capped at 15 students in 2018.
Program Fee: $2,500/student plus tuition (to home university), and airfare.
Application: Apply now
Deadline: March 31 2018. See BITS application page for more details.
Instructors:
Mark Berlin
Professor Mark Berlin is a lawyer who specializes in international law and international development. A graduate of Cambridge University, the University of Ottawa and the University of Toronto he has been teaching for McGill’s Institute for the Study of International Development for the past 5 years. Prior to his appointment as a Professor of Practice at ISID he was Director General of International Legal Programmes for the federal Department of Justice; Special Advisor on the Middle East to the Minister of Justice; and legal/policy advisor to four previous Attorney Generals of Canada. He has also taught law at the University of Ottawa for over 25 years. Professor Berlin currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Law Commission of Ontario, and is a past board member of both the Ontario and Canadian Bar Association.
Professor Berlin is excited to teach this dynamic, hands on, highly participatory course for BITS. It brings together his passion for social entrepreneurship and social innovation and economic development along with a belief that long-term economic sustainability can only be supported by and contribute to a strong social fabric underscored by rule of law. This course is a perfect introductory course for students undertaking the full BITS programme. It can also serve as a stand alone course.
Aaron Friedland
Aaron Friedland is a Economics Lecturer at Coquitlam College as well as the Executive Director of The Walking School Bus, a research-based NGO that employs a holistic approach to international development. Friedland developed his passion for economic development and education while working and researching around the world. He recognized systemic problems that students in places such as Uganda, South Africa, and India would face which increased their likelihood of remaining trapped within the poverty cycle. Friedland’s research interests are a culmination of his work as a lecturer and development practitioner. His research utilizes interventions which improve student education in remote regions and is robustly tested through randomized control trials (RCT’s) and econometric modeling and analysis.
Friedland’s research has been recognized by Business Insider, Anderson Cooper, and noteworthy journals. He is excited to join McGill University in offering the SEED Program, an initiative which he believes will help strengthen students understanding of development and field work and provide them with the necessary skill set to work as development practitioners.
