The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer BAHAMIAN Lisa Lawlor was recently nominated for a prestigious award at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, after successfully completing her Masters of Arts degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. "The nomination came as a surprise to me. I was so excited, I could not believe it because this is an award of high esteem and it means that you have made some kind of contribution to the social sciences," she told Tribune Woman. It was Lisa's keen interest in race relations that inspired her to pursue a degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. "As a Bahamian, I yearn to know all that I can about race relations in the region of the Americas because I feel these apply directly to what I feel are fraught relations in The Bahamas. The complexities of race after European colonisation, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and continuing racist tendencies can be combated, I believe, with the elements of nature and traditional knowledge, as communicated through the Bahamian works. Once I started reading literature from Jamaica and Barbados I realised this is what I want my life to be about," she said. The O.P. Dwivedi Graduate Prize for International Development (CSAHS) is awarded annually, along with a $1000 graduation prize, to an outstanding student on the basis of their overall scholastic achievements and of the practical and social significance of their research. The CSAHS award focuses on research that applies social science theory and methods to the study of development, administration and environmental issues in the Third World. What Lisa enjoyed about the Latin American and Caribbean Studies program is how it gave her the freedom to study her country without physically being at home. "This program is something that provides you space away from your home to study your home. When you are away there are less distractions and it is much easier to focus." Although the one year she dedicated to completing her degree was filled with many challenges, she is ready to take on another challenge. Lisa recently applied to pursue doctoral studies on the Americas and is patiently waiting for her acceptance into the program. "I look back on that year and it was the best year of my life. I definitely do not regret any of it. I feel very accomplished and I am content with my achievements." She intends to share all of the knowledge she has gained over the years. "Doctoral studies on the Americas, and particularly the Caribbean, will allow me to step into a teaching role where I can share the vast works of art and literature that I have grown to love throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Guelph. I believe that these works represent the stories we tell ourselves about our culture, our history and human behaviours. As such, they are at the very base of who we are. I hope to become a professor at the College of the Bahamas and share all that I have learned," Lisa said.