The Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) at the University of Prince Edward Island is a unique, interdisciplinary, and policy-driven graduate course that critiques islands on their own terms.

The program is open to students from around the world. They come out of undergraduate programs from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and diverse degrees, or with professional workplace experience in the public, private, or resource sectors, and they study a myriad of islands.

Faculty in the MAIS program come from a wide range of departments, ranging from Environmental and Political Studies to English, Education, and Economics.

Search "Master of Arts in Island Studies" to find out what some of our students and professors are doing.

Students are required to take six courses and write a thesis. The three Compulsory Courses, offered annually, are

* Themes...

Voice of the Community, featuring photos by Carlos Reyes-Manzo, is the result of a three-year research project exploring the strengths and challenges facing rural PEI communities. The book is a collaboration between Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Reyes-Manzo, and a research team led by Dr. Vianne Timmons (former Vice-President, Academic Development and Adjunct Professor of Education) and consisting of Drs. Sandy McAuley and Fiona Walton (Education), Barb Campbell and Kim Critchley (Nursing), and Jennifer Taylor (Family and Nutritional Science). (Andes Press Agency)

Why have birth rates in most developed countries plunged to all-time lows in the last century? In The Sterilization Movement and Global Fertility in the Twentieth Century, Ian Dowbiggin (History) draws on a wide variety of archival records, revealing how these revolutionary events can be traced to the efforts of a small group who tried mightily to convince governments that birth rates needed to be cut and that sterilization was the best way to do it. (Oxford University Press, 2008)

Island Studies Journal (ISJ) is a scholarly journal dedicated to the inter-disciplinary study of our “world of islands.” Published twice a year (May and November), the first issue appeared in May 2006. Editor-in-chief is Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino, Canada Research Chair in Island Studies, based at the Institute of Island Studies, UPEI. The international Editorial Board is made up of island studies scholars from over 50 universities and institutions.

Senior veterinary students provide consistent basic and preventative health care to incoming and resident horses at 2 horse sanctuaries on PEI— PEI Equine Retirement Society, Inc in O’Leary (since 1997) and Handibear Hills in Breadalbane (since 2004). The care of these horses includes vaccination, physical examination, dental work, and monitoring and treatment for parasites.

Researchers involved with the New Learners Study are investigating new learners entering university (specifically UPEI), and their attitudes, understanding, and competencies regarding digital technologies, global issues, and writing. This mixed-methods pilot study includes data collected from both an e-survey of first-year students and student focus groups to investigate such questions as:

How best to use technology to advantage students
Do students use technology differently socially and academically?
Do students want their personal technology to enter their academic world?
What types of technology are students using?
Is there a gender divide when it comes to technology use?
Are students taking full advantage of all Web 2.0 tools?
What are students’ expectations surrounding technology use in the classroom?

Research Team: Dr. Martha...

WorldReaders is an online social network site for exploring students’ independent reading interests, while providing them with an opportunity for communicating with readers in other countries. Aimed toward children between the ages of 12 and 16, the site attempts to engage children who share a love of books and literary themes. This project provides librarians with a successful example of using social networking to achieve teaching/learning goals, and presents new knowledge on how learners use social networks for learning; how social networks can be a rich resource for studying reading interests; and how best to develop the use of social networking for library applications.

Specifically, this project aims to explore:

How can an online social network effectively support the development of positive reading habits among upper elementary and secondary students?
What...

This study was prompted and funded by the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island to establish a profile of Mi’kmaq learners on PEI. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods to generate baseline statistical information relating to the educational levels of Mi’kmaq learners as well as to provide recommendations for the types of supports that would promote success. The researchers interviewed Mi’kmaq parents and key professionals in the schools, and they conducted focus groups with students to establish a thorough profile. Statistical data was enriched by comments from the parents and focus-group participants who shared their opinions about the types of programs and services that could make a difference in promoting education success.

In addition, researchers have visited various locations across Prince Edward Island as part of the Mi'kmaq and Inuit Research/...

Dr. Edward MacDonald is currently working with Charlottetown activist Catherine Hennessey and Director of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation, Dr. David Keenlyside, co-authoring the Landscapes of Confederation, a compendium of historical materials relating to the Charlottetown Conference of 1864. It is intended to be a one-stop resource for tourism programmers, city planners, and local business people seeking to build on the Birthplace theme in the development of the city.

View a recent video:
http://www.upei.ca/media/video/y/2009/09/11/landscapes-confederation-dr-...

"Recent settlers to Prince Edward Island speak: positive 'selling points' regarding PEI" is a thorough compilation of a set of testimonials/quotations by "Islanders by Choice" - the 320 respondents to the 2005 survey entitled "Recent Settlers to Prince Edward Island: Stories and Voices."

Compiled by Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino, UPEI Institute of Island Studies, for the Prince Edward Island Population Secretariat.

This 84-page document, complete with a copy of the questionnaire used in the study, is freely and readily available from the website of the PEI Population Secretariat:
http://www.gov.pe.ca/popsec/index.php3?number=1020143&lang=E

The Tourism Research Centre (TRC) is located in the UPEI School of Business and provides Prince Edward Island’s tourism industry with the knowledge, expertise, and research tools required for the Island to establish itself as a premier tourist destination.

The TRC increases tourism research capacity on PEI. In an ever-evolving tourism industry, there is a constant need to inquire about trends and evolving tastes as well as to test assumptions and ideas. The TRC's mandate is to conduct quality tourism research and lead in tourism research education. The TRC analyzes available tourism data; produces industry, government, and academic reports; and broadly distributes value-added information to stakeholders in the industry.

The Centre identifies opportunities and issues that might have an impact on the province’s tourism industry. This research assists tourism’s decision-...

UPEI researchers are partnering with the PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada on an innovative program called Connecting Families through Community to increase the literacy levels of new Canadians. They are working closely with immigrant families in Charlottetown to develop and introduce a flexible literacy program that is transferable to other newcomer families in PEI and across the country. Their findings will strengthen the capacity of service providers to support immigrants by providing information, training, and resources on family literacy.



The faculty co-ordinator is Dr. Barbara Campbell, Director of the Webster Centre for Teaching and Learning.The lead researcher is Dr. Vianne Timmons, former V.P. Academic Development at UPEI, and now President of the University of Regina. Timmons’ UPEI-based research team will work in tandem with her researchers in Regina.

An Atlantic research and training project entitled "Train the Trainer: A Family Literacy Approach for Aboriginal Families in Atlantic Canada" is being led by UPEI. Launched in 2007, the three-year research project is developing and implementing a family literacy training program with teachers and volunteers in Aboriginal communities. The research is being conducted in communities in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island.

A "Train the Trainer" manual will be developed with the communities, based on relevant cultural materials, to use in the implementation of the program. It will then be available as a general guide to be used by other groups for training people for their respective projects. Local facilitators will acquire the skills and knowledge to host family literacy programs. Parents and children who participate will acquire skills related to...

In November 2009, the Centre for Education Research at the UPEI Faculty of Education and the Prince Edward Island Teachers’ Federation embarked on a study of provincial teachers’ workload and work life, to strengthen the research available on teachers' experiences.

This project will collect information from teachers Island-wide.