Media releases

• Brock launches Canada-Caribbean Institute with University of the West Indies

  Thursday, February 20, 2020 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 20 February 2020 – R0034

  This week in Jamaica, officials from Brock University and the University of the West Indies (UWI) capped off a year of collaborative planning and formally launched the Canada-Caribbean Institute (CCI).

  The CCI, which will support studies and research into specific Canada/Caribbean issues, became a reality on Monday, Feb. 17 with its inaugural Canada-Caribbean Research Symposium, held at the UWI’s regional headquarters campus in Kingston, Jamaica.

  Remarks were made by Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; by Canada’s High Commissioner to Jamaica, Laurie Peters; and by UWI’s Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles, and its Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global Affairs, R. Richard Bernal, who is Jamaica’s former ambassador to the United States.

  Brock President Gervan Fearon, a leading advocate behind the new international body, attended the symposium with a contingent of Brock researchers and officials.

  Fearon has helped directly energize the new Institute by personally contributing to funding the new Dr. Gervan Fearon Scholarships. Starting in September 2020, these will be awarded annually to graduate students studying Canadian Caribbean issues at Brock. The scholarships will be awarded to a student or students from Canada one year, and a student from the Caribbean in the alternating year.

  “I have had many discussions with my Brock colleagues, and we know this partnership is a wonderful opportunity for many people to collaborate and make a positive difference that creates very real future benefits both in Canada and across the Caribbean,” said Fearon.

  The goal of the CCI is to facilitate collaborative academic and research initiatives; faculty, student and staff exchange programs; and institutional capacity building in areas of shared interest between Canada and the Caribbean such as socio-economic development, environmental and health promotion, gender studies, and trade and economic policy.

  The Institute provides a framework for scholars in the Caribbean and Canada to conduct research and scholarly activities, and generate needed knowledge and analysis to inform innovative policy and initiatives for enhancing Canada-Caribbean relations.

  Camille Rutherford, Brock’s Vice-Provost for Strategic Partnerships and International, said establishing the CCI reflects Brock’s increasingly energized internationalization strategy.

  “Throughout the symposium this week, Brock faculty members were actively engaged in discussions that have already resulted in new research, collaboration and exchange opportunities,” she said.

  The Canadian High Commission celebrated the milestone on Facebook saying “The new Institute, which is a collaboration with Brock University in Canada, will provide multi-disciplinary research and teaching to deepen and improve the relations between Canada and the Caribbean, and serve to examine issues affecting the Caribbean diaspora communities in Canada.”

  During the symposium, significant economic and cultural linkages between Canada and the Caribbean were discussed by participants from both regions. Like Canada, the Caribbean is a diverse region in terms of geography, culture and language, with much to learn from and to contribute to each other.

  In an earlier interview with the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, UWI Vice-Chancellor Beckles said Canada has been “a most reliable supporter of Caribbean nation building.”

  “Creative, courageous, and confident people build bridges and not walls, and the Canada-Caribbean bridge has been one of the most productive and mutually beneficial relation constructed in the last hundred years.”

  Bernal, UWI’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor and one of the architects behind the new Institute, echoed that theme.

  “Canada has been an emphatic partner for the small island states of the English-speaking Caribbean dating back to the colonial era,” he told The Voice newspaper in Saint Lucia. “This relationship has been reflected in trade, capital for development, tourism, migration and remittances, as well as in diplomatic solidarity.”

  With its headquarters in Jamaica, the University of the West Indies also has physical campuses in Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Antigua & Barbuda, as well as a virtual Open Campus that provides academic programming in 17 nations across the Caribbean.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

   Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

   – 30 –

  Categories: Media releases

• Brock researchers examine how stereotypes of older adults impact jury duty

  Thursday, February 20, 2020 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 20 February 2020 – R0033

  Although some may try to avoid jury duty, it’s still regarded as a valuable contribution to society.

  Despite the number of people who strive to wriggle out of that obligation, there’s a group of citizens that, in about three-quarters of Canadian jurisdictions, can be exempt from jury duty without much effort.

  They only need to be 65 years of age or over.

  At first glance, it seems to be a reasonable measure to alleviate stress in an older person’s life. But for Brock University Psychology PhD student Alison O’Connor, such a law is a potential red flag for a larger problem.

  “Given that we have negative aging attitudes embedded within our society already,” says O’Connor, “is this law just perpetuating these stereotypes and making older adults feel like they aren’t able to contribute to the jury?”

  She notes that there has been no research on how people perceive this law and that “there is no justification provided for why older adults can opt out, and there’s no reason to explain why some areas uphold this law and others do not.”

  To address these and other questions, O’Connor and her supervisor, Associate Professor of Psychology Angela Evans, set out to explore perceptions of older adults’ involvement in jury duty and how this may be shaped by the opt-out law.

  The researchers constructed a questionnaire for younger and older adult participants to assess their willingness and capability to serve on jury duty, their perceptions of older adults’ capability to serve, and what participants thought of the so-called ‘opt-out’ law.

  Prior to completing the questionnaire, the researchers informed half of the older adult group about the law. The other half of older adults were not told about the law until the end of the questionnaire.

  The results, published last month in the journal Psychology, Crime and Law, confirmed some of O’Connor’s and Evans’ theories.

  “One of the important messages of the study is that, overwhelmingly, both older and younger participants said they thought this law was in place because of older adults’ declining capabilities,” says O’Connor.

  She notes that only 10 per cent of older adult participants thought the law was in place because it benefitted older adults.

  Interestingly, knowing about the law in advance didn’t alter older adults’ perceptions of themselves as being effective jurors, but it did bring about more negative attitudes towards older adult jurors as a whole.

  Other findings of the study “Perceptions of older adult jurors: the influence of aging stereotypes and jury laws” include:

  • 67 per cent of older adults indicated they would want to serve on a jury within the next year — a rate significantly higher than younger adults
  • Both age groups rated themselves as fairly capable to serve
  • Only 37 per cent of older adults agreed there should be a maximum age threshold for jurors, as compared to 70 per cent of younger adults who agreed with the threshold
  • Younger adults provided significantly lower capability ratings for older adult jurors compared to older adults, mainly based on beliefs that older adults suffered from poor health and hold ‘biased’ beliefs

  Evans says the results suggest the potential for intergenerational conflict among jurors if younger adults perceive older adults to be less capable.

  “Aging stereotypes can have real consequences for older adults, so it is possible that these negative attitudes may prevent older adult jurors from feeling confident and valued during jury deliberations,” says Evans.

  Regarding the opt-out law, the researchers suggest it may be beneficial for jurisdictions to explain the reasons behind allowing older adults to be excused from jury duty so as “to prevent citizens from assuming the law is in place because of older adults’ limited capacity to serve as jurors,” says the study. This can be an interesting next step in this line of research.

  O’Connor says she hopes the research results will challenge stereotypes of older adult jurors, motivate the court system “to foster more positive relationships between different age groups” and be the start of a wider inquiry into reform of the opt-out law.

  “Older adults are a very important and valuable group of citizens within our population,” she says. “It’s a shame if either this law or negative aging attitudes are impeding their ability to contribute to a jury, which can be a very important civic responsibility.”

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970 

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio. 

  – 30 –

  Categories: Media releases