Student review [#54992] for English Language and Literature
at University of the West Indies - UWI, Mona

The UWI is ranked in the top 1% of Universities and Colleges worldwide. Its programs have produced regional and international world leaders and shakers, especially innovators in the creative field. My program at the Mona campus in Jamaica, Literatures In English, is one of the Faculty of Humanities oldest. However, it suffers from what a lot of humanities programs suffer from in this decade– an emphasis on relevance. While the content has done well to educate on literature and theory of the past and now, it has largely failed to supply students with opportunities to use that education outside of careers in education or the creative field. There is no incorporation of material in the core classes that could lead to a career in the corporate world. As a student, you are left to tailor your education to lead to where you want to go or teach you the most amount of skills: selecting a relevant minor, doing a co-curricular, etc. Furthermore, there are times when the metrics for success seem arbitrary, more specifically, based on prof’s personal preferences. For instance, one might be told, after a staggering amount of effort on an assignment, that THAT much effort was not expected on the undergrad level– and get no extra points. In sum, the program is precarious because apart from everyone asking you “What are you going to do with THAT degree when you graduate?”, you are expected to play by the arbitrary rules by earning it. Both the degree and the puzzle to earning it teach you to critically think, I credit it with that, but its methodology needs to improve.