The University of New Mexico and the University of the West Indies Five Island Campus, Antigua and Barbuda, recently created a new partnership designed to expand immersion opportunities for students at both institutions.
The program aims to deepen students’ connections to the African diaspora and broaden their global perspectives. It will introduce New Mexico students to the rich cultural, historical, and social environments of Antigua and Barbuda, while UWI Five Island Campus students will encounter the unique socio-historical and multicultural aspects of New Mexico. As the partnership grows, the two institutions seek to expand the initiative’s scope by opening options for faculty-led programming and student research opportunities, fostering an even broader global network of students committed to academic excellence and cultural exchange.
“We are excited to partner with the University of the West Indies Five Island Campus in Antigua and Barbuda and are in the early stages of building a co-curricular study abroad program in which students can engage in academic and service-learning opportunities through a two-week summer immersion program,” said Brandi Stone, African American student services director at the University of New Mexico.
“The collaboration constitutes an exciting new chapter for the University of New Mexico’s internationalization,” said Todd Karr, director of Education Abroad and National Exchange at the University of New Mexico. “We haven’t had many student mobility options in the region. I believe this experience will be particularly interesting for Black and Afro-Latinx students at UNM, given the cultural diversity and complex history of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora.”
