Caribbean Research Institute

The Institute for Caribbean Research is a research organization focusing on the circum-Caribbean region. We utilize various types of expertise that include but are not limited to archaeology, bioarchaeology, anthropology, linguistics, ancient and modern DNA studies, geography, history, ethnohistory, geochemical sciences, paleoethnobotany, paleoenvironmental studies, geology and bathymetry, to examine and reconstruct the precolonial history of this region on several different scales of inquiry – local, regional and continental. The activities of the CRI are conducted through partnership between Canadian and Caribbean researchers with an aim of furthering multidisciplinary and intercultural collaboration among institutions of higher education and heritage specialists, and of promotion of mobility in education of Canadian and Caribbean students and scholars. The work of the Institute is based on interconnectedness of different lines of inquiry, openness to intercultural dialogue, and the ability to seek and accept different sources of knowledge and to maintain fluid communication that allows formulation of new ideas and interpretations based on diverse data that are not commonly integrated. To accomplish our main task of knowledge building and integration, we rely on local community leaders, local archaeologists and heritage specialist, as well as on the ability of nonlocal researchers to contribute expertise that would otherwise remain unavailable. We are currently conducting research work in Cuba, Jamaica, and Nicaragua.