Trinity in Trinidad
Founded in 1998, Trinity in Trinidad was an immersive study-away program for exploring Caribbean culture in Trinidad and Tobago, and one of Trinity's most successful global learning sites. The hybrid program allowed students to attend classes taught by Trinity faculty as well as to enroll in the University of the West Indies (UWI) in St. Augustine, to study alongside their West Indian peers.
Milia Riggio, James J. Goodwin Professor of English, was the program coordinator for the Trinidad site. Riggio's work in Trinidad during the 1990s led to a shift in her research interests toward festivals like Carnival, and inspired her to bring the Trinity in Trinidad Global Site to fruition. The first version of the program was a course she taught at Trinity in 1997 with Academic On-Site Director, filmmaker and playwright Tony Hall called “Festival and Drama,” in which she brought students for a short time to Trinidad to experience Carnival. Later, the program expanded to include music, Caribbean civilization, theater and performance, community arts and media, and Hindu and Muslim religions in Trinidad.
Eventually, the program expanded further to enable students with a diverse array of interests to take classes on engineering, Caribbean society, culture, economy, ecology and biology, politics, and arts and music. Students had the opportunity to work closely with local cultural and political leaders such as Tony Hall, Lloyd Best, and Ravi Ji, as well as scientists, engineers, and filmmakers through intensive internships, independent studies, and community service. Students also had the opportunity to participate in Trinidad's famous festivals, including Ramleela in the fall and Carnival in the spring. Notable alumna and singer Rachel Platten '03 studied abroad through Trinity in Trinidad and took music lessons while there.
The close partnership between Trinity and UWI through Trinity in Trinidad resulted in the building of the “UWI-Trinity House” on UWI's campus in the 2010s. The building served as a physical representation of the two institutions' academic relationship and collaboration.
In 2005, Riggio stated that 80 percent of Trinity students who studied in Trinidad found ways to return; some even studied through Trinity in Trinidad multiple times. “Our students are given opportunities to meet and study with people who have significantly contributed to, and continue to contribute to, the development of culture,” Riggio stated in a Reporter interview. “These are extraordinary artists, scholars, and intellectuals–people who go far out of their way to make our experiences in Trinidad rich and rewarding. I can only be astonished at the generosity of the island and its people in opening its arms to our students.”
Though the Trinity in Trinidad program was halted in 2019, Trinity College continues to foster its relationship with Trinidad and Tobago. At the program's close in 2019, Watkinson Library director Christina Bleyer worked to digitize and make accessible video archives from the Trinity and Trinidad program. Bleyer and Amanda Matava have also created a partnership with the Lloyd Best Institute in Tunapuna, which features the archives, writings, thoughts, and correspondence of the late Lloyd Best, beginning in 2022.
Sources
Study Abroad: Trinity in Trinidad--The Caribbean Experience
Trinity in Trinidad Video Archives
News: Trinity in Trinidad, May 16, 2018.
The Trinity Reporter, Spring 2016.
The Trinity Reporter, Fall 2015.
When the City is Your Classroom (2011) by Milla Riggio, Lisa Sapolis, Xiangming Chen.
The Trinity Tripod, 02/23/2010.
The Trinity Reporter, Winter 2005, pp. 27-29.