Because the Master of Arts in Island Studies program is so interdisciplinary, we learn just how connected social and natural scientific research are. Our exposure to a range of disciplines allows for the cultivation of a particular form of knowledge from which both islands and mainlands need to be examined.

Faiz Ahmed joined the program in 2004. He is examining issues pertaining to governance and socio-economic development in the Caribbean and Latin America. He presented a paper at the Islands of the World IX Conference in Maui, Hawaii, in July 2006.

Politically, societally, scientifically, environmentally, culturally — islands are microcosms for the planet. “Island Studies” — and the Master of Arts in Island Studies program — provides another way of looking at the world, and the great benefit of knowing this is that I can now use other islands to learn about my own.

Prince Edward Island book publisher, writer, and editor Laurie Brinklow joined the MAIS program in 2003. She presented her graduate research on the representation of islandness and island identity in literature at conferences in Nova Scotia; Newfoundland; Kagoshima, Japan; and Maui, and helped organize the 3rd International Conference on Small Island Cultures held at UPEI in June 2007. She graduated in 2007. Her thesis was entited "'The Circumscribed Geography of Home': Island Identity in the Fiction of Wayne Johnston and Alistair MacLeod."

Since I had a background in Island Studies through the Island Studies Minor Program at UPEI, the MAIS program has enabled me to further explore the study of islands from a multiplicity of perspectives. The MAIS program has provided me with an in-depth analysis of issues from differing disciplines rather than through a single bias. This has fostered my personal and academic growth.

Roger Baird, a Senior Non-Commisioned Member of the Canadian Forces Army Reserve, joined the MAIS Program in 2005. His research is in the areas of security threat concerns and Regional Co-operation in Small Island States, specifically in the Caribbean.

I have always been fascinated by the many similarities between Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. The MAIS program has given me both an avenue through which I can explore my fascination, and an incredible foundation from which I can pursue further scholarly studies about islands.

Heather Gushue sailed the ocean blue from Newfoundland to Prince Edward Island so she could enter the MAIS program in 2004. Heather's work includes comparative research on the relationship between literacy and culture in both islands. As a member of the research team, she worked on the national research project, "Multilevel Governanace and Public Policy in Canadian Municipalities," from which she will publish a paper on tourism policy in Prince Edward Island. With a thesis looking at literacy on PEI and Newfoundland, Heather graduated from the program in 2007.

The MAIS Program goes to the heart of my being — it has given me the legitimacy and confidence to speak as an islander, in any forum, and the tools to connect with like-minded islanders around the world . . .

Former entrepreneur and executive Kathy Stuart joined the program in 2003. Her graduate research on the generation and culture of energy in small islands, published in peer-reviewed journals, has taken her to conferences in Finland, Curaçao, Malta, Hong Kong, and Maui. She is an assistant in running a SSHRC-funded research project on sub-national island jurisdictions. She graduated from the program in 2007.