Exchange Opportunities

Over the years, the Island Studies program at UPEI has established a host of useful links with like-minded universities around the world. In some cases, these have led to a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) between UPEI and other universities. These MOUs, signed by the top officials of both institutions, establish the terms for general agreements that facilitate the exchange of faculty members and/or students from one university to another, ideally on an equitable, quid pro quo basis.

Thanks to these agreements, students who are registered (and paying fees) at UPEI can make arrangements to spend up to one semester at one of these overseas universities, without paying any additional fees.

The MAIS program has helped to broker MOUs with the following tertiary education institutions, all of which have some interest in pursuing the study of islands and island life:

  • The University of Malta: Msida, Malta: This (English-Speaking) University has an Islands and Small States Institute, and runs a Master of Arts in Islands and Small State Studies.
  • The University of Gotland: Visby, Gotland, Sweden: This is primarily a Swedish-speaking university, but various graduate courses are offered in English.
  • The University of the South Pacific: Suva, Fiji Islands: This University — which serves 14 different countries — has, since 2004, a Faculty of Islands and Oceans.
  • The University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia: Our strongest links here are with the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences.
  • The International University of Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan: This is primarily a Japanese-speaking university; but various graduate courses are offered in English.
  • The University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland: This is a distributed campus but the MAIS program has links with the Centre for Nordic Studies in the Orkneys.

For details about any of these institutions, please contact Jim Randall, MAIS Program Coordinator.