Musings of a Caribbean Professor

About the Book

Musings of a Caribbean Professor is a compilation of over 50 articles on Caribbean concerns that were previously published in newspapers across the Caribbean during the 34-year sojourn of its author while a professor of sociology at the University of the Virgin Islands. It is a treasure of information on select outstanding and lesser-known personalities, including Marcus Garvey. Such topics as China-Caribbean relations; Cuba in the Caribbean; legalization of marijuana; crime; juvenile delinquency; suicide; healthy marriages; corruption in government; Catholicism and Cuba and other pithy ones, including the popular festival of Carnival are addressed. Also, in the tenth subsection of the volume, three human-interest concerns, namely, aging, retirement as well as death and its aftermath, are addressed. Even two thought-provoking pieces entitled “Seeing Islam through Christian Eyes” and “The Mystery of Evil”, are included. As can be expected, three submissions on the military and security in Barbados/Caribbean (Dion’s research specialization) are grafted in.

About the Author

Dion E. Phillips is a sociologist, author and Seventh-day Adventist. The son of E. Owen and Dorothy E. Phillips, “Glen-Dion-Rose,” 120 Dover, Christ Church, Barbados, with two siblings, Glenn and Sonja. He completed his Associate Degree in Business Administration from Caribbean Union College, Trinidad and Tobago (now the University of the Southern Caribbean) in 1970. He then immediately transferred to Michigan, USA, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Andrews University. With an eye for a change in his career, he earned his Master’s and PhD degrees in sociology from Howard University and began a teaching career that span 35 years, beginning as an Assistant Professor at Howard University in 1982. Dr. Phillips attained the rank of full professor at the University of the Virgin Islands in 1993. He has served two stints as the Chairman, Social Sciences Department, as well as the Acting Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences; he has been recognized regionally and internationally as a scholar and an author. He has published a book on the military in the Caribbean, ten (10) book chapters and several articles in the peer-reviewed journals in his field. His works has been published in French, Spanish and Portuguese; he has presented his research findings around the world, including Brazil, Canada, Cuba, China, Chile, England, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and Venezuela. Dion has served as a consultant on security to the Government of Canada and the USA Southern Command. With these modest accomplishments, Dion has remained faithful to his mission by being an active lay leader of the Maranatha Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA), St. Thomas, USVI, for over 20 unbroken years and has served as a member, Executive Committee, North Caribbean Conference of SDA. He is married to Maria Theresa Aguilar-Phillips, a Math teacher at the Charlotte Amalie High School. They are the proud parents of one child, Ernest Owen Nicandro, a candidate, Ph.D. Program, Biomedical Science at Florida State University.