HOFSTRA-IN-CUBAJANUARY 2015:

PUTTING CUBA BACK ON THE MAP

The recently completed Hofstra-in-Cuba Program was in many ways a journey into the unknown. It was the first HCLAS program to visit Cuba, the first in a new series of study abroad programs sponsored by the Hofstra’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS) Program, Hofstra’s first experience in working with Spanish Studies Abroad (SSA), and it took students to a place to which Americans have not been able to freely travel for more than 50 years. The group of 15 students (14 undergrads and one graduate student in the TOEFL program) and two faculty assembled in Miami, Florida on the night of January 3. The excitement was palpable as all of us knew that the timing of this trip, coming as it was on the heels of President Obama’s recent announcement of the initial steps in normalizing relations between the two countries, made Cuba an even more special destination than usual.

Following our departure for Havana the next morning, the group spent a very intensive 17 days traveling in Cuba over a geographic range that extended from Trinidad and the Valle de los Ingenios in the south central area of the country to Pinar del Rio and the Valle de Viñales in the far west, beginning and ending the program in Havana itself. We can report that on every level, the entire program was an exceptional success as virtually everyone involved indicated that it had surpassed their individual expectations of what they would get out of the experience. What follows is an overview of the academic and travel aspects of the program, followed by student comments, and an assessment of the program’s impacts as they relate to how several students are using/ will use in the future what they have gained through their participation in the program.

The academic side of the program

Students registered for LACS 150 – Special Topics in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. The special topic in this case was entitled “Putting Cuba (Back) on the Map,” a reference to the fact that Cuba for many decades was something of an information black hole, so far as Americans were concerned. A separate section of LACS 2150 was created for the graduate student.

The course easily fulfilled the interdisciplinary nature of the LACS program as it included a wide array of topics on Cuba. These ranged from its physical geography, economy, history, and politics to its culture, international relations, and the evolution of Cuban society. Power point postings were made available on many of these topics prior to the trip.

“Everything is going to change. We are neighbors. And neither of us is going anywhere” explains Law Professor Dr. Doris Quintana, an expert on international law.

Lectures while in Cuba were delivered by the two Hofstra professors leading the trip, along with several lectures provided by Cuban experts, many of whom were faculty members at the University of Havana. Dr. Wiley’s portion of the course covered the evolution of Cuba, from its pre-Columbian indigenous period through the early and latecolonial periods, which in Cuba lasted until 1898, and on into the post-“independence” neocolonial period with its early and late Republican stages, the latter of which ended in 1959. Each stage involved discussion of the peopling of Cuba in sequential migrations, the evolution of Cuba’s largely primary sector economy, issues of social class and race relations, political developments, and the impact on Cuba of events occurring elsewhere (e.g., the Seven Years War and the Haitian Revolution). Those lectures provided students with an understanding of the foundations of Cuban society and also served to develop the framework necessary for them to understand why Cuban had the revolution it did, the one that “triumphed” in 1959. At that point, Dr. Herold took over and guided the students through a very detailed explanation of the six primary stages of economic policy and development strategies in revolutionary Cuba since January 1959. Students learned about…

….the challenges inherent in converting what had been an armed insurrection into a new form of governance and management of an economy. Emphasis was placed upon both Cuba’s successes and failures during each of those stages and how the new government often fell short of its intended goals, which usually then led events into the subsequent stage of policy and strategy. Considerable attention was paid to the Special Period in a Time of Peace, Cuba’s name for the 5th of those 6 stages. The Special Period began with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the demise of Eastern European regimes allied with the USSR, events that left Cuba’s economy in a shambles. Finally, Dr. Herold discussed the current stage of revolutionary Cuba’s economic policy and strategies, which has included several examples of mostly small-scale private sector enterprises, the so-called “cuentas propistas.”

Afterward, Dr. Wiley changed the focus somewhat by discussing revolutionary Cuba’s international relations. He focused upon its relations with Latin America, the COMECON countries, and other parts of the world, most notably Africa over several decades, and China. Cuba is often described as a “small country with a big-country foreign policy” and this idea was utilized as the point of departure to help students understand how this relatively small country has been very creative (and successful) in its diplomatic efforts to overcome US efforts to isolate Cuba from the global community.

In addition to the lecture program delivered by the two Hofstra faculty, SSA had organized several other lectures during the course of our stay in Havana. These included:• Dr. Doris Quintana, Professor of Law, University of

Habana. Dr. Quintana met with the class on two occasions, first discussing U.S. – Cuban relations, then, on the following day, explained the licensing system for the “cuentas propistas” and how most of Cuba’s housing stock has now been privatized, meaning that houses can now be bought and sold.

• Dr. Daybel Pañellas Alvarez, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Habana. Her lecture dealt with Transitions in Contemporary Cuba and she focused upon several major issues at the intersection of economic policy and social reality including such things as the “hyper-centralized state,” the “over-extended state,” and the increasing trend toward socioeconomic inequality.

“If you are a woman, if you are elderly, or black in Cuba – it is like the perfect storm.” stated Dr. Daybel Panellas, a social psychologist at the Universidad de Habana while discussing contemporary issues confronting Cuba with the Hofstra-in-Cuba students.

• Dr. Angela Rojas, Professor of Architecture, University of Habana, who presented a lecture describing the various periods reflected in Cuba’s architectural heritage and explained the great efforts being made to restore and preserve its architectural treasures, a nice follow-up to our walking tour of Habana Vieja.

• Dr. Jorge Mario Sánchez, Professor of Economics, University of Habana. Dr. Sánchez also represents Cuba in various international fora and has traveled abroad extensively. His lecture highlighted a great variety of economic issues currently confronted by Cuba and he illustrated how the complicated relationship with the US serves to impede several of Cuba’s development initiatives, including exploration for offshore oil reserves. He also discussed the recent great increases in remittances from abroad, most notably from the US, and the impact they are having on the country.

Student responses to these lectures were very enthusiastic and their feedback about them emphasized how refreshing it was to hear some very different perspectives on Cuba than what are commonly presented at home.

The travel program: experiencing Cuba

As noted previously, the travel program was quite intense, with long days filled with a great diversity of activities and site visits. Many offered opportunities to interact with Cubans of different walks of life in a variety of settings. The guide provided by SSA was instrumental in providing translation from Spanish into English, with his efforts supplemented by the two faculty members and a few students who had a good command of Spanish.

Many of the most notable aspects of the trip involved extensive walks, providing an up close view of many of Cuba’s interesting attractions:• a full-day + evening tour of

La Habana Vieja, which complemented our lecture on Spain’s colonization of Cuba and of the Caribbean more broadly

• a guided walk through an innovative urban farm on the margins of Havana

“Enjoy my country, but don’t try to understand it.” – suggested Elias, a practitioner of Santería, in Centro Habana, echoing a sentiment heard throughout the country

“Here we have people capable of building a satellite with a can of beans and a piece of fence.” stated economist Dr. Jorge Mario Sánchez, Universidad de Habana, discussing how Cuba’s substantial investment in its social capital allows it to accomplish things that its level of wealth suggest it shouldn’t be able to do.

• a guided walk through the beautiful campus of the University of Habana, with an explanation of its racist origins and of the later role played by the university’s students in the resistance to the Batista dictatorship

Salto de Rocio, Sierra de EscambrayTopes de Collantes: farmer holding endangered giant vegetarian rat

• a guided environmental walk in the Parque Nacional Topes de Collantes, in the Sierra de Escambray, Cuba’s second highest mountain range and one of the focal points of the CIA-assisted counter-revolution during the first half of the 1960s

Boarding truck to go into → the Sierra de Escambray in the south central part of Cuba ↓

• a walking tour of Trinidad, a UNESCO world heritage city, and one of the original seven Spanish settlements on the island

The Plaza José Martí, Cienfuegos, with the Catedral Purísima Concepción → and the Teatro Tomás Terry ↓

• a walking tour of Cienfuegos, Cuba’s finest “neo-colonial” city, with well-preserved neo-classic architecture from the late 1800s and early 1900s

There were several guided visits to museums, including:• the Museo de Bellas Artes, in Havana, where the stages of Cuban arts, primarily

painting, were viewed chronologically with comparisons made between trends in Cuba and those occurring elsewhere

• the Museo de Arquitectura Colonial, in Trinidad, a small very focused museum that illustrates Trinidad’s colonial architectural heritage

• the Museo Nacional de Lucha Contra Bandidos, also in Trinidad, which illustrated the war against the counter-revolutionaries, much of the action of which took place in the nearby Sierra de Escambray • the Museo de la Revolución,

in Havana, with its displays of artifacts and dioramas related to the armed struggle against the Batista dictatorship and the efforts to preserve the revolution against counter-revolutionaries, including the invaders at the Bay of Pigs, along with several captured armaments of U.S. origins

←Museo de la Revolución: diorama of the rebels in the Sierra Maestra, 1958

“We Cubans – we all see Fidel as a father figure, as our grandfather, and we all see the world through our grandfathers’ eyes when we are very little, we emulate them, we learn from them, we see the world as they see the world. But then eventually we come of age, we grow old; we start looking at things with our own eyes, we can start having contributions, but then those are our grandfathers.” David Horta Pimentel, Curator of the Pedro Pablo Gallery + Studio, Pinar del Rio.

• the studio/gallery of renowned Cuban artist, Pedro Pablo Oliva in Pinar del Rio. This private gallery is not open to the public; its displays include several of Oliva’s most notable works, among them many not viewed favorably by the state. The artist’s son-in-law, an art curator and trained art historian, opened the gallery exclusively for our group, who remained asking many questions of the curator for an additional hour than had

been programed.

Several of the most enjoyable and/or eye-opening experiences of the trip could be classified as cultural activities or community-based visits:

• a visit to one of the poor districts in Habana Centro, most of whose inhabitants are of African descent. This was led by a practitioner of Santería, who provided an in-depth explanation of the religion and how it is practiced, and provided entry into two private homes occupied by Santeros (priests). The experience illustrated very clearly the syncretistic nature of religion in Cuba

• a morning and lunch visit to an unusual, multi-faceted, small town development effort, the Proyecto Patio de Pelegrin, near Pinar del Rio. The Proyecto is a local initiative that receives no state support but has….

….successfully gained funding from numerous international NGOs as well as from La Agencia Andaluza de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo. The project includes programs in the arts, theatre, dance, music, debate, literature, biological farming, and the environment. The guided visit was followed by an organic lunch made from local products.

• a morning visit, en route from Cienfuegos to Pinar del Rio, to the Proyecto Korimakao, a unique school of the performing arts that brings promising students from all around Cuba. The students specialize in dance, theatre, and music. Our group was treated to private performances by a dance troupe and a musical group, both of which illustrated the enormous talent pool that has been developed in Cuba. An opportunity for interaction among the students was provided following each performance

• a private Santería cultural performance in Palmira, near Cienfuegos, that provided insights into the practice of the religion through dance ….

…. and music, a lively two-hour demonstration of African cultural influences in Cuba with a lot of guest participation expected.

• A private concert of Piquete music in the beautiful neo-classic Centro Cultural in Santa Clara. Piquete music is a form of music that flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries but is now a dying genre being kept alive in just a few places. The musicians were accompanied by a small group of dancers, all of whom are local pensioners in the city. The dancing was very slow and sedate but the elders invited the students to join with them in what turned out to be one of most endearing experiences of the entire trip.

The Hofstra-in-Cuba students

Lunch at a paladar in Havana, one of the several private sector family run restaurants where the group enjoyed a delicious meal

Special mention must be made of the Hofstra students who participated in this first Hofstra-in-Cuba program. Their enthusiasm remained exceptionally high throughout the entire trip. They participated fully in every aspect of the program, ate everything served to them (in great quantities!), engaged fully with people at every opportunity, and left behind a lot of good will among our Cuban hosts. They were excellent ambassadors for both Hofstra University and for the USA. Both of the professors had done other study abroad programs in the past but neither of us had ever worked with such a wonderful group of students.

In an informal effort to gauge the impact of this program on the students, a kind of “outcomes assessment” if you will, students were asked to identify how their experience in Cuba was influencing their future plans, both for the short and longer terms. That yielded an interesting variety of responses, impressive given that students returned from the island less than one month ago:• One student has applied for study abroad in

Cuba for fall semester through Hofstra + SSA

• One has chosen to write his LACS senior thesis on Cuba’s creative foreign policy and its outcomes

• Two have chosen themes developed through the course – Cuba’s relations with Latin America and the challenges of Cuba’s announced intention to convert from it current dual currency system to adopting just one currency – as the subjects of their research proposals for Geography 191

• One – a film major – is preparing a 30 minute documentary on the Cuba experience for his senior project

• Two are formulating plans to do graduate studies at the University of Habana

“If a man lives with his ex-wife and finds a girlfriend and the ex-wife finds a boyfriend, I don’t know, it’s just something weird” said Roberto Rodriguez Perez (left), guide for Hofstra-in-Cuba, explaining the odd situations that arise from Cuba’s acute housing shortage. He is pictured here with Elian, driver for the group.

• One is preparing a presentation on the Cuba program to be delivered to the Dean’s Advisory Council, incorporating photos taken by another student into the power point slides for that presentation

• One – the graduate student now doing his student teaching as a TOEFL student - conducted several interviews with Cubans about their English language education

• One – a dual major in geography and biology – is exploring how she can spend a gap year in Cuba doing a graduate program there prior to entering medical school

• One – a marketing major, was awakened in Cuba to the significance of migration to marketing professionals. He is now taking the Population and Migration Geography course to help prepare him to tailor his future marketing plans targeting Latin American diasporas in the USA

• At least 5 students are now exploring the possibility of doing intensive language Spanish language student in Latin America

“Do you know what we do to lure Canadian tourists to Cuba? Nothing. We just wait for winter.” said economist Dr. Jorge Mario Sánchez, describing the importance of tourism to Cuba’s foreign exchange earnings picture.

It was clear from the outset that each of the students had his/her own particular reason for doing this study abroad program. Their interests were Cuba-specific. After conversations with each of them, it became obvious that none had planned to do a study abroad program this year but when presented with the unprecedented chance to do one in Cuba, all 15 came on board. And the timing of this program – providing the opportunity to visit Cuba while it was still a “different” Latin America – seemed to add some urgency to their decision to go. The wisdom of their choice was only enhanced by the President’s December announcement that it is time for the U.S. – Cuba relationship to change. While all of the participants in the program are very supportive of the decision to normalize the relationship, we are also very aware that doing so will transform Cuba once again as the end of the U.S. embargo will likely propel Cuba into participation in the mainstream of the world economy at levels not seen there for more than 50 years. And in the process, that will re-shape Cuba in ways that could render it no longer the country that marches to a different drummer, causing it to lose many of the unique qualities that made it such a special destination this year…..

….It is because of those prospects for change that we all feel that it is important for Hofstra to support the running of the program for a second time in January 2016, before the impacts of these changes really begin to register on the Cuban landscape and mentality.

Toward that goal, several of the students have offered written statements for inclusion in this report in which they briefly describe what the program meant to them and their hopes that it will be made available to more Hofstra students in the near future:• “Going to Cuba was a life changing, mind opening experience. The country is more

culturally relevant than ever before and will be rapidly changing in the coming years. Students need the opportunity to see it as it was before it moves fully into the 21st century. You can't put a price on an experience like this.” Evan Crochet

• “The Cuba program was an amazing experience for me and my peers. Not only has it inspired me to write about Cuba's international relations for my senior thesis but, as my first international trip, it was only right it would be to Cuba, a country that has inspired so many others including my own country, Puerto Rico. This program is a great way to experience first-hand a country with so much culture and pride that has so much to offer to the world. If I could go again, I wouldn't blink twice before saying “yes!" José Rivera

• "Getting the chance to see a "forbidden" country, from an American perspective, has completely changed my mind in regards to our relationship with Cuba. I think other students should also get the opportunity I had. It will advance their lives in a multitude of ways, like it did for me." Jessica Antretter

• “The Study Abroad program in Cuba this January allowed students to learn first-hand the Cuban perspective on life, love, and community while visiting historic sites including an old Spanish imperial fortress, the University of Havana, and Revolution Square; even visiting the homes of community elders who practiced the Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria, gladly explaining their unique faith. All this took place in an unprecedented time of expanding U.S.-Cuban relations, offering an experience which will undoubtedly remain with us for the rest of our lives.” Doug Forgione

• “Having an opportunity to visit a country I never dreamt accessible was wonderful, insightful, and humbling. The people were kind, the sights breathtaking and beautiful; untouched by Americanization, a sight seldom seen. Traveling to Cuba was a truly awe-inspiring moment in my life that will forever serve my memory as one of the most unique places I have visited, which was only enhanced by traveling with the fantastic group of people from Hofstra whom I now consider friends. Trips of this nature should forever continue in order to showcase a nation so close to the United States, yet so far removed.” Eric Crocombe

• “Traveling to a third world country is always an eye opening experience, but going to a developing country that has been excommunicated by the United…

….States of America is an experience you cannot put a price on. There is so much to learn from the Cuba trip; you enter the country with a few questions and leave with a million more, it is truly a mysterious and fascinating place.” Youssef Bouzaidi

Organic farm, Valle de Viñales

Tobacco drying shed, Valle de Viñales• “The Cuba study abroad program is a

once in a life time opportunity for U.S. students to learn about a nation unlike any other. I learned a great deal about the devastating impacts of U.S. foreign policy, as well as just how creative and positive Cuba has remained throughout its past. Cuba is truly unique among its neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean and to understand this, it only seems fit that students go to Cuba and experience it for themselves.” Bhavneet Anand

• “There were many benefits of the Cuba Study Abroad program, that I feel should be made available to future students. Some of the most insightful moments that I appreciated while in Cuba, were the lectures we had with several different University of Havana professors. These meetings offered important insight into the culture and politics of Cuba, that I feel I could only have learned from a Cuban citizen. I would highly recommend the continuation of this study abroad program because Cuba will continue to be a unique country for study, especially as it continues its reintegration into the global community.” Eleanore Saintis

Cutting dried tobacco leaves for cigar-making, Valle de Viñales

• “During the three weeks of the Cuba program, we managed to not only see a lot of Cuba but also learn about it first hand from Cubans, whether they be the University of Havana professors who lectured us or our very knowledgeable guide. It was an exciting time to be there because as its relationship with the United States seems to be ameliorating, people all around Cuba were wondering and guessing what that would mean for both of our countries and that engendered many interesting, intellectual and thoughtful conversations.” Mishaina Joseph

• “This program inspired me to learn Spanish ….The trip was a once in a life time opportunity especially given the current US Cuba climate. I think it's an important program to continue because of the very interesting and specific relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. It wasn't until I was on the trip that I realized how little I knew about an island only 90 miles from my nation’s coast. This trip also inspired me to take up global studies with a concentration in Latin American studies.” Gianna Ensminger.

As everything above so strongly suggests, the initial Hofstra-in-Cuba program was a great success and is having a very positive impact on its participants. Therefore, Professor Herold and Professor Wiley are now planning Hofstra’s return to Cuba in January 2016. The tentative dates are January 3 – 21, 2016, pending flight schedules. Please check the LACS and Study Abroad websites in late August/early September for updated information about the 2016 Hofstra-in-Cuba program!