Study Abroad Advisor
Study in Cuba
By Lee Zeigler
In the minds of many U.S. students Cuba is inaccessible as a study abroad destination. In fact, while the U.S. foreign policy of embargo and isolation deliberately inhibits the flow of balanced information
about the island nation, it also provides an opening for cultural activities for hundreds of students and scholars each year.
A growing number of U.S. educational institutions sponsor short-term study programs in Cuba, most of which are open to students from other schools. At least one sponsor hopes to have a semester program
in operation by 2001.
Why Study in Cuba?
While geographically close, the country and its culture remain a world apart. Afro-Cuban culture is present in everything from salsa to santería, the religious practice brought by West African
slaves. Cuba's efforts at sustainable development, particularly in agriculture, provide visiting students many lessons in producing food organically, a challenge which fell to Cubans when their Soviet supply of fuel, chemical fertilizers, and mechanical
parts disappeared.
Public health, including medical research and the remarkable all-inclusive medical support for all citizens, is another popular area of study--as are race relations, art and music, the socialist
experiment, the comprehensive educational system, and, of course, the Spanish language.
Importantly for U.S. students, the Cuban people--students and academicians, professionals and laborers, young and old--all receive American students warmly. The hostility in governmental relations
between Americans and Cubans does not exist at the people-to-people level.
Although street theft is present as a result of the increased poverty, violent crime is virtually absent. Students should feel secure in walking the streets, though they may receive friendly overtures
from hustlers.
In short, Cuba presents a rich panorama of study possibilities in a warm and welcoming environment.
Selecting a Program
Programs vary in content and format. Some of the two-week programs do not have a formal classroom structure but instead focus on field trips in Havana and around the country. Others, lasting up to
one month, require the completion of classes and the taking of exams. Programs with classroom instruction are generally held in collaboration with the Univ. of Havana or other Cuban educational institutions. Although most programs house students in
hotels, the SUNY Buffalo program, headquartered in a restored convent (now a hostel) in old Havana, provides comfortable rooms with private baths. One program has its own residential house in a Havana suburb, complete with an organic garden in the
back yard.
Most programs take place in June or July, but some shorter ones are held at other times of the year.
Answers to the following questions should help in the selection process:
What will the total cost be to me, including transportation from home and incidential expenses? Will I be taught by Cuban nationals, U.S. faculty, or a combination of the two? Will I have the opportunity
to know and interact with Cuban students?
The following programs have been offered over the past several years, most of them annually.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ. offers a 14-day one- to three-credit program in June. In 1999 it emphasized urban design and planning: colonial, neo-colonial, and revolutionary. It
also included a wide array of contemporary social, economic and political issues unfolding in contemporary Cuba. Most lectures and field trips were outside the classroom in Havana, Trinidad, and Varadero.
State Univ. at Buffalo has offered summer sessions in Havana for three years. In 1999 the four-week program, open to both undergraduate and graduate students, consisted of one required and one elective
class for each student, each course valued at three credit hours. The interdisciplinary requirement, ?Havana: Imagining the City and the Nation,? provided a basic background in fundamental political problems in the history of Cuba and the intricacies
of its socio-racial environment.
The Tulane Univ. program, which claims to be the first undergraduate summer program in Cuba, ran two sessions in May and June 1999: public health and social work classes, plus offerings on Afro-Cuban
culture and history, the business environment in Cuba, environment and society, historic preservaton, introduction to Cuban studies, and Spanish language at all levels. Students may take a maximum of two courses, each granting three credit hours.
Housing is in dorm-style residences.
The Drake Univ. program does not operate every year but did send a group to Cuba on a four-credit program May 18-June 3, 1999. Students traversed the country, visiting educational and historic sites
and meeting with Cuban leaders and students in many fields.
The Center for Cross Cultural Study, based in Amherst, Massachusetts, in collaboration with Willamette Univ. in Oregon, has three-week programs twice-yearly (December-January and June). Hosted by
the Univ. of Havana, the programs focus on contemporary issues in both English and Spanish sections. Four academic credits are awarded.
Global Exchange (GX) is a nonprofit research, education, and action center which promotes people-to-people ties between the North and
the South. Although not an academic institution, it provides highly flexible and innovative programs, the study components of which are in partnership with the Univ. of Havana. The Cuba Language School one-month study sessions operate most months
throughout the year, and two-week sessions are also available. Because of its flexibility, the program attracts participants of all ages and nationalities. Classroom instruction is combined with field trips and individual tutors who are generally
Cuban university students. GX also offers bike trips around the country and workshops in dance, percussion, and culture.
Transitions Abroad staff member Victoria Hubbs, who participated in GX's month-long program this year, reported: "The language program at Global Exchange was well-organized. The Univ. of Havana
was a great place to study and the tutors were very helpful and friendly. But the pro-government slant on the culture reflected in the presentations, guided trips, and lectures clearly left the participant with a one-sided perspective on the Cuban
people and the quality of their lives."
Artimus Keiffer, a professor of geography at Indiana Univ./Purdue Univ. at Indianapolis (IUPUI), has personally developed a 15-day summer in Cuba which features hands-on field work and observational
studies while participants move around the country. The focus is on land use, architecture and urban planning, historical preservation, and the impact of tourism on the environment. Keiffer anticipates moving to another institution next year and will
take his Cuba program along.
Other similar programs are sponsored by Southern Mississippi Univ., George Mason Univ., and California State Univ. at Sacramento. In the future, I predict that there will be an even greater selection
of options for study in Cuba, both academic and experiential, in the new millennium.
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