Cuba: Revolutionary History, Development and Environment

Instructor: Dr. Evelyn Jennings

Dates: May 18- June 24 (5/18-5/24 at St. Lawrence, 5/25-6/5 in Cuba, 6/6-6/24 online coursework)

Cost: $3,900 + airfare*  

Listing: HIST 248/CLAS 248

Prerequisite(s): HIST 247/CLAS 247B The Caribbean, HIST 299/CLAS 299 US & Cuba, ENG 224 Caribbean Literature, or permission of the instructor.

Units: .5 SLU Unit/1.8 Credits 

Course Description: This course will examine some major themes in the history and development of Cuba since the Revolution of 1959, such as Cuba’s climate and environment as a factor of its history, culture, and development over time, food production and distribution, environmental policy, and tourism. We will discuss the evolving development models of the revolution’s leaders and the successes and challenges over time, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. We will combine a week’s study on campus in May, a 10-day travel component to Cuba, and two weeks of online discussion and sharing of assignments in June.  Our time in Cuba will include five sessions of Spanish instruction at the University of Havana and extensive excursions in the city of Havana (colonial historical sites, the Museum of the Revolution, visits with Afro-Cuban musicians, Cuban artists and dancers, specialists on hurricane preparedness and civil defense, and students from the University of Havana, visits to urban organic farms,). Outside Havana we will visit the main tobacco-growing region of Pinar del Río valley, the eco-community of Las Terrazas, the Bay of Pigs, the environmental station and crocodile breeding farm of the Zapata National Park, and the city of Matanzas. For the final assignment each student will research and prepare a project that will be shared with the St. Lawrence community in some way. Some examples of possible projects might include: a research paper and public presentation to be delivered in fall 2013, a creative memoir or travel narrative based on research, a proposal for an independent SYE, summer fellowship or grant, or a multimedia project on a research topic to be shared online.

*This is an estimated cost for the program, and is subject to change.