Cuba and Education

Cuba study trips face crackdown  12/7/03 Chicago Tribune: "But education officials worry that in an election year, the Bush administration won't stop with restricting study programs offered by non-accredited schools. "There are political considerations driving this crackdown on visits to Cuba," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, a Washington-based organization that represents 1,800 college and university presidents. "The administration is under intense pressure from leaders of the Cuban exile community to be tougher on Cuba, and this is part of this effort." "

Cuban accident leads to a party with Castro  10/23/03 Pioneer Press

Conn Professor, Grad In Cuba To Study, Discuss Environment  6/2/03 The Day, CT: "A Connecticut College professor and a recent graduate are in Cuba through June 12, presenting their work at the 4th International Convention on Environment and Development in Havana, which is being held in conjunction with an Eco-Cuba Educational Program."

Possible Bush sanctions may affect UA’s Cuba initiative  4/22/03 Tuscaloosa News, AL

Cuba's culture a learning tool, if you'd only go  4/19/03 Daily Northwestern, IL

Bill bans aid for students from terrorist countries  4/6/03 AP: "The bill would prevent state aid from going to university students who are citizens of six of the seven countries on the State Department list: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Lybia and North Korea. Cuba is also on the state department list but was amended out of the bill."

Reach Out provides alternate spring break  4/2/03 Yale Daily News: "The students who traveled to Cuba found themselves in quite a different situation. Because of the stringent governmental laws, students were not able to live or eat meals with families, and instead had to stay in a guest house owned by the Small Farmers Association. The 16 students on the trip were all students in Professor Alejandra Bronfman's class, "Cuba Today: Problems and Promises of a Lasting Revolution." … Students on the third service learning trip visited Nicaragua. The trip was coordinated by the New Haven-Leon Sister City Project, a nongovernmental organization with branches in New Haven and Leon, Nicaragua."

Hillel Spends Break in Cuba  3/26/03 Cornell Daily Sun

Rules changed on Cuba trips  3/25/03 Miami Herald: "Travel permits no longer will be granted to organizations that take individuals to Cuba to participate in ''educational'' exchanges that are not related to academic course work. The change will require more scrutiny of license applications." The War on Culture continues.

Treasury Department cracks down on visas to Cuba  3/24/03 AP: "Students wanting to travel to Cuba for educational purposes would have to show that the trip is for academic course work, the Treasury Department said in a revised rule. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces a longstanding U.S. embargo against Cuba, said it would no longer issue new licenses for "people-to-people educational exchanges." Those licenses, which were authorized on a case-by-case basis, ended up becoming a loophole for groups to travel to Cuba when the educational aspect was barely evident, said Treasury Department spokesman Tony Fratto." The totalitarian tone Treasury uses is beyond countenance.

St. Mary’s students in Cuba to study its economy  3/17/03 Express News, San Antonio: "Fourteen St. Mary's University students are in Cuba this week examining the island's economy in the wake of 40 years of socialism, isolation and the recent influx of U.S. tourists and business interests. The students, members of a semester-long School of Business and Administration course studying the nation, will spend 10 days in and around Havana."

Alabama-Cuba Initiative calls for research, projects  3/9/03 University of Alabama: "The Alabama-Cuba Initiative is seeking project proposals for the upcoming Alabama-Cuba Week. All students, faculty and staff are welcome to submit proposals."

Alabama-Cuba Initiative Web Site  3/9/03 University of Alabama

Class will see Cuba up close  3/7/03 Rocky Mountain Collegian: "The three-credit class costs around $3,000, which covers tuition, the study abroad administrative charge, the costs of accommodation, air travel from Cancun to Havana, ground transportation, meals and fees. Additionally, students must provide their own transportation to Cancun, which will vary from student to student but will be approximately $500, Bingham said."

Students Seek Improved Relations Among Cubans  2/19/03 Harvard Crimson: Otto von Reich was scheduled to attend this fine little gathering - "Students from over 20 colleges and universities met at Harvard this weekend to encourage communication between Cuban expatriates and the dissident community within the island. The student-run conference, entitled “Raíces de Esperanza,” or “Roots of Hope,” was jointly organized by the Harvard University Cuban American Undergraduate Association and the Georgetown University Cuban-American Students Association. Around 100 students joined academics and activists in attendance. The event opened with a teleconference featuring two dissidents opposed to the government of Fidel Castro who are currently living in Cuba: Vladimiro Roca and Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas. Both spoke of the need for Cubans to work with expatriates to plan for the island’s post-Castro future."

Cuba Working Group (Universities)  2/1/03 Social Science Research Council

SU student to represent Seattle in Cuba  1/23/03 Seattle Spectator: "Seattle University will have a representative in this year’s US/Cuba Sister Cities Association Conference in La Havana, Cuba. Representing SU and the United States is Jessica Burns. Burns is a third-year Matteo Ricci College humanities and finance student from Renton, Wash. She was recently chosen as a delegate for the 2003 Every Women’s Delegation to Cuba. The EWD, created by Cindy Domingo, is an organization comprised of women from various racial, social and economic backgrounds, who describe themselves as an anti-racist movement fighting to end the U.S. embargo against Cuba."

Cuba gains popularity as study destination  1/22/03 Badger Herald, Madison: "Cuba, a United States adversary since an embargo was placed on the island 40 years ago, is gaining growing attention from U.S. students looking to study overseas. More than 900 U.S. students traveled to the country, located 90 miles south of Florida, during the 2000-01 academic year… The University of Wisconsin is participating in a new study-abroad program beginning next fall where students will travel to the University of Havana in Cuba. Students engaging in this program will take regular courses offered by the university as well as an advanced Spanish course."

UA group to arrive in Cuba Monday  1/18/03 Tuscaloosa News: "A group from the University of Alabama will arrive in Cuba on Monday, looking for ways to open relations with the small island nation. The group is made up mostly of deans and professors, who will meet with their counterparts at the University of Havana. The payoff is hoped to be a series of academic exchanges between the two universities and shared ideas about academics and economics."

Cuba sí, Castro quien sabe  1/11/03 Joplin Independent, Missouri: "Fortunate to be a part of the group from Missouri Southern State College that had a government license to visit Cuba, we offer these views of life under Castro."

Semester at Sea travels to Cuba  1/10/03 Daily Bruin, LA: "The Semester at Sea program, run by the Institute for Shipboard Education and the University of Pittsburgh, introduces students, largely from the United States, to countries far different from their native lands."

Students eye Cuba for study abroad  1/7/03 CNN: "Although Europe remains by far the top destination for U.S. college students studying abroad, more and more are choosing to enhance their education at an exotic location closer to home: Cuba. Long off-limits to all but a few Americans, Cuba allowed 905 U.S. students to visit during the 2000-01 school year, a 64 percent increase over the year before. The number is expected to grow the next time figures are released as students increasingly turn to the only communist nation in the Western Hemisphere."

Recent Grantees and Project Descriptions  12/26/02 Social Science Research Council: details numerous recent joint Cuba/US awards, including - "CUNY/Caribbean Exchange Program, Hunter College School of Social Work and the University of Havana Department of Sociology and Social Work Program: "CUNY Caribbean Exchange: Hunter/Habana Community Organizing Initiative" and Fundacion Amistad, Casa de las Americas, and the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana: "Workshop: Management of Archival Collections." and The University of Michigan and the Cuban Center for Anthropology: "Society for American Archaeology Conference Session on Cuban Archaeology."

Students demand canceled Cuba field trips be resumed  11/27/02 California Aggie: "Students preparing to study abroad in Cuba in the coming months were notified in early November to cancel their plans because of increased costs to the programs. Thursday evening, during a forum on the Education Abroad Program, outraged students presented William Lacy, vice provost of University Outreach and International Programs, with a petition demanding the reinstatement of the winter and summer session abroad programs in Cuba. According to UC Davis senior Liliana Silva, about 120 signatures petitioning to reinstate the program were gathered, while 11 students submitted letters along with the petition promising that they would enroll in the program if reinstated, despite the financial cost."

University of Alabama establishes relationship with Cuba  11/14/02 Crimson White: "Clayton said he has seen plenty of interest at the University level, including a possible exchange of medical students, musicians interested in studying cultures' impact on music, archaeologists and anthropologists. Other interested parties are students studying Spanish, business students and baseball players. "We want to make available to students the opportunity to travel and learn about another country," Clayton said. "Travel gives students a chance to leave this state and see another culture." Clayton stressed the importance of international study and travel. The close proximity between Cuba and Alabama will also benefit students wishing to travel, he said, because tickets will be more affordable."

Harte institute's new Web site links U.S., Mexico, Cuba  10/25/02 Corpus Christi Caller Times: "On the web at: www.gulfbase.org - Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi's Harte Research Institute recently took its research about the Gulf of Mexico onto the information superhighway, launching its new tri-national Web site, GulfBase."

A dialogue with Afro-Cubans  5/23/02 Louisville Courier Journal: Trotter Group columnist - "We're in Cuba to participate in a special project on Afro-Cubans; we're also involved in a symposium with Cuban journalists sponsored by Delaware State University's Institute for Advanced Journalism Studies."

A faculty of medicine operates in Haiti under Cuban advisory  2/1/02 AIN, Cuba: "Santiago de Cuba, February 2(ain) A new faculty of medicine was inaugurated in Haiti as part of the colaboration that Cuba is developing in that Caribbean country, one of the poorest in the world. Over two dozens of Cuban professors are working in this institution to accelerate the academic formation of future Haitian medicine professionals. This is the first faculty of some 20 that Cuba will promote in Third World countries. It is sited in the Haitian capital and there some 120 students are receiving their preparation which will last over six years."

US UNIVERSITY STUDENTS MEET THEIR CUBAN COUNTERPARTS  1/26/02 Radio Havana: Sister Cities in action: "A visiting delegation of students and professors from the University of Pittsburgh participated in a cultural event on Thursday evening with their Cuban counterparts from the Camilo Cienfuegos University in central Matanzas province."

Cuba Educational Exchange with Universidad de Habana  12/2/01 Howard Law School

Cuba trip reveals rich culture, much ruin  2/3/00 Johns Hopkins: "If you were to ask the Hopkins students pictured above what the best Intersession 2000 course was, the unanimous and uproarious choice would be "From Obatala to Mendive: Afro-Cuban Culture & Histories."

Cuba and Education

Copyright © 1997 AfroCubaWeb, S.A.