CGE Course in Cuba a Big Success

Yesterday I returned from Cuba for the first time in eight years. Thanks to the Obama administration's loosening of travel restrictions, which now allow travel for academic purposes, as well as cultural exchanges, the Center for Global Education (CGE) is once again taking educational groups to Cuba, as we were able to do during the Clinton years.

The course I am teaching, which included an 8-day travel seminar in Cuba, is entitled "Cuban History, Culture, and Political Change in Cuba." We started the course in Mexico prior to departrue for Cuba on June 4 and will finish our course two weeks from now. It is an interdisciplinary seminar that is cross-listed for credit in Spanish, Cross-Cultural Studies, and Political Science. Those taking it for Political Science credit can also count it towards a major or minor in International Relations. The students had to complete extensive reading and an exam on Cuban history and U.S. relations prior to the trip and will now be posting entries on this blog to share what they learned in Cuba. In addition, they will have to take an exam on U.S.-Cuban relations in light of what they experienced in Cuba and more readings, as well as complete a final project. I hope you will check this blog daily over the next two weeks to learn about what we heard, saw, and experienced in Cuba, remembering that this blog does not represent any official position of CGE but rather the individual perspectives of the students who travelled to Cuba as part of their course. We welcome your reponses and questions.

Thanks!

Ann Lutterman-Aguilar, CGE-Mexico