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Professor Avi Chomsky
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Only 90 miles from the United States, Cuba has remained a forbidden territory for most U.S. citizens since the Revolution of 1959. Cuba is a former Spanish colony and sugar-producing slave society, one of the last countries of Latin America to achieve independence from Spain in 1898. Between 1898 and 1959, the United States held an outsized influence on the island. In 1959, Cuban was the site of the hemisphere’s first successful socialist revolution. While most people in the United States know little about Cuba today, Cubans are acutely aware of the United States and the long intertwined history between the two countries. We will study the history of the Cuban Revolution and then see it first-hand, as the island struggles to adapt to the postsocialist world of the 1990s and beyond. You will also enjoy Cuba’s tropical weather and Caribbean culture!
Course Information
This course examines the problems and prospects facing the Cuban Revolution in historical and cultural context. The first part of the course is spent on campus in intensive study of the Cuban Revolution. The second segment (Spring Break) is spent in Cuba doing first-hand research and study of current issues in Cuba, and the last segment is spent on campus doing oral and written evaluations of the problems raised by the course. Issues include food and agriculture, health, economic crisis and change, arts and culture, race and ethnicity, women, and Cuban relations with the United States.
Note: The trip is a required component of the seminar and must be taken to receive credit for this seminar. Students must participate in the semester seminar in order to travel to Cuba. Class sessions will use multimedia presentations, film, readings and discussion to explore the history the Cuban Revolution.
The travel portion of the seminar is from March 10-18.
The Experience
Join Salem State University professor Aviva Chomsky to study the history of the Cuban Revolution. The class will meet at Salem State or online during the spring semester of 2016, and travel to Cuba over the spring break, March 10-18, 2016. While in Cuba we will have the opportunity to:
• See Cuba’s colonial, neo-colonial, and revolutionary past inscribed in the architecture of its capital city, Havana
• See first-hand the changes that the Cuban Revolution is experiencing under the new government led by Raúl Castro
• Meet with academics, artists, students, and others to learn about different perspectives on the Cuban reality
• Visit farms, supermarkets, and farmers markets to learn about Cuba’s attempts to maintain food production and distribution during economic crisis
• Consider what socialism means in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries
• Travel outside of the city to Playa Larga, a quaint beach community near the historic Bay of Pigs. Visit the Bay of Pigs (Playa Girón) museum.
• Visit daycare centers, schools, and health facilities
• Walk the streets and meet with ordinary Cubans
• Enjoy Cuban food, music, art, and culture
Trip Information
Cost: $1,967.40 (per person)
Trip includes: Round trip airfare
Airport transfers
Dorm or simple hotel-style accommodations
Most meals
Ground transportation in Cuba
Required site visits
Translation of all activities
Cost does not include: Personal expenses, tips, souvenirs, non-group activities during free time, etc.
Registration:
Salem State students may register through Navigator.
Fall 2016 – Travel Commitment Charge/Deposit
(4110) NCTRV101-S4 Travel Study Part 1, Topic: History of the Cuban Revolution.
DEPOSIT AMOUNT $300: Due by 12/2/16
Spring 2017 – Final Travel Payment
(3642) NCTRV102-S6 Travel Study Part 2, Topic: History of the Cuban Revolution
FINAL PAYMENT AMOUNT $1,667.40: Due by 1/27/2017
Spring 2017 - Credit Course Associated with the Trip (sign up for one of the two sections, depending on whether you are a day or evening student)
(3597) HST502-01 (Day Section) International Study Travel Seminar
(3598) HST502-S1 (Continuing and Professional Studies Section) International Study Travel Seminar