Studying in Cuba
By Gabriel Vignoli
What makes you a citizen? Your race? Your gender? The environment and the urban infrastructure in which you live? money? These keywords have a clear, tangible meaning to each of us. However, studying and experiencing these in Havana allows one to see them as if through a looking glass: what comes out of it changes the initial perspective of the viewer.
How is race as a political category affected by the attempts to construct the Cuban nation (19th century) and Revolution (20th century) as raceless, when the present economic crisis mainly affects non-whites? What is gender in a machista (male chauvinist) society where women’s empowerment has been called a “revolution within the revolution”? What is money when there are two currencies with multiple exchange rates that do not comply with the basic definition of money (means of exchange, unit of account, store of value) and are devoid of legal tender outside the island? What are the environmental challenges of the only country with a high human development index and a carbon footprint below the regeneration level? How is political consensus constructed and questioned in the context of socialism in austerity conditions in the face of a six-decade US embargo?
The Cuba International Field Program, which I head, taking place in Havana, Cuba, from May 25th to July 20th 2024 (next summer) is a unique chance to both think through and experience these questions on the ground with leading Cuban scholars, Cuban institutions and grassroots organizations and, who knows, even the country’s President,
For interested students, applications will open around November 15, please check this link or email Gabriel Vignoli, Faculty Coordinator of the Cuba IFP: gabriel.vignoli@newschool.edu