DEVS 305 Cuban Society and Culture

Cuban Culture and Society is a full 6.0 undergraduate course. It is part of an exchange agreement between Queen’s and the University of Havana, and has been offered since 2008. The aim is to introduce students to some of the main events and highlights of Cuban society, history, politics and culture, with a focus on the period from the Cuban revolution (1959) to the present.

The course is approximately four weeks long, held in the Spring session. For the first two weeks , we will meet in a seminar grouping at Queen's and follow a structured reading list. The last two weeks of the course will take place at the University of Havana in Cuba.

This course will be taught by an interdisciplinary team: Karen Dubinsky (Global Development Studies/History) and Susan Lord (Film and Media Studies). In Havana, the course translator is Zaira Zarza (PhD student, Cultural Studies)

For more information please see the Cuba handbook

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Session Dates 2013:

Queen's on campus session dates: 6 May - 16 May 2013 (3 HOURS DAILY)

Havana session dates: 18 MAY TO 02 June 2013

Sample topics of the campus-based seminars include:

• the Cuban Revolution, its roots, critics, and legacies
• Cuba around the world (including a section on 
  Cuban/Canadian relations)
• the “Special Period” and the future of the country
• art, film, music and the representation of identities

In Havana we work with colleagues at the University of Havana to present students with an active daily programme of study, which will include lectures by Cuban scholars, films as well as visits to art galleries, museums, and other sites of historical and cultural interest. The following are some sample topics/visits from previous years:

• Cuba's Foreign Policy with Professor and former Diplomat Carlos Alzugaray
• National Art Gallery and talk with curator Danys Montes de Oca
• Museum of Literacy Campaign and panel discussion with former Literacy teachers.
• International School of Medicine and discussion of Cuban health care system.