Seminars

Cuba

Year Founded 2023

Seminar # 813

StatusActive

The history of Cuba is a highly complex and controversial topic. Beginning in the sixteenth century it has been the locus of repeated encounters between diverse cultures and subcultures. The sixteenth century witnessed devastating contacts between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. As the Spanish presence expanded in subsequent centuries, so did the role of Cuba as a economic and political linchpin of the Spanish empire. Armadas loaded with goods and riches from the Spanish colonies throughout the hemisphere rendezvoused in Cuba prior to their departure for Spain in an effort to reduce the depredations of European competitors. The increased importation of Africans as slave labor in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries diversified Cuba demographically and culturally even more, as did Cuba’s increasing reception of Haitians, Jamaicans, Mexicans, Chinese, and North Americans, among others. Proximity to the emerging power to the North resulted in increased US influence to the extent that Cuban independence from Spain was circumscribed by the Platt Amendment (1903-34) written into its constitution. This limited Cuban sovereignty and helped feed movements throughout the 20th and 21st centuries to eliminate US influence. This struggle culminated in the 1959 emergence of a revolutionary government that resulted in ongoing tensions between the island and the US. The complexities of Cuban history, including its relationship with the US continues to ensnare the two countries. This University Seminar will focus on the political, economic, social, and cultural issues and complexities of the island, as well as its relationship with the US.

Chair/s

Margaret E. Crahan

Gabriel Vignoli

Rapporteur/s

Jazmín Novoa Lara

External Website

Conference Registration

Meeting Schedule

Scheduled

07
Apr

April 7, 20266:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Faculty House

Cuban Influence on Dominican Progressive Movements. 1960s-1990s

Speaker/s

Diogenes Abreu, Award Winning Artist, Writer, and Photographer

Dario Tejeda, Journalist

Scheduled

21
Apr

April 21, 20266:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Faculty House

Rethinking the Cuban Revolution From Within

Speaker/s

Michael Bustamante, University of Miami

Katrin Hansink, Baruch College, CUNY

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Past Meetings

Scheduled

19
Feb

February 19, 20266:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Faculty House

Reimagining the United States Through Cuban History

Speaker/s

Ada Ferrer, Princeton University

Discussant/s

Gabriel Vignoli, The New School

Scheduled

02
Dec

December 2, 20256:00 pm - 7:30 pm

CUNY Grad Center

Maria Antonia – Classic Cuban Film Recently Restored

Speaker/s

Sergio Giral, Film Director

Jerry Carlson, CUNY, Graduate Center

Scheduled

29
Sep

September 29, 20256:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Faculty House

US Cuba Policy: Past, Present, and Future

Speaker/s

Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Ambassador, ex-Chief of US Embassy Havana, Dartmouth College

William LeoGrande, School of Public Affairs, American University

Geoff Thale, Ex-President of Washington Office on Latin America

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