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Current News and Upcoming Events

February 4-6, 2010
Cuban Research Institute Conference

The overarching theme of the conference, “Cuba 2010: An Island in a Global World,” will focus on the current political, economic, cultural and social dynamics on the island and the
Diaspora in the light of a changing world.

April 17-18, 2009
How Do UC-Cuba? Workshop Program

A conference program with information on workshops and events.

January - September, 2009

Caribbean Conferences

A selection of upcoming conferences about the Caribbean.

April 17-18, 2009
How Do UC-Cuba? Graduate Student Workshop

Sponsored by the UC-Cuba Multi-Campus Research Program, the UC-Cuba Graduate Student Workshop is an interdisciplinary, collaborative effort of graduate students and faculty, whose research involves the study of any aspect of Cuba.  The goal of the workshop is to nurture new research, facilitate collaborative work, and create lasting relationships.

An important characteristic, and perhaps the driving force behind this project, is the desire to improve the quality of the graduate student experience.  This workshop initiates a learning community that we hope will grow beyond the first moment of departure.

For further details, please contact UC-Cuba Graduate Workshop coordinators, Virginia Benitez (UC Santa Cruz) at Virginia.Benitez@gmail.com and Susannah R. Drissi (UCLA) at rsdrissi@aol.com.


February 17-18-19, 2009


Professor Ada Ferrer at UCSD, UC Irvine and UCLA

UC-CUBA co-sponsored a lecture by Professor Ada Ferrer which she gave in consecutive days at UC SD, UC Irvine and UCLA.

Dr. Ada Ferrer, Associate Professor of Latin American History at New York University, is the author of Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868-98 (University of North Carolina Press, 1999), winner of the 2000 Berkshire Book Prize. Insurgent Cuba focuses on the unfolding, and eventual undoing, of a vibrant social movement that advocated not only independence from Spain but also the end of slavery and the elimination of racism. She is currently at work on a book-length project on the repercussions of the Haitian Revolution in Cuba and the Atlantic World. She lectured on “Cuban Slave Society and the Haitian Revolution.”

February 15, 2009


A much anticipated book by our colleague Amalia Cabezas (UCR) will be released in June by Temple University Press. Economies of Desire is a superb scholarly work, an original and significant study of the socio-sexual economy that developed in connection with mass tourism in Cuba and the Dominican Republic in recent years.
This is what Professor Patricia Zavella (UCSC) says about it in the publicity blurb:
"Economies of Desire is very well written and compelling, drawing us into two historical contexts and illustrating women's agency as they negotiate the economic, political, and social constraints. Cabezas' many years of field research provide nuance to her analysis, and her critique of the feminist discourse about human rights is completely on target."

February 4, 2009


Cuba Libre: Revolution and Transition
UC Santa Cruz

A facilitated panel discussion comprised of experts on the complex history and current relationship between the United States and Cuba.

Invited panelists included freelance foreign correspondent Reese Erlich, author of Dateline Havana, documentary filmmaker and long- time Cuba expert, Saul Landau, UCSC Professor Lourdes Martínez- Echazábal, and San Francisco-based Immigration Attorney Bill Martinez, who specializes in cultural exchanges between the two countries. Facilitator: College Nine and Ten Provost, Helen Shapiro.

Event held at the College Nine and Ten Multipurpose Room.
Doors open at 7 pm. Free and open to the public.


December 13, 2008

UC-CUBA Chair’s report on travel to Cuba

I returned a few days ago from a research trip to Cuba. In addition to my own work, here’s some items that might be of interest to the UC-CUBA community.
  1. I met with writer Leonardo Padura. FYI his new novel on Trotsky and Mercader is going through last minute tweaks with Tusquets editors in Barcelona and will be out in September. I gave Padura a copy of the video of his interview which we showed at our May conference.
  2. My trip coincided with a visit by 15 UC SF academics led by Tom Novotny. I began initial conversations re: cooperation between UC-CUBA and UC SF with Professor Nancy Burke and Dr. Richard Quint (Emeritus, UCSF).
  3. I also checked out a couple of casas particulares which were very nice, that I would be happy to recommend to anyone in the UC-CUBA community that will be visiting Cuba and needs inexpensive lodging.
Raul Fernandez, Chair, UC-CUBA MRP


November 12-13, 2008
Ela Troyano presented her documentary on La LUPE at UCLA on November 12, and at UC Irvine on November 13, 2008.

“La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul” is a documentary chronicle of the life and career of transnational radio star and salsa icon Lupe Yoli, popularly known as “La Lupe” or “La YiYi,” from her origins in Santiago, Cuba, to nightclubs in Havana and New York. For this in-depth and affectionate portrait, Troyano weaves rare archival footage from Cuba with interviews with family members and close associates in the music and entertainment worlds, including Afro- Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria and TV host Dick Cavett, and Cuban musicologists Helio Orovio and Radamés Giro.


November 13, 2008

Lecture on Cuba

"Turning the World Upside Down: Sugar Workers, Soviet and the Frustrated Revolution of 1933 in Cuba" by Professor Barry Carr

Professor Carr is a visiting professor from the History Institute of Social Research at Swinburn University, Melbourne, Australia.

Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Place: Townsend Center for the Humanities (220 Stephens Hall)

Sponsored by UC Berkeley's Working Group on Cuba


May 2-3, 2008
Cuba: New Research Directions

The UC-Cuba Multi-Campus Research Program presents:

"Cuba: New Research Directions"

The UC-Cuba Multi Campus Research Program will bring more than 50 faculty and graduate students from seven UC campuses and other universities across the nation to reflect on recent research on Cuba. Topics will include: current economic trends, the state of U.S.-Cuba relations, history and literature, tourism, sexuality, music, and the position of intellectuals.

This conference is free and open to the public.  Registration will be available onsite.





March 16, 2008
UC-CUBA doctoral student publishes article based on trip to Cuba

Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, (Geography, UC Berkeley) published an article in the Guardian drawing, in part, on the research trip he took with a UC mini-grant.


March - December, 2008
Caribbean Conferences

A selection of upcoming conferences about the Caribbean.