Watch the Video.
"I got to do an entire interview with [a local artist] in Spanish, and that was a huge confidence booster. I was like, yeah! I can do this! My Spanish is alright!"
- Student reflecting on our AfroCuba research and experiential learning course
There's so much to be learned from listening to the voices of others. This past semester and summer, I was fortunate enough to have been part of an interdisciplinary team that prepared 17 undergraduate students for field research in Cuba. For nearly all of us, this was our first time to the island. For some of us, this was our first experience on an airplane, or outside of the U.S. Together, we represented studies in anthropology, Black Studies, linguistics, cultural studies, economics, environmental studies, Spanish, sociology, and visual and performance arts. This was a tremendous experience in intercultural learning and bilingual communication.
All throughout our 10-day research and study trip, I conducted intermittent video interviews with students, my teaching partners at Swarthmore College--a team of faculty and administrative leadership. I created this video to chronicle our individual and connected reflections on multiple dimensions of our field experiences.
All throughout our 10-day research and study trip, I conducted intermittent video interviews with students, my teaching partners at Swarthmore College--a team of faculty and administrative leadership. I created this video to chronicle our individual and connected reflections on multiple dimensions of our field experiences.
An Experience of Firsts.
Touring a cigar factory in Havana, Cuba. Biggest of all, this was our students' first experience speaking with Cuban people in Cuba about the enduring importance of the Cuban Revolution, the history of African enslavement in the Caribbean, the transformation of economic, education, and medical sectors, and the continuing traditions of African religion, dance, philosophy, and values across the island nation.
By speaking with Cuban professionals, mothers, doctors, museum directors, proprietors, artists, community activists, and makers of all kinds, students learned how to formulate meaningful and localized questions, connect with speakers of Cuban Spanish, and challenge their own assumptions about what is universally important to cultures other than their own.
Our trip was generously sponsored through support from several partner organizations and departments across the College, and we are grateful!
By speaking with Cuban professionals, mothers, doctors, museum directors, proprietors, artists, community activists, and makers of all kinds, students learned how to formulate meaningful and localized questions, connect with speakers of Cuban Spanish, and challenge their own assumptions about what is universally important to cultures other than their own.
Our trip was generously sponsored through support from several partner organizations and departments across the College, and we are grateful!
AfroCuba - Experiential Learning & Research Course.
Our time in Cuba over the summer, was a field-based and experiential extension of a seminar we ran all of Spring 2017, in conjunction with other courses I and my faculty partners (Nina Johnson, Black Studies & Sociology; Désirée Díaz Díaz, Spanish, Latino & Latin American Studies) also taught that semester, concerning the African Diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean. When we returned to campus this fall, we continued our learning project together, in partnership with Dion Lewis (Dean of the Junior Class, & Director of the Black Cultural Center), to guide students in translating their field-based insights into research posters for display and presentation. On Sept. 28, our experiential learning & research course concluded with these student research presentations, and we're proud that all of their insights will fuel their next steps in research, learning, and bilingual discovery.
At the airport for our departure to Cuba on May 29, 2017.
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