Poets to experience Cuban culture: Students explore Cuban music, history

Cuba, Issue 13, Katie Jenkins-Moses, Lozano, Ortega, study abroad, Features - By Katie Jenkins-Moses on Thursday, December 8, 2011 - 05:59

While many students know that they can experience foreign cultures by participating in study abroad JanTerm courses or traveling abroad during the semester, most do not know of the newest opportunity available. The newest addition to the study abroad is a course to Cuba in May 2012.

Assistant Professor of History Jose Ortega and Professor of Music (Ethnomusicology) Danilo Lozano will be co-instructing the course. Students will need to be enrolled in the Colonial Latin America and Music of Latin America during the Spring 2012 semester and will then conclude their courses with a trip which travels to Cuba in May.

The focus of the course will be investigating the way music was created in the formation of Cuban culture. They will spend time looking at the formation of Cuban culture before and after the revolution. “So much of the media in the United States is of Cuba as a social or communist state,” Lozano said. “It is all about politics and little about culture.”

The course will be using a historical lens and using music as another symbol of cultural identity and nationality. It will also allow students to gain a better understanding of culture that many do not know about. “People experience music outside of its environment,” Lozano said. “Students will be able to experience it in its cultural environment.”

According to Assistant Director of International Programs Shari Henderson, despite the tensions between the United States and Cuba over the past four years, planning for the Cuba program did not hit many obstacles. “With any trip, new ones especially, we are concerned about logistics,” Henderson said. “The planning that has gone into the Cuba trip has been extensive to address those concerns.”

The Study Abroad Office did face some difficulties finding a provider who was appropriately licensed under the “People to People” agreement between the United States and Cuba.

Both professors have lived and traveled to Cuba for many years.

Lozano has been going to Cuba since 1997, while Ortega began visiting in 1999 and conducted the bulk of his research in the Cuban National Archive in the early 2000s. “Both of us know people there and have experience dealing with stuff on the island,” Lozano said.

“Our concerns at this point are minimal because we know how much preparation will have been made before the group departs in May,” Henderson said. “Nevertheless, our office will be on alert the entire time the group is in Cuba, so that we can respond to any situations that might come up.”

Ortega and Lozano began discussing the formation of this class in Spring 2010. Originally they were planning to make the course for JanTerm, but they did not have enough time to plan all of the logistics.

“I am really excited about this because Cuba presents so many opportunities for students of all majors, such as music, political science, history, Latin American studies and so on,” Henderson said.

The Study Abroad Office hopes that this will be the first of many trips to Cuba and is still accepting applications. Currently there are approximately 30 students enrolled in the class.