Cuban Literature & Culture
Honors Colloquium 300/ English Honors 399
Winter Term 2013
Course Description and Tentative Syllabus & Itinerary
PROGRAM LEADERS
Professor:
Study-Away Director:
Walker Rutledge [email protected]
Jerry Barnaby - [email protected] - 270-745-2231
COURSE DESCRIPTION
“Cuban Literature & Culture” will be a two-week, three-credit-hour course for which one may register for Honors
Colloquium 300 or English Honors 399. Students and faculty will live in Cuba in order to explore and discuss the history,
literature, art, and architecture of our Caribbean neighbor.
The course will be divided into specific daily concerns, each focusing upon assigned readings and particular field trips.
ELIGIBILITY
The Program Leaders may determine other eligibility requirements, but at a minimum, all applicants need to meet these
requirements:
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3.2 cumulative GPA or good standing in the Honors College
Permission of instructor(s)
Current WKU student eligible to register for WKU courses
18 years of age or older at time of departure (Parental/legal guardian expressed consent required for those under 18
at time of departure)
Eligible to obtain a visa for FLSA destination(s) and through all transit points (if needed) as determined by US DOS
and host country
Possess passport valid for at least six (6) months after FLSA return date
No current disciplinary sanctions as verified by Judicial Affairs
Full payment (or signed payment agreement) prior to departure
Completion of all pre-departure orientation
BOOKS
1. Chomsky, Aviva (ed.) The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. This is a 736page anthology of Cuban writings. Selections will be assigned. Here is what others have said about this book:
Cuba is often perceived in starkly black and white terms—either as the site of one of Latin America’s most successful
revolutions or as the bastion of the world’s last communist regime. The Cuba Reader multiplies perspectives on the
nation many times over, presenting more than one hundred selections about Cuba’s history, culture, and politics.
Beginning with the first written account of the island, penned by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the selections
assembled here track Cuban history from the colonial period through the ascendancy of Fidel Castro to the present.
The Cuba Reader combines songs, paintings, photographs, poems, short stories, speeches, cartoons, government reports
and proclamations, and pieces by historians, journalists, and others. Most of these are by Cubans, and many appear for
the first time in English. The writings and speeches of José Martí, Fernando Ortiz, Fidel Castro, Alejo Carpentier, Che
Guevera, and Reinaldo Arenas appear alongside the testimonies of slaves, prostitutes, doctors, travelers, and activists.
Some selections examine health, education, Catholicism, and santería; others celebrate Cuba’s vibrant dance, music,
film, and literary cultures. The pieces are grouped into chronological sections. Each section and individual selection is
preceded by a brief introduction by the editors.
“What a beautiful journey through five hundred years of Cuban history, culture, and politics! The Cuba Reader is a
sumptuous medley of poetry, song, speeches, interviews, and vignettes from novels new and old. You’ll hear the voices
of santeros and sugar workers, prostitutes and politicos, revolutionaries and reporters, dissidents and dancers. It’s the
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Cuban Literature & Culture
Honors Colloquium 300/ English Honors 399
Winter Term 2013
next best thing to being in Cuba, so sit back with a mojito and enjoy the masterfully guided tour.”—Medea Benjamin,
activist and cofounder of Global Exchange
"The Cuba Reader offers a splendid overview of the Cuban experience, past and present, through a dazzling array of
points of view. The voices of participants and observers and perspectives on the extraordinary and the commonplace—
with imagery conveyed by way of photography and poetry, through the lyric of music and the nuance of the novel—
make for a compelling collection of material. The very fullness of its vision makes The Cuba Reader an indispensable
book for courses—of every academic discipline—on Cuba.”—Louis A. Pérez, Jr., author of On Becoming Cuban: Identity,
Nationality, and Culture
2. Guevara, Ernesto Che. The Motorcycle Diaries. Ocean Press, 2004.
At age twenty-three, young Che Guevara, who at the time was a medical-school student, made a road trip on a
motorcycle through Latin American. His seeing the poverty changed him and the course of Latin American history.
3. Hemingway, Ernest. Islands in the Stream. New York: Scribner, 1970.
Published nine years after Hemingway’s death, this novel provides a fascinating look at life in Havana.
4. Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man & The Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952.
This quintessential work by Hemingway will come to life when we visit Hemingway’s home outside Havana.
5. You will want to purchase a Cuba guidebook.
Lonely Planet publishes a good one, as does Frommer. These and other such works are readily available at a Barnes &
Noble bookstore or at Amazon.com.
6. Additional readings will be provided.
Here is a quote from President John F. Kennedy that you might find surprising. It also affirms that we need to view Cuba
from more than one perspective.
"I believe that there is no country in the world--including any and all the countries under colonial domination-- where
economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my country’s policies
during the Batista regime. I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he
justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further: to some extent it is as
though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for
those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly
clear."
— U.S. President John F. Kennedy, interview with Jean Daniel, 24 October 1963
STUDENT EXPECTATIONS
Students are expected to do much of their academic work prior to our departure. In addition to reading the course
materials, each student will be responsible for choosing two particular sites or topics for which he or she will be our class
discussion leader. If we are going to the Bay of Pigs, for example, our discussion leader will give us a short presentation
on the origin, outcome, and controversy surrounding that historical event, and then invite classmates to enter into the
conversation. Below is a list of fifty suggested topics, but others will probably be added, and students are welcome to
contribute suggestions of their own or pursue variations of the listed items. What we want to do is to cover as much of
Cuban culture and we possibly can during our study-tour.
1. Cuban History Prior to 1898: An Overview
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Cuban Literature & Culture
Honors Colloquium 300/ English Honors 399
Winter Term 2013
2. Cuban History From 1898- 1950: An Overview
3. Cuban History From 1950-The Present: An Overview
4. Five Essential Cuban Authors
5. Five Essential Cuban Artists
6. Characteristics of Cuban Music
7. The Bay of Pigs: An Introduction
8. The United Fruit Company and Cuba
9. Sam Zemurray and the United Fruit Company
10. The United Fruit Company and the Bay of Pigs Invasion
11. Hemingway and Cuba
12. Patrick and Gregory Hemingway in Cuba
13. Five Must-See Items in the Museo de la Revolución
14. Five Must-See Cuban Works in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
15. A Brief History of the Rum Industry in Cuba
16. A Brief History of the Sugar Industry in Cuba
17. A Brief History of the Tobacco Industry in Cuba
18. A Brief History of the Slave Trade in Cuba
19. Deciphering the License Plate Colors in Cuba
20. Deciphering the Colors of Police Uniforms in Cuba
21. Canadians and Cuba
22. Tourism in Cuba
23. Property Ownership in Cuba
24. Private Entrepreneurship in Cuba
25. Transportation in Cuba
26. Cuban Currencies
27. Crime in Cuba
28. Five Must-See Works in the Museo de la Ciudad
29. Five Must-See Works in the Museo de Arte Colonial
30. Josė Martį
31. Capitolio Nacional
32. Miramar
33. Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula
34. Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña
35. Catedral de La Habana
36. Racism in Cuba
37. The Significance of Santa Clara
38. The Significance of Viñales
39. Cuban National Parks
40. Ecological Efforts in Cuba
41. The Malecón
42. Ernesto Che Guavara and Cuba
43. The Spanish Colonial Architecture of Trinidad: An Introduction
44. The Topography of Cuba
45. The Governing Provinces of Cuba
46. The Granma
47. Cuba and the American Mafia
48. Fulgencio Batista
49. Camilo Cienfuegos
50. Female Revolutionaries
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Cuban Literature & Culture
Honors Colloquium 300/ English Honors 399
Winter Term 2013
In addition to making two presentations to our group, each student is expected to post four well-written blogs. The
blogs will be graded with the same university standards that apply to short essays. Each should be around 500-750
words in length. Given the lack of internet access on the trip, students should plan to turn in hand-written essays that
can later be entered as blogs for others to read.
GRADES
Presentations as discussion leader:
30% (15% each)
Four short essays to be entered into our blog site:
40% (10% each)
Reading Quiz Average:
30%
Total
100%
READING QUIZZES
These will be straight-forward, objective quizzes of the multiple-choice variety. The readings to be covered for each quiz
will be announced later. Expect 10 questions per quiz. The goal here is simply to encourage and reward everyone for
keeping up with our readings. In fact, the key to this whole course is group participation.
ATTENDANCE
Students are expected to make a solid commitment to our course and to attend all of our planned tour sites with us.
Perfect attendance:
One absence:
More than one absence:
2 points added to the final course grade
no effect upon the final course grade
2 points deducted from the final course grade for each additional absence
** Completion of all pre-departure orientation is required **
FACEBOOK
The Study-Away Office has a Facebook site where we can share our photographs.
CLASSROOM ARRANGEMENTS
We will have no traditional classroom facilities. Prior to a given day’s fieldtrip(s), we will plan to have the student
presentations in the breakfast room or in the alcove of the lobby of the hotel. At other times, the instruction and
discussion may be on-site or on the run.
TENTATIVE ITINERARY
The thirteen or fourteen-day experience (depending upon whether we have to spend an extra night in Cancún because
of flight arrangements) would look something like the following, although the exact sequence might be different:
Day 1 Departure Day
We will depart Nashville and arrive in Havana, Cuba, via Cancún, Mexico.
Readings: Introductory materials on Cuba
Field Trip: After checking into the Hotel Park View (located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Havana), the
group will do a walking tour of the immediate vicinity.
*** Due to flight connections in Cancun for Havana, the group will likely flight to Cancun, overnight at hotel near
airport, then fly to Havana the next day. ***
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Cuban Literature & Culture
Honors Colloquium 300/ English Honors 399
Winter Term 2013
Day 2 Old Havana Day
Student Presentations & Discussion and/or Reading Quiz. The dates for specific presentations will be announced once
each student has indicated his or her selections.
Field Trip(s): We will meet with Architect Miguel Coyula from the Group for the Comprehensive Development of Havana
City, followed by a guided walking tour of Old Havana and a visit to Plaza Vieja (the only civic square of colonial times).
We will also visit San Francisco Square, Square of Arms, and Callejon de Hamel—an area in Central Havana where
cultural rescue has been undertaken by the artist Salvador Gonzalez. We will talk with Gonzalez and discuss his murals.
Later we will tour Cathedral Square, regarded as the most beautiful and private 18th century colonial plaza of Cuba. In
the evening at 9:00 o’clock, we will attend “The Fire of the Cannon” at the Fortress of San Carlos de La Cabaña.
Day 3 Art Day
Student Presentations & Discussion and/or Reading Quiz
Field Trip(s): In the morning we will have a guided tour of Cuba’s National Art Schools. Later, we will have a coach tour
of Modern Havana, including visits to the Square of Revolution, the University of Havana, Seawall, the Miramar
neighborhood, and the Cemetery Colon. Lunch will be hosted by Jose Fuster, an important Cubanceramist and painter.
The afternoon will include a visit to the studios of such Cuban photographers as Carlos Alom and Rene Pena.
Scheduled for the evening is an introduction to Afrojazz, Cubajazz, and Sonjazz at Club La Zorra y El Cuervo, a famous
jazz club in Havana.
Day 4 Tobacco Day
Student Presentations & Discussion and/or Reading Quiz
Field Trip(s): We will make a day trip to Valle de Vinales, in the heart of Cuba’s agriculture region. The area is also
known for its spectacular scenery and freestanding rock formations.
Later, we will visit the Cueva del Indio, which was used by the Guanahatabey Amerindians as a burial site in ancient
times and as a refuge from the Spaniards for both Indians and Black slaves.
Included will be a short boat ride on the subterranean river running through the cave.
After meeting with local tobacco farmers, we will have a guided tour of the Francisco Donatién Cigar Factory.
Before returning to Havana, we will explore the town of Vinales at our leisure and visit the Vinales Botanical Garden.
Day 5 Hemingway Day
Student Presentations & Discussion and/or Reading Quiz
Field Trip(s): In the morning, we will visit Finca Vigia, where Hemingway lived from 1939-1960. We will also tour the
Cojimar fishing village where Hemingway kept his boat.
In the afternoon, we will have a guided tour of the Cuban collection in the Museum of Fine Arts. Next, we will visit the
Museum of Rum, where we will study the entire rum-making process.
Day 6 Bay of Pigs Day
Student Presentations & Discussion and/or Reading Quiz
Field Trip(s): We will depart Havana for Trinidad, on the west coast. Along the way, we will visit the Bay of Pigs, where
on April 17, 1961, a group of Cuban exiles landed with a plan to overthrow the Castro government.
In the afternoon, we will journey to Cienfuegos, a city of neoclassical buildings, and will have a guided walking tour of
the Cienfuegos Historical Center. Once we arrive in Trinidad, we will check in at the Club Amigos Costa Sur Resort Hotel.
A swim in the warm waters of the Caribbean is optional.
Day 7 Trinidad Day
Student Presentations & Discussion and/or Reading Quiz
Field Trip(s): As the best-preserved colonial city, Trinidad is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the morning, we will have
a guided tour of Trinidad’s Historical Center, followed by a visit to the Architecture Museum (Casa de los Sanchez Iznaga)
and the Museo Romantico.
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Cuban Literature & Culture
Honors Colloquium 300/ English Honors 399
Winter Term 2013
Day 8 National Park Day
Student Presentations & Discussion and/or Reading Quiz
Field Trip(s): In the morning, we will board former Russian army trucks for Topes de Collantes in the Escambray
Mountain Range, Cuba’s second highest mountain. After lunch at what was once a large coffee plantation, we will visit
The Topes de Collantes National Park, enjoyed by hikers and bird watchers.
Day 9 Free Day (or Catch-up-with-homework day)
Student Presentations & Discussion and/or Reading Quiz
This is a great occasion to sunbathe, swim, snorkel, relax, and spend time reflecting upon our Cuban experiences. Your
beach resort offers many aquatic activities and services. Some are free, and others available for a very reasonable fee.
You can also book boat and catamaran tours to nearby cays such as Cayo Las Iguanas (Iguana Island). This breathtaking
island lies in the Caribbean Sea, some 32 km / 20 miles offshore from Trinidad. This is one of the most spectacular
destinations in Cuba and is named after its most numerous local inhabitants: the endangered Cuban iguana (Cyclura
nubila nubile). For snorkeling fans, the crystal-clear waters have the best coral reefs in the region!
Day 10 Ernesto Che Guevara Day
Student Presentations & Discussion and/or Reading Quiz
Field Trip(s): In the morning we depart for Santa Clara, the capital city of the Cuban province of Villa Clara, located in the
most central region of the province. This was the site of the last battle of the Cuban Revolution in 1958, led by Ernesto
Che Guevara. We will visit the Che Guevara Square of Revolution and Mausoleum, where the remains of Che and
sixteen of his men killed in Bolivia in 1967 rest in peace. After having lunch at the Los Caneyes Hotel and a visit to the
Armored Train Battle Museum, the site where guerrilla forces defeated Batista’s soldiers, we will continue on bus to
Havana and the Park View Hotel.
Day 11 Ecology Day
Student Presentations & Discussion and/or Reading Quiz
Field Trip(s): We will visit Las Terrazas, located in UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Sierra del Rosario in the western province
of Pinar del Rio. There we will tour the rural village of Rancho Curujey and learn about this self-sustaining community’s
goals of reforestation, historical preservation, and environmental balance. Additionally, we will visit the ruins of a
French Coffee Plantation built in 1801, a rural elementary school, and the La Moka Ecological Hotel (with trees growing
up through the balconies and ceiling).
Returning to Havana, we will have a farewell dinner at El Aljibe, an excellent restaurant noted for its Creole food.
Day 12 Departure for Cancún Day
On this day we will transfer to the Havana Airport and depart for Cancún, where we will spend the night.
Day 13 Return Day
We will depart Cancún and return to Nashville.
COURSE UNIQUENESS
Quite frankly, Western Kentucky University has never offered an on-site course in Cuba, the largest island in the
Caribbean. Experiencing the culture of one of America’s nearest (and most estranged) neighbors, and doing so in the
context of a specifically-directed study-tour, should prove to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students.
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