Cuba Today: Revolution and Counter Revolution

Meeting Dates

Political Science 471 will meet once a week (Wed.@ 6:00-8:40pm) during the spring semester.

Course Description

This is a two-part course (3 credits of semester study and one credit of travel study on the island after the semester is completed) designed to provide students with an understanding of the Cuban Revolution, undoubtedly the most important and complex historical event in twentieth-Century Latin America. As part of this learning process, student will also examine the more than four decades of Counter-Revolution to put an end to this historic event and its principal leader, Fidel Castro. Students will spend one semester learning about La Revolución (its successes and failures) and the Counter-Revolution conducted from Washington, Miami, and elsewhere. The highlight of this valuable learning experience will be twelve days on the island, listening to Cubans and observing Cuban political life today. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for students majoring in International Studies, Political Science, Latin American Studies, and Spanish to study contemporary Cuba, both in the classroom and on the island. This does not mean that other academic majors will not be eligible for the course/trip.
Students who take advantage of this rare learning experience will visit historic sites in Havana, Santa Clara, Trinidad, Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs), Cardenas, and Varadero under the guidance of the Martin Luther King Center (Havana), Center for Global Education (Minnesota), Study Abroad Office (Towson University) and Towson Political Science Professor Dr. David Dent, a Latin American specialist who has taught a course on Cuba since 1975.

Student Expectations and Requirements

Students in this two-part class will be expected to attend class, complete assigned readings, actively join in class discussions on both reading and video material, take three exams, and write a final report synthesizing what they learned during the semester course with their first-hand observations in Cuba. Students must be enrolled in Cuba Today: Revolution and Counter-Revolution in order to travel with the group to Havana. It is also not possible to take the course without completing the travel portion of the credit-based experience. While in Cuba, students will be expected to attend all meetings and presentations and keep a daily journal to be handed in to the instructor with the Final Project Report. Students who miss more than two once-a-week classes without legitimate reasons and documentation will seriously jeopardize their chances of completing the class.


Course Reading Materials

Jorge Castañeda, Compañero: The Life and Death of Ché Guevara (1997)
Ana Julia Jatar-Hausman, The Cuban Way: Capitalism, Communism, and Confrontation (1999)
Maria de los Angeles Torres, In the Land of Mirrors: Cuban Exile Politics in the United States
Angelo Trento, Castro and Cuba: From the Revolution to the Present (2000)
Christopher Baker, Moon Handbooks: Cuba. 2nd Edition (2000)


VHS/Film Showings

Bitter Sugar
Guantanamera
Memories of Underdevelopment
Fidel
El Che: Investigating a Legend
Campaign for Cuba
Cuba: Art and Revolution


Grades and Grading Policy

Final grades will be determined by the total number of points earned for each of the following components of the course listed below. I will not use a plus minus grading system. Grades will be determined by converting total points into percent of maximum points with 90 percent and above = A; 80-90 percent = B; 70-79 percent = C; 55-69 percent = D; and below 55 percent = F.

1. Semester Exams: 300 points (100 points each)
2. Active class participation (100 points)
3. Cuba journal (100 points)
4. Final Project (200 points)

I. Pre-Revolutionary Cuba
II. The Insurrection Against Batista
III. Fidel Castro: Jefe Máximo
IV. Che Guevara: Argentine Revolutionary
V. Counter-Revolution
VI. Cuban Exile Politics
VII. The Anti-Fidel Lobby in the United States
VIII. Anti-Americanism in Cuba
IX. The Soviet Era and Wars of Liberation in Africa
X. U.S. Cuba Policy
XI. Women and the Revolution
XII. Blacks and the Revolution
XIII. La Revolucion: Successes and Failures
XIV. Cuba’s Future (With or Without Fidel)


Final Project

Following the trip to Cuba, students must compose a final paper synthesizing what they learned from the course, travel seminar, and their first-hand observations while on the island. This is not a formal research project with documentation and analysis but a personal reflection. Although not formally an academic paper, students will be expected to refer accurately to names, dates, and organizations in their paper. Moreover, this personal reflection synthesizing the full scope of the learning experience should be thoughtful, well-organized and carefully written with proper grammar, spelling, syntax, etc. This paper should be 10-12 pages in length, double-spaced, and with fonts the size of what you see in these instructions. Professor Dent will provide specific instructions for the due date and how it should be sent to him.

Highlights of the 2004 Trip

Havana: Museo de la Revolucion (Museum of the Revolution) and Granma Monument; Center for the Study of Che Guevara; Ministry of the Interior Museum; Federation of Cuban Women; University of Havana; La Cabaña Fortress; Havana Vieja; José Martí birthplace museum; Plaza de la Revolución; National Arts Museum;

Bay of Pigs (Playa Girón): Museum and Snorkling in the Caribbean

Santa Clara: Che Guevara Memorial (Museo de Che); Hotel Santa Clara Libre; Battle of Santa Clara Monument (Tren Blindado)

Trinidad/Escambray Mountains: Museo de la Lucha Contra Bandidos (Museum of the Struggle Against Counter-Revolutionaries); Plaza Mayor; Playa Ancón

Cardenas: Birthplace of José Antonio Echeverría (museum visit)

Varadero Beach

Relics of the Heavy U.S. Role in Cuban affairs: Hotel Nacional; Hotel Sevilla; El Capitolio; U.S. Ambassador’s (until 1961); Hemingway Monument/Museum

Sample Daily Itinerary (Final Itinerary will be prepared before departure)

Day 1, Travel to Cuba via Miami; Check in at Martin Luther King Center
Day 2, Havana
Day 3, Havana
Day 4, Havana
Day 5, Santa Clara (overnight)
Day 6, Trinidad (overnight)
Day 7, Varadero/Cardenas
Day 8, Varadero
Day 9, Varadero
Day 10, Havana
Day 11, Havana
Day 12, Leave MLK Center; Return to USA

Traveling to Cuba

Because of U.S. government policy (Americans can travel to Cuba, but are forbidden to spend money there), traveling to Cuba is different from any other destination in the world. This travel opportunity is available to Towson students because Towson University holds a valid license from the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury for the purpose of operating credit-based educational programs in Cuba. Non-Towson students who would like to join this program must be able to travel to Cuba under their own institution’s license for Cuba. It is important to remember that students will be traveling to and from Cuba legally. This means we will fly commercial airlines to Miami, then transfer to a licensed charter flight to José Martí International Airport. Since credit cards are useless and no U.S. banks exist on the island, travelers to Cuba must be prepared to conduct all transactions in U.S. dollars. You will also need a valid U.S. passport to travel to Cuba. Because of domestic politics in the United States, travel to Cuba is not getting easier. In March, 2003, President Bush issued two major changes in travel policy: Cuban Americans would be able to visit Cuba more often and without a compelling humanitarian reason, but travel permission from the Treasury Department would no longer exist for educational and cultural tours. The House of Representatives countered with legislation to end the travel ban, although President Bush has promised a veto. If you have an interest in seeing Cuba in the near future, this may be “a last chance” opportunity to see Cuba before it becomes a “forbidden” country in Latin America.