8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday - Friday
Aug. 22 through Sept. 19, 2003
Spiva Art Gallery on campus
Admission: free

" City on the Edge of Forever"

Photos taken by Mary Katherine Crabb (University of Oklahoma), John Sleezer (The Kansas City Star), John Couper (Pittsburg State University), David Locher (Missouri Southern), and Andy Tevis (Missouri Southern) make up this exhibition. Crabb’s photos, all taken in Havana and Santiago, Cuba, between 1997-1998, were previously on exhibit at Emory and Mercer universities in Atlanta. Sleezer and Kansas City Star sportswriter Wright Thompson visited Cuba earlier this year for a special section on baseball in Latin America. Couper and Locher have made two recent trips to Cuba, and Tevis, the director of photography for the student newspaper, The Chart, accompanied the Alumni Association on a weeklong trip in December/January.

7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003
Taylor Performing Arts Center
Admission: free

Son Venezuela, with its sizzling sounds of Latin and Caribbean music, has become one of Kansas City’s most popular dance bands. Son Venezuela features a mix of salsa, mambo, merengue, calypso, tamboreras, and cumbia. The band consists of Luis E. Guillén, lead and background vocals, tambora, and percussion; Kelfel Aqüi, lead and background vocals, cuatro, and percussion; Marc Marcano, keyboards and background vocals; Byron Jones, trumpet and flugelhorn; Daniel Adams, alto saxophone and flute; Michael Walker, trombone; Glenn Gray, bass; Fernando Reynoso, congas and percussion; and Luiz Moreira, timbales.

Son is the predominant musical force in Cuban song and dance and the most influential element in popular Latin dance music. It originated early in the 20th century and became the island’s dominant Afro-Cuban musical genre. Son forms the core of salsa, which became popular in New York in the 1960s.

Photos from August 28, 2003 concert
Joplin Globe article
Joplin Independent.com article

7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4, 2003
"Cubans and U.S. Professional Baseball, 1871 to 2003: From Esteban Bellan to Jose Contreras"

This talk focused on the contribution of Cuban players to professional baseball in the U.S. In 1871, Cuban-born Esteban Bellan became the first player from Latin America to play in the U.S. Jose Contreras, the most recent, made his debut with the New York Yankees in April 2003. Most of the early Cubans were forced to play in the Negro Leagues, and the talk discussed the issue of the color line in baseball. It also looked at the period between 1947, when baseball was integrated in the United States and the early 1960s, when the flow of Cuban players was cut off. The last part of the talk looked at the defectors from Cuba who have played in the major leagues since 1991.

10:00 a.m. Friday, Sept. 5, 2003
"Cuban Baseball: From Rebel Game to Revolutionary Baseball"

This talk traced the evolution of baseball in Cuba from 1866 to the present. When baseball was first brought to the island by Cuban students returning from their studies at universities in the United States, it was seen as a "rebel game." At the time, Cuba was still a colony of Spain, and bullfighting was the main sport of the Spanish colonizers. In fact, several of the founders of Cuban baseball were also involved in the move for independence during the last third of the 20th century. Baseball has been the national sport of Cuba for well over one hundred years, and a professional league existed from 1878 until 1961. Finally in 1962, the Cuban government abolished professional baseball. With all of the best players remaining in Cuba, the country soon began to dominate all international baseball competitions. The talk ended with the Cuban system for recruiting and training players and the current leagues.

Milton Jamail has published more than 200 articles or columns on baseball since 1989. Most are concerned with the increasing international nature of the game. He wrote Full Count: Inside Cuban Baseball, published by Southern Illinois University Press in 2000. Dr. Jamail is currently a lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of Texas.

Student comments about Dr. Jamail

9:00 a.m.
Friday, Sept. 12, 2003
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Dr. Virgil Suarez

"Balsero Dreams: Riff Blues on Immigration"

A discussion on the nature of Cuban immigration to the U.S. since 1959.

Virgil Suarez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1962. At the age of 12 he arrived in the United States. He received an MFA from Louisiana State University in 1987. He is the author of three new poetry collections, Palm Crows (University of Arizona Press), Banyan (LSU Press), and Guide to the Blue Tongue (University of Illinois Press). He is also the author of four novels, The Cutter, Latin Jazz, Havana Thursdays, and Going Under. He is the recipient of an NEA grant for poetry. His work continues to be featured in international and national literary magazines and journals.

Other events featuring Virgil Suarez:

11:00 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, spoke to Dr. Kumbier's World Humanities class, Hearnes 320.

1:00 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, spoke to Dr. Sartori's Survey of Spanish American Literature class, Webster 308.

7 :00 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, "Cuban Night," Spiva Art Gallery.
A sampling of Dr. Suarez' poetry and prose, with Q&A from audience.

Student comments about Dr. Suarez

9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon
Friday, Sept. 19, 2003
Taylor Hall Room 113
Admission: free

Dr. Denise Blum

The Cuban government claims to have established and maintained a democracy in Cuba and to have explicitly employed its education system to promote it. History and economics, however, affects the particular flavor of citizenship, political socialization, and democracy that is fostered in any given country. With this in mind, in what ways has the demise of the Soviet Union, increased tourism, and the use of capitalist measures since the early 1990s influenced the direction of Cuban citizenship education? What type of society are Cuban children being prepared for and how is democracy being (re)defined? This presentation focusd on Cuban education since the fall of the Soviet Bloc, especially in more recent years with the reintegration of the school subject Civic Education.

10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 19
"Vocational Training in Cuba: A Visit to the Pioneer Interest Circles"

What has been the impact of a mixed-market economy on preparing Cuban youth for work in 21st century Cuba? How do students' vocational aspirations match up to the state's expectations? To answer these questions, Dr. Blum examined the activities of the Cuban mass student organization, the Pioneers, which actively structures Cuban school life politically, academically, and socially, providing opportunities for participating in model citizenry. One of the most notable programs of the Pioneers is the vocational interest circles. By tying educational experience more closely to the economy, the interest circles perform a very important function. A society that supposedly has foregone the use of the wage incentive needs an alternative means of encouraging young people to enter occupations in short supply. Thus, the interest circles are a means of informing young people about the content of various educational pursuits, while at the same time stimulating student interest in careers likely to make a major contribution to national development. The interest circles bridge school curriculum, a student's future and productive activity.

11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 19
"Cuba's 'School to the Countryside' Program: Cultivating a Proper Consciousness Towards Work"

Focusing on the relationship between the Cuban education system and the country's mixed economy, Dr. Blum provided information concerning the current functioning of the Cuban work-study principle through the Escuela al campo (School to the Countryside) program, initiated in the 1960s. How does/will the marxist-based principle behind the Escuela al campo program — the cornerstone of Cuba's socialist education — prepare students for citizenship in a more globalized Cuba in the 21st century? This analysis of one of its education system's most notable citizenship-building work-study programs and policies explores how students valorize work, sacrifice, and patriotism, while struggling with current economic exigencies.

Denise Blum is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at California State University at Fresno. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Her recent books include: Cuban Youth and Revolutionary Values: Allá en la lucha, (University of Texas Press, in press) and Culture and Revolution in Contemporary Cuba (ed.), (Florida University Press, in press). The Cuban mass student organization for children in grades 1-9 is the Union of Pioneers of Cuba. The Pioneers' slogan, often recited in school, is "Pioneers for Communism, We will be like Che!" With many years of teaching experience at the secondary level, both in the United States (teaching Spanish) and in Latin America (teaching English), Dr. Blum used pictures of her dog in various costumes as one of her primary mediums for language instruction. On her first trip to Cuba in 1995, one veteran guerrilla of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, upon seeing the pictures, requested that she dress her dog as Che Guevara, a Cuban revolutionary hero from the 1960s. The veteran fighter gave her his historical beret from the Sierra Maestra, and on her return trips, the photo of her dog as Che, nestled in a small photo album with other pictures of her dog dressed as world leaders, played a pivotal role in her gaining access to people and places.

9:30 a.m. & 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2003
Taylor Performing Arts Center
Admission: free

Dr. Alberto R. Coll

The Gockel International Symposium: "Cuba After Castro?"

Alberto R. Coll is senior fellow at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy in Newport, Rhode Island. Dr. Coll was born in Havana and came to the United States in 1968 without his family and no knowledge of English. In the first Bush Administration he served (1990-1993) as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict. He has served as a consultant for the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, the U. S. Institute of Peace, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Foreign Service Institute, and the United States Information Agency. An author of several books and numerous articles, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, lectures widely on American foreign policy and strategy, and is a frequent guest on the History Channel's History Center.

Student comments about Dr. Coll

7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2003
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Dr. Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado

The Gockel International Symposium: "Cuba After Castro"

Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, with an emphasis on comparative politics. He has conducted research related to Cuba's efforts to develop a nuclear energy capability and broader energy development issues and is recognized as one of the United States' leading specialists in this issue area. Since 1992, Dr. Benjamin-Alvarado has visited Cuba 15 times for field research on the nuclear energy development program and has conducted interviews with a number of senior government officials in Cuba's nuclear and related agencies.

7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003
Taylor Performing Arts Center
Admission: free

Quimbombó

Quimbombó blends Cuban rhythms, primarily the són (the contagious dance music championed by the Buena Vista Social Club that is the main ingredienct in salsa), with elements of jazz and blues to create a lively and unique sound. Quimbombó (pronounced keem-bohm-BO) is the title of a classic Cuban són popularized by Conjunto Chappotín in the 1950s; a word of Congolese origin, it means "okra" in Spanish. Formed in 1995, the group has performed at many venues including the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the Brooklyn Museum, Metronome, the BAM Café, the Brooklyn Public Library, and Bistro Latino.

Percussionist/composer/arranger Nick Herman has more than 30 arrangements of jazz and Cuban dance music to his credit. He studied in Cuba and Brazil and at the Drummer Collective and Harbor Performing Arts Center with members of Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba, AfroCuba de Matanzas, and Cutumba (leading folkloric group in Santiago de Cuba). He has also studies at Mannes College of Music, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Jazzmobile, and Manhattan School of Music. His articles on Cuban music have appeared in Aché and the All Music Guide.

David Oquendo, the lead vocalist, is a native of Havana and an experienced interpreter of many diverse styles of Cuban music. He founded the renowned folkloric group Raices Habaneras and has worked with many top artists including Paquito D'Rivera, Cachao, Compay Segundo, Willie Chirino, Marc Anthony, and Johnny Pacheco.

Steve Gluzband (trumpet, flugelhorn) is a veteran of the New York jazz and Latin scenes. He spent five years with Ray Barretto's orchestra and has recorded with artists such as Celia Cruz and The Talking Heads. He currently performs with a variety of New York bands including Nelson Gonzalez & Son Mundano, the Jet Set Six, Dem Brooklyn Bums, and Jimmy Bosch's Salsa Dura.

Jay Collins (tenor and soprano saxophones, flute) has performed and recorded with many major artists, including Bobby Sanabria, Kenny Barron, Gregg Allman, Andrew Hill and Eddie Bobé. In addition to directing his group, the Jay Collins Band, he co-leads the Latin jazz unit Mambo Macoco.

Chacho Schartz (tres, vocals) has performed and taught guitar in Argentina, Brazil, and Israel for more than 20 years. He currently co-leads Pan Con Timba and Manana and plays with many New York artists including Retumba, Son de Madre, Junior Vega, Ernie Agosto y La Conspiración, and Nicky Marrero.

Renato Thoms (congas, vocals), a native of Panama, has performed with many major figures in Salsa and Latin jazz, including Eddie Palmieri, Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez, Miles Peña, Paquito D'Rivera, and Hilton Ruiz. He holds a master's degree from the Boston Conservatory of Music.

Jennifer Vincent (bass) is very active on the New York Latin and jazz scenes and has been featured in Downbeat. She has performed and recorded with Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead, the late Cab Calloway, Abbey Lincoln, Geri Allen, Pasión, Bobby Sanabria, the Flying Neutrinos (where she recorded with Doc Cheatham), and Jon Hendricks.

Student comments about Quimbombó

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2003 and
Friday, Oct. 3, 2003

Mary Katherine Crabb

11:00 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, Webster Hall Auditorium
"Everyday Life in Cuba: An Ethnographic Portrait"

9:00 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3, Matthews Hall Auditorium
"Dengue, 1997: Case Study of a Cuban Epidemic"

12:00 noon Friday, Oct. 3, Billingsly Student Center 310
"Post-Socialism and Organized Crime: A Potential Problem for Cuba in the New Millenium?"
Brown Bag presentation, faculty and staff only

Mary Katherine Crabb is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. She spent 11 months in Havana and Santiago, Cuba, conducting research for her dissertation, titled "Socialism, Health and Medicine in Cuba: A Critical Re-Analysis." Her photography exhibit, "City on the Edge of Forever: Havana, 1998" was displayed at Mercer University in Atlanta in 2001.

Student comments about Mary Katherine Crabb

9:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2003

Dr. John Couper

9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, Webster Hall Auditorium
"Senses of Cuba"

Cuba’s dramatic social and cultural environment is experienced in many ways by ordinary Cubans. This multi-media program was based on observations, conversations, and activities with a range of people in several areas of Cuba. From a family New Year’s Eve party to a soldier to an expectant mother, Dr. Couper explored his personal understanding of the lives of those Cubans who welcomed him to their daily lives. First, he outlined and discussed elements of life in urban and rural Cuba, such as ration cards, work, religion and children. Secondly, he interpreted these elements to find patterns of everyday perspectives, such as views of the Castro regime and the U.S., media use, and hopes for the future. Thus, many Cubans feel secure in government services but frustrated by limited access to consumer goods. Rather than attempting to speak for Cubans, Dr. Couper offeedr a vicarious immersion in Cuban daily experience along with his analyses to help us make sense of how Cubans make sense of their world.

11:00 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, Webster Hall Room 319
speaking to Dr. Stebbins' Global Journalism class on "La Batalla de Ideas" (Battle of Ideas)

Cuba’s official culture centers on a “battle of ideas” between Cuba and the rest of the world, especially the U.S. While acknowledging national economic and military limits, Cuba’s mass media often and unapologetically suggest that Cuba is a superpower of ideological might. In this centralized, Socialist country, everything from the nightly news to political billboards to children’s humor magazines refers to this concept. This presentation analyzed a wide range of mass media portrayals of this battle, which in turn is subtle, heavy-handed, and humorous. Cuba’s Batalla suffuses the identity provided by the government-run media and responded to in many ways by people with limited access to, but intense interest in, the surrounding world. By examining this complex view of Cuban and U.S. identities, Dr. Couper offered a glimpse into one of the world’s most consistent and remarkable national self-images. Finally, Dr. Couper briefly compared Cuba’s “Batalla” with a parallel “Battle” waged by the U.S. government and media toward Cuba and its government.

John Couper is an assistant professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Communication at Pittsburg State University. He attended Friends World College, a Quaker program that took him to Africa, Asia and Europe. He has lived and worked in many countries since 1968, including a lengthy study of village communication in Tanzania, and recently conducted academic research in Cuba. His main research interests are media, culture, and development communication in Third World nations. He received his Ph.D. in Communication at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Couper is also a fine-art photographer, radio producer, and musician.

1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 9, 2003
Matthews Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

John Holod

"Cuba: At the Crossroads"

Mention Cuba and one image comes to mind...Fidel...but Cuba is more than that — much more. American documentary film producer John Holod entered Cuba through the “back door,” without official help or intervention, to find out the true story of this “mysterious” island. The filmmaker spent several months exploring the cities and back roads while talking to the “real” island people. Cuba is like nowhere else on Earth. It is the largest, most diverse, and most beautiful island in the Caribbean with a deep sense of history and culture, according to Holod.

Holod introduced the 80-minute documentary, then answered questions afterwards. The film featured the island's fascinating history; Cuba’s greatest hero, José Martí; Fulgencio Batista; Castro, “Che” Guevara, and the freedom fighters; the spectacular Sierra Maestra mountains; Guantanamo Naval Base; Cuban cowboys; La Faroa, the island’s most scenic drive; Santiago de Cuba; Carnival!; Trinidad, a colonial jewel; the Bay of Pigs story; Zapata Swamp, nature’s showplace; Isle of Youth, underwater paradise; stunning Vinales Valley; the story of the Cuban cigar; Varadero, tourist haven; vintage cars; Columbus Cemetery; the Hemingway Trail; and Havana, the heart of Cuba.

Holod is an internationally recognized cinematographer who has filmed all over the world and has presented his documentaries to audiences across the nation. Documentaries include his 4,000-mile U.S./Canadian border trek; his travels through Baja, Cuba, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia; and his 1,500-mile journey along the Alaska Highway. He has lectured at such prestigious venues as the National Geographic Society, the Carnegie Institute, Cal Tech, and the Franklin Institute. In recognition of his outstanding film achievement, he received the “Rising Star” award from the travelogue industry in 1995. Before embarking on his life as a professional world traveler and adventurer, the 50-year-old Holod studied cinematography, journalism, and photography at Wayne State University in Michigan.

Student comments about "Cuba: At the Crossroads"

2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Mon.-Fri., Oct. 13-17, 2003
Admission: free

Cuban Film Festival

Memories of Underdevelopment
2:00 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13, 2003
Webster Hall Room 105

I Am Cuba
7:00 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13, 2003
Matthews Hall Auditorium

Cuban Story
2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003
Webster Hall Room 105

Cuba Va: Challenge of the Next Generation
2:00 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003
Webster Hall Auditorium

Life is to Whistle
7:00 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003
Matthews Hall Auditorium

San Sabroson: Antesala de la Salsa
2:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, 2003
Webster Hall Room 105

Buena Vista Social Club
7:00 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, 2003
Matthews Hall Auditorium

Strawberry & Chocolate
2:00 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, 2003
Webster Hall Room 105

Guantanamera
7:00 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, 2003
Matthews Hall Auditorium

11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Dr. Tamara Falicov

11:00 a.m.
"Tropical Reels: Cuban Cinema and Revolution from the 1960s to the Present"

Tamara Falicov is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and Film/Latin American Studies at the University of Kansas. Dr. Falicov has taught graduate seminars in Cuban cinema and the political economy of film and television industries and undergraduate classes in Latin American cinema, basic video production, and documentary video production. She is organizing a study abroad trip for students from KU and the University of Missouri-Kansas City to Havana in December 2003 to attend the Festival of New Latin American Cinema.

2:00 p.m.
showing of "Cuba Va: Challenge of the Next Generation"

The 60-minute documentary, directed by Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco, takes a critical look at Cuba's social and economic situations today, through the eyes of its youth. The video provides interviews with young people: their discussions and arguments about the economic situation, the government, and the political system; and the responses of those in the authority to youth subcultures such as rock, rap, hard core, and reggae.

Wed.-Fri., Oct. 22-24, 2003
Admission: free

Dr. Ruth Behar

Dr. Ruth Behar has been "translating Cuba" in a number of ways for the past decade: on a personal level, as a native of the island who left as a child and returns in search of memory and belonging; as an anthropologist, in scholarly writing and documentary filmmaking; and as an educator who "translates Cuba" for those who want to learn about the island and its culture. "In this intense and multilayered process of translation, I find myself caught in a paradox," she says. "I feel that even as I reclaim Cuba, I also lose Cuba. The translations both bring me closer to Cuba and force me to continually detach myself from my lived experience of the island in order to explain Cubanness to others." Dr. Behar presented her reflections on this subject in the context of the "Cuba boom" that is currently drawing an ever-wider American audience to all things Cuban. Images of Cuba were included in this presentation.

11:00 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, Hearnes Hall 320
spoke to Dr. Kumbier's World Humanities class

1:00 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, Webster Hall 308
spoke to Dr. Sartori's Survey of Spanish American Literature class

7:00 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, Webster Hall Auditorium
"Adio Kerida/Goodbye Dear Love: A Film Screening and Discussion"

Dr. Behar addresses her goodbye to her native land, to the Cuba she left as a child before developing any memories. Her grandparents were Jewish emigrants to Cuba and hoped it would be their promised land. But after the revolution most of the Jews left Cuba and resettled in the United States; only a small number stayed on the island. Through her documentary "Adio Kerida," Dr. Behar goes in search of the exotic tribe of Sephardic Jews still in Cuba, as well as the Jewish Cubans (or "Jubans") living in the United States. On her journey, Dr. Behar encounters a fascinating cast of characters, including an Afro-Cuban boy of Jewish descent who dreams of becoming a drummer in Israel, a pair of shopkeepers in Miami who sell Turkish good luck charms, and her own father in New York, who says goodbyes are final and you should never look back.

10:00 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24, Webster Hall Auditorium
"Everything I Kept: Being a Poet in Cuba" (lecture and reading)

Everything I Kept is the title of a book of prose poems inspired by the work of Cuban poet Dulce Maria Loynaz, which Dr. Behar published with Ediciones Vigia, in Matanzas, Cuba. Ediciones Vigia is a unique independent publishing venture that produces beautiful, wistful, and charming handmade books in small editions. The aim of the Vigia project is to produce books that are of literary value and also works of art, using modest materials, and always using as their foundation the simple brown paper of grocery bags. In this presentation Dr. Behar spoke about her work as a poet and also discussed her collaboration with Ediciones Vigia. Images showing a variety of Vigia books were part of this presentation.

Ruth Behar is a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan and also affiliated with the programs in Women's Studies, Latina/Latino Studies, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. She was the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant in 1988 and a Guggenheim award in 1995. Also a bilingual poet and a filmmaker, Dr. Behar is the author of Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza's Story and The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology that Breaks Your Heart. She is the editor of Bridges to Cuba and co-editor of Women Writing Culture. Most recently, Dr. Behar produced a documentary film, Adio Kerida/Goodbye Dear Love, about her return to Cuba in search of her Jewish heritage on the island, which has been screened in Latino, Jewish, and documentary film festivals in the United States and Latin America, and shown on Spanish television.

Student comments about Dr. Ruth Behar

1:00 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 31, 2003
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Aldo and Diana Dominguez

" Cuba On Our Mind: Reflections of Joplin’s Only Cuban-American Couple"

Born in Holguin, Cuba, Joplin attorney Aldo Dominguez came to the U.S. in 1965. His wife, Diana, moved to the U.S. from Pinar del Rio, Cuba in 1988; the couple married six years later. Aldo, who received his Juris Doctorate from the Creighton University School of Law in 1988, is the only Spanish-speaking attorney in Southwest Missouri dedicated to representing the Hispanic population. He was featured nationally on NBC’s “Hispanic Today” program in October 2001. In their presentation, the couple discussed how they maintain communications with their Cuban relatives, how they maintained Cuban traditions with their children (Aldo, 6; and Camila, 4), and their respective families’ flight from communism. In addition, they shared their impressions of the current situation in their homeland.

Mon. - Tues., Nov. 10-11, 2003
Music Building
Admission: free

Michael Spiro

Michael Spiro, Artist in Residence, an internationally recognized recording artist and educator, has studied annually in Cuba since 1984 with the country's leading musicians. His residency program of workshops and master classes for music students covers the history, development, and performance techniques of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music. He not only teaches how to play the music, but emphasizes the cultural context within which the music takes place. Included are participatory activities in Afro-Cuban and Brazilian percussion performance. Mr. Spiro has been a faculty member or artist in residence at the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford University, University of Massachusetts, University of Missouri, Brigham Young University, Wichita State University, and numerous others. He currently resides in San Francisco, where he is an integral part of the Bay Area music scene.

Monday, November 10, 2003

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, Webster Hall Auditorium
"Jazz with a Cuban Flair"

The Southern Jazz Orchestra, with guest soloist/master Cuban percussionist Michael Spiro and under the direction of Dr. Phillip C. Wise, presented a jazz concert in the Cuban style. The performance included the world premiere of a commissioned piece called “Cubaneando” (Cuban jazz mambo) by composer Robert Washut for MSSU's Cuba Semester. Dr. Washut is a professor of music at the University of Northern Iowa, where he has been director of jazz studies since 1980. An accomplished jazz composer and arranger, he leads the acclaimed Orquesta Alto Maiz Salsa Band.

7:30 p.m.
Wed.-Sat., Nov. 12-15, 2003
Black Box Theatre (Bud Walton Theatre)
Admission: free to students, faculty, staff

Art work by Alvin Fall

Southern Theatre presents Deviations, directed by Dr. Alex Pinkston

Cuban writers have produced some of the most innovative and powerful literature of the 20th century. Julio Matas, the author of Deviations, is probably considered the best of the 20th century Cuban playwrights. Deviations delivers an almost mythic tale of a cane plantation owner who hires an assassin to do away with the owner's bastard son (conceived by his wife and her unusual lover, a Quasimodo-like character). The assassin becomes attracted to the owner's two daughters, and eventually runs off with one of them.

October, 2003
International Crossroads

Four students from Missouri Southern’s Communications Department traveled to Cuba in June 2003 under the direction of Dr. Gwen Murdock, head of the Psychology Department, and Dr. John Couper, assistant professor of communications at Pittsburg State University.

The resulting 54-page magazine features stories by Jerry Manter, Josh Ray, Mandi Steele, and Philip Martin on Cuban baseball, schools, religion, lifestyles, transportation, history, cigars, music, tourism, and food and drink. Copies are available by contacting Rhonda Clark at clark-rh@mssu.edu.

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