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Abstract
The Caribbean has long afforded U.S. and Canadian geographers with a rich venue of study-abroad opportunities. Physical and human geography classes are particularly well-suited to the myriad political, social, and environmental landscapes of the region. This article summarizes a few key experiences that have emerged in forging study-abroad venues in the Dominican Republic and Cuba. In the latter, the norms of operation have always been nebulous. Avoiding criticisms of the Castro government is paramount, accommodating tour-guide spies is often necessary, and getting away from the top-down party line is essential. In the former, we describe a study-abroad site that is, culturally at least, so similar to eastern Cuba that it is uncanny. However, the low presence of public institutions and the prevalence of strong corporate agents impose another set of obstacles that must be carefully traversed. The case studies illustrate how geographic field research cannot be divorced from broader political, economic, and corporate interests and that how geographers grapple with these matters should not be done out of the students' view. Rather, with the use of discretion, these obstacles can provide valuable “teaching moments” that are the backbone of international education.
Korine N. Kolivras, assistant professor of geography at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA, received her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. Her research interests include medical geography and the incorporation of active learning techniques in the human geography classroom.
Joseph L. Scarpaci is a human geographer with interests in place representations, political economy, and Latin America.
Notes
1Most data in this column derived from The World Factbook, CIA, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ (accessed 7 July 2009).
2Source: BKV Public Relations for DR Ministry of Tourism, Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism Releases 2006 Visitor Statistics, http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:QNeGYFS1MHYJ:www.godominicanrepublic.com/images/pdfs/Release_DR_tourism_stats.pdf+tourism+figures+Dominican+Republic+2006&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us (accessed May 8, 2008).
3According to the D.R. Minister of Tourism Félix Jiménez. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Tourism+revenue+up.-a0175283874.
4Source: Deibert, M. March 13, 2008. “Haiti/Dominican Republic: Exhibit reveals a bitter harvest. Paris: IPS, http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36905 (accessed May 8, 2008).
1. An earlier version of this article titled “Teaching Urban Affairs and Planning in Cuba: Balance, History and Objectivity in the Classroom,” was presented at “The Role of Advocacy in the Classroom Conference,” in a session titled “Advocacy in the Teaching of Cuban Studies,” held in Pittsburgh, June 3, 1994.
2. Between 1992 and 1994, we boxed our bicycles and took them with us because fuel was expensive and most Cubans were getting around on Chinese-brand Phoenix and Flying Pigeon (single-speed bicycles). Compared to our students' 21-gear mountain and road bikes, we traveled in relative luxury. The juxtaposition of technology provided a convenient forum for discussing everything from bicycling in the rain, to OPEC, the embargo, and exercise, to gender roles. One student wrote in her journal, “Cubans look at [we Americans] on our $700 titanium-frame mountain bikes like we are Martians; they are both surprised and intrigued that we would even want to see Cuba from behind two- versus four-wheeled vehicles. Then, jokes ensued about the ‘free’ air conditioning one gets when going down a small hill.” It was a standard line that U.S. students used to get conversations going with other cyclists.