College's Cuba program advances
- Submitted by: admin
- International
- North America
- 12 / 26 / 2006
By Bruce Edwards Herald Staff
Some Burlington College students could be heading to Cuba as early as next year as part of a new semester abroad program.
"We worked out a tentative arrangement with the University of Havana to send students there next fall or in the spring (2008) to study any program they want to study," said Sandy Baird, one of several Burlington College faculty members who returned this month from a week-long trip to Cuba.
Baird said college officials now will "negotiate the fine points" of the deal that would send a minimum of five students to Cuba for a semester.
"The program requires a lot of assistance on their part and also requires us to send a resident director there as well for proper supervision," said Baird, director the school's Institute of Civic Engagement.
Because of the 46-year-old trade and travel embargo of the communist island of 11.4 million people, any business, educational or cultural contact with Cuba requires U.S. government approval.
The Bush administration has made it more difficult to forge educational ties with Cuba, discouraging many colleges from setting up or continuing programs.
Burlington College already has in place the necessary approval from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to establish the program. A Treasury Department license is required for any travel or activity requiring the expenditure of U.S. dollars in Cuba.
The college also is working on an arrangement with the Ludwig Foundation to incorporate an arts and culture component for students in Cuba.
Baird said student cost for the Cuba semester abroad program would be in line with the college's other overseas study programs.
Deb Ellis, a part-time faculty member who also teaches film at Middlebury College, made the trip as well. Ellis spent part of the trip with a small video camera in eastern Oriente Province, where Fidel Castro established his guerilla movement in the Sierra Maestra Mountains.
Ellis, whose 2004 film, "Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train," was screened last year at the Havana Film Festival, was gathering background footage for a possible film on Cuba.
She was introduced to the remote area by Florida cattle broker John Parke Wright IV. It was Wright who last year arranged the first shipment of Vermont cows to the island.
Ellis also visited Maria Antonia's el Alcazar farm " the only privately owned farm in Cuba.
"It's a pretty interesting history to have a farm out there run by a woman who grew up with the ruling elite who was allowed to keep her farm," she said.
Both Baird and Ellis said Cubans they talked to voiced concern about life after Fidel Castro and the intentions of the United States. The ailing 80-year old ruler temporarily ceded power this summer to his younger brother, Raul.
"These young people were very uneasy about what the (United States) might do," Baird said.
In addition to Baird and Ellis, other faculty members who made the trip were Anna Blackmer, humanities chairwoman, and Dean Michael Sherman. The delegation also will include the president of the Cuban-American Friendship Society, which is based in Burlington.
"We worked out a tentative arrangement with the University of Havana to send students there next fall or in the spring (2008) to study any program they want to study," said Sandy Baird, one of several Burlington College faculty members who returned this month from a week-long trip to Cuba.
Baird said college officials now will "negotiate the fine points" of the deal that would send a minimum of five students to Cuba for a semester.
"The program requires a lot of assistance on their part and also requires us to send a resident director there as well for proper supervision," said Baird, director the school's Institute of Civic Engagement.
Because of the 46-year-old trade and travel embargo of the communist island of 11.4 million people, any business, educational or cultural contact with Cuba requires U.S. government approval.
The Bush administration has made it more difficult to forge educational ties with Cuba, discouraging many colleges from setting up or continuing programs.
Burlington College already has in place the necessary approval from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to establish the program. A Treasury Department license is required for any travel or activity requiring the expenditure of U.S. dollars in Cuba.
The college also is working on an arrangement with the Ludwig Foundation to incorporate an arts and culture component for students in Cuba.
Baird said student cost for the Cuba semester abroad program would be in line with the college's other overseas study programs.
Deb Ellis, a part-time faculty member who also teaches film at Middlebury College, made the trip as well. Ellis spent part of the trip with a small video camera in eastern Oriente Province, where Fidel Castro established his guerilla movement in the Sierra Maestra Mountains.
Ellis, whose 2004 film, "Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train," was screened last year at the Havana Film Festival, was gathering background footage for a possible film on Cuba.
She was introduced to the remote area by Florida cattle broker John Parke Wright IV. It was Wright who last year arranged the first shipment of Vermont cows to the island.
Ellis also visited Maria Antonia's el Alcazar farm " the only privately owned farm in Cuba.
"It's a pretty interesting history to have a farm out there run by a woman who grew up with the ruling elite who was allowed to keep her farm," she said.
Both Baird and Ellis said Cubans they talked to voiced concern about life after Fidel Castro and the intentions of the United States. The ailing 80-year old ruler temporarily ceded power this summer to his younger brother, Raul.
"These young people were very uneasy about what the (United States) might do," Baird said.
In addition to Baird and Ellis, other faculty members who made the trip were Anna Blackmer, humanities chairwoman, and Dean Michael Sherman. The delegation also will include the president of the Cuban-American Friendship Society, which is based in Burlington.
Source: Ruthland Herald
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