Social Science Research Council

Distinguished Lecturers Series

In February 1999, sociologist and director of Stanford's Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences Neil Smelser inaugurated a lecture series designed to bring senior scholars to Cuba to present on their fields of expertise. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman and preeminent sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein completed additional visits to the island during the fall of 1999, delivering talks, speaking at roundtables and visiting a variety of educational institutions.

In 2000, Laura Friedman and Gerhard Schlanzky, exhibition designers for the American Museum of Natural History, delivered talks at Cuba's Museum of Natural History and assisted in exhibition preparation. Phillip Altbach, J. Donald Monan Professor of Higher Education at Boston University, delivered a series of lectures on trends in international higher education in December 2000. Dr. Altbach was followed by Atilio Boron, director of Buenos Aires-based Consejo Latinoamericano de las Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO) in February 2001. Dr. Ruth Ottman taught a week-long seminar on genetic epidemiology in April 2001.

In January 2002, Robert Corell, Senior Research Fellow in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University) and Senior Fellow at the Atmospheric Policy Program of the American Meteorological Society, delivered lectures and met with colleagues from Cuba's scientific community to discuss environmental sustainability. In September 2002, Alessandro Portelli, a leading Italian scholar of North American literature and a pioneering oral historian, delivered lectures at the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC) on Toni Morrison's Beloved, Sherman Alexie's Indian Killer, and Don DeLillo's Underworld.

In January 2003, Ernesto Grosman, Charles Bernstein, and Johanna Drucker, all noted American poets and translators, gave a series of lectures at the José Martí National Library in Havana. In March 2003, the Centro de Investigaciones Psicológicas y Sociológicas hosted eminent sociologist Erik Olin Wright, who delivered lectures on a variety of topics, including "Envisioning Real Utopias" and "Deepening Democracy."

In November 2003, Jean Franco, of Columbia University, and Rossana Reguillo, of ITESO-Guadalajara, organized and taught a week-long course on Modernities, Latin Americanism and Cultural Studies, held at the Fundación Ludwig and co-sponsored by Casa de las Americas. The course is part of a greater objective to increase exchange between Cuban and non-Cuban scholars in the disciplinary field of Cultural Studies. Another Cultural Studies course took place in May 2005 and was taught by John Beverley, of the University of Pittsburgh, and Julio Ramos, of the University of California, Berkeley.

In October 2005, Professor Rick Doner from Emory University traveled to Cuba and held a series of discussions with economists, hosted by the Centro de Estudios de la Economia Cubana (CEEC). Professor Doner shared his knowledge of business associations and economic transition in Southeast Asia, giving three lectures focusing on the challenges of upgrading in Thailand's sugar industry; the role of business associations in economic development; and the political sources of strong institutions (based on Asian experience).

Workshops on International Cooperation

In June of 1999, the Working Group began the first of a two-year series of five workshops in Cuba on international cooperation. During that period, some 60 Cuban researchers attended sessions held by experts from Europe, North America and Latin America. The workshops were designed to better inform the Cuban academic community about the mechanisms by which international agencies identify priorities, solicit proposals or evaluate projects for support. The initiative constitutes a response to perceived needs of Cuban researchers who have limited experience working with international funding institutions that typically provide support on a project-specific basis. The workshops sought not only to educate the community, but also to guide participants through the proposal-drafting process. The final workshop in the series was held in the fall of 2000.

Workshop for Junior Scholars of the War of 1898

In July 1998, the Working Group sponsored a two-week workshop designed to bring together five Cuban scholars of the War of 1898 with similarly dedicated American scholars. The workshop was convened in Washington, D.C. to allow access to the National Archives and other documentation centers, and was jointly coordinated by Dr. Louis Pérez Jr. of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Dr. Carmen Almodovar of the University of Havana, both widely recognized as among the foremost authorities on the War of 1898 in their respective countries.

A key goal of the workshop was to link junior scholars from both nations at an early point in their professional development, so that they might begin to constitute an international cohort of historians likely to continue working together throughout their careers. After the workshop, U.S.-based participants reported that they believed the ties they had established with their Cuban counterparts would be enduring, and that the experience of working together had underscored the potential benefits of joint research. From the Cuban perspective, the workshop was especially useful, as it gave the young Cuban scholars access to some of the most important archival records and manuscript collections pertaining to the War of 1898 and its immediate aftermath.