Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso, or Alicia Alonso Grant Theater, in Havana, Cuba

Spring Break in Cuba - 2024

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Trip to Havana, Cuba: March 10-14, 2024

A limited number of Stetson Law students will be selected to participate in the Spring Break study abroad program in Cuba. The class will be held in the Spring semester once per week, culminating in the five-day, four-night trip to Havana, Cuba from March 10-14, 2024. Students will not meet formally for class after the trip to Cuba, but students are expected to complete a special project and may choose from writing a scholarly paper on a topic related to the course of study, curating a museum exhibit, filming a documentary, creating a piece of art, or even writing a literary piece.

The Spring Break in Cuba study abroad program is available to 2L and 3L Stetson students.

This trip does not allow family members to accompany students.

The Cuban Legal System and Society (1 credit)

Instructor: Elizabeth Berenguer, Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication, Stetson University College of Law

This is a law and literature course focused primarily on the time period from Cuban independence from Spain through the Revolution led by Castro and the Cuban diaspora. This course will examine the historical relationship between the U.S. and Cuba and how that relationship has influenced Cuba’s socio-political evolution and U.S. immigration policy. The class will meet once a week for one hour during the first half of the semester, and the reading assignments will involve a combination of literature and legal sources.

Over spring break, students will travel to Cuba with the professor and tour Havana, meet lawyers who practice in Cuba, visit Cojimar and Finca Vigia where Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea, and tour the Archives in Matanzas. While in Cuba, students will be expected to keep a diary, but all of the reading and classwork will be completed prior to leaving for Cuba. Upon returning, students will not meet for class, but they are expected to complete a final project. This final project may be a scholarly paper, or it may be something more creative like a curated museum exhibit or a documentary, or even a piece of art or literature. The key for the final project will be to tie what the students have studied to some modern, legal question related to any of the topics. Perhaps it is a critique of U.S. immigration policy toward children at the border. Perhaps it is an examination of the ongoing embargo and travel limitations placed on U.S. citizens to Cuba. It could be anything at all related to what the students have studied during the course.

AGENDA - Spring Break in Cuba 2024

Student Budget

 

Course Materials:  Prof. Berenguer is finalizing the reading list and anticipates using some or all of the following:

Ada Ferrer, An American History of Cuba (selected chapters)
Jose Martí, Versos Sencillos (selected poems will be posted on Canvas)
Ricardo Batrell, A Black Soldier’s Story: The Narrative of Ricardo Batrell and the Cuban War of Independence (selected chapters)
Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man & The Sea
Carlos Eire, Waiting for Snow in Havana


Important Dates

  • Application Deadline:                   December 15, 2023
  • Tuition and Housing Fees Due:   December 15, 2023
  • Program Dates:                             March 10-14, 2024
 
Deposit and Tuition Refund

A participant's application fee ($50) in the Spring Break in Cuba study abroad program requires an accompanying deposit of $200; the deposit ($200) is applied to a participant's final invoice. Once an applicant has been accepted, the deposit is non-refundable.

Tuition for this program is in addition to the normal full-time Spring tuition rate. Please see the Student Budget for more information.

Students are obligated to pay tuition and housing as of December 15, 2023. Any attempt to withdraw from the program after that date will not discharge the student's obligation for payment of the tuition and housing.

QUESTIONS?  

Email [email protected] or call 727-562-7651