Imagine traveling to a country where you find that over 95 percent of the population is literate, every village in the country has a doctor and there is no measurable amount of homelessness.
Now imagine that country is a third world country in which the sides of buildings are crumbling, the paint peeling off and metal surfaces are covered in rust.
According to philosophy professor Joy Gordon, that is exactly what she and eight other faculty members encountered when they traveled to Havana, Cuba over Christmas break.
Gordon and politics professor Don Greenberg organized the trip with hopes of establishing contacts and starting a class in which students will be able to travel to Cuba as part of their studies.
“We wanted to bring a group of faculty who would make contacts and get a feel for the academic and social structures in Cuba,” said Gordon, “and then each in turn would set up further projects here.”
Among the faculty members that went with Gordon and Greenberg were Aaron Seymour, Cecelia Bucki, Marie-Anges Sourieau, Consuelo Garcia-Devesa, Sharon Abbott, Nelson Lopez and Kevin Cassidy.
According to Greenberg, the experience of being there was of great value.
“Even though I had read a great deal about Cuba before I visited, I was surprised about how much my views toward Cuba had been influenced by United States’ propaganda,” said Greenberg. “I have not returned from Cuba as a dewy-eyed apologist for Fidel [Castro] but I am very impressed and respectful of Cuba’s efforts and accomplishments.”
Seymour, assistant dean of the Dolan School of Business and director of undergraduate programs, also sees the value of this experience.
“As an institution, there has been a positive direction where faculty have gone to a location where they can interact with academics in those countries and bring something tangible away – to outwardly take action in order to broaden the experience at Fairfield,” he said.
According to Gordon, the trip was modeled after a faculty trip to Nicaragua that took place two years ago and resulted in ID 300: Justice and the Developing World – Nicaragua and MG 301: Topics in Business and Society – Micro Finance.
Communities in Nicaragua have also benefited from the contact. According to Gordon, Fairfield University’s bookstore now sells items with logos made in Nicaragua by people who would have otherwise been on the street. As part of a community development program, people are taken off the streets, taught to silkscreen and paid for their work.
“We are starting to create an environment where faculty are developing innovative courses where students can learn about justice issues in class, then go to a country and learn about them first hand,” said Gordon.
Gordon hopes to give students the opportunity to experience Cuba first-hand beginning next January of 2003.
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