Activities

Weekly CASA Seminar

During the semester, the program will hold mandatory weekly meetings with all students with guest lecturers, to discuss experiences and coordinate program activities. No student should sign up for University of Havana courses which conflict with this meeting period.

Lunch Seminars

Once a week throughout the semester, CASA-Cuba invites important researchers and practitioners to the gallery to give short talks on subjects of current interest in Cuba over a light lunch provided for seminar participants.

In addition to the Eastern Cuba field trip (see below), CASA will, over the course of the term, organize a variety of special lectures and local field visits that expose students to the tremendous cultural mosaic of Cuba. Topics may include Cuban music, food, religion, race and ethnicity, sports, and politics and will capitalize on CASA’s extended network of contacts throughout Havana.

Other Cultural Events

Depending on student interests, each semester CASA-Cuba offers yoga and Cuban dance classes to students.

Beyond the cultural opportunities offered by the CASA-Cuba program specifically for our students, the city of Havana is full of opportunities for getting in contact with the rich cultural life in Cuba. We keep students informed through notices posted in the gallery and group e-mails. Our Facebook group is updated regularly with information about cultural and academic events taking place at the Casa de las Américas and in and around Havana.

English classes

Since 2017, the program has offered English language courses for the institution's workers and for students at the University of Havana (UH). For this we have a professional teacher who teaches the course.
CASA students provide classroom support, help with lesson planning, and gain experience teaching English from their native language. They are active in a community service project and collaborate directly with Cuban colleagues.
It is highly appreciated in the Cuban pedagogical scene to offer a professional English course, free of charge, for students with native speakers as teaching partners.

We share some testimonies:

It might seem common, but what was new was the incorporation into the classes, on a voluntary basis, of foreign students interested in the art of teaching or in helping Cuban students, in their native language. It has been a very interesting and unique experience. I feel satisfied to be part of this beautiful experience.

Gisel Morales Sosa. Professor of English

It was incredible to see the progress of the Cuban students during just three months. With the help of the main teacher, Gisel, I learned how to teach my native language to a class of Spanish-speaking students. At the end of the semester, the Cubans had the ability to share their identities and dreams in English. The language class became an exchange of cultures.

Ben Michael Solomon, Columbia University Spring 2022

Language tandem

Since spring 2016, CASA has offered a language tandem under the direction of the spanish teacher. It is an activity where the language is practiced, Cuban students improve their English skills and CASA students practice Spanish in a conversational environment. It also helps foster friendships between participants. Although participation is voluntary, the tandem is very popular among students.

Testimonials:

It is a space of transformation. During these semesters with joy, mutual help, solidarity, dialogue, attentive listening, understanding, this place of strangers has become a meeting between friends.
Collaborative and sincere activity between contemporaries has made it possible, not only to practice a certain grammatical structure, know a certain lexicon, or improve skills in a specific context, but also to establish human relationships between people from countries historically in conflict.
The language is an expression of our idiosyncrasy, culture and identity, and everything indicates that the borders between Spanish and English have not been such, when the students have made friendship flourish.

Assistant Professor: M.SC. Patricia Motola Pedroso

Our tandem has been an interesting exchange between members of different cultures. We talked about our daily lives, television and entertainment, Havana and things of interest in the United States and Cuba. We have learned to improve our ways of conversing in a relaxed way, and in particular, I have enjoyed the opportunity to talk more informally. We have improved our conversation skills. Isis practiced speaking in the past tense and was able to tell me stories. She helped me practice the subjunctive mood. When we make mistakes, we correct ourselves immediately, with love. We learned many new words and idiomatic phrases. All in all, it was an incredible opportunity to practice our second languages and make a new friend!

Alex and Nathan, American students and Isis, a Cuban student.

Field Trips in Cuba

Eastern Cuba Trip

Mid-semester, the group will undertake an academic field visit to eastern Cuba. In each place visited, students will be guided by academics, local intellectuals and community members who will take them to important sites to learn about local history and contemporary community life.

Weekend Trips

At the beginning and end of the semester, two more weekend trips will be organized by the program. The destinations for these trips vary from semester to semester. Past trips have included visits to Santa Clara-Cienfuegos-Trinidad in the central part of Cuba, or to the beautiful valley of Viñales in western Cuba.