• A short summary of the concept. Include the chapter and section

• A short summary of the connections you'll make to your topic / research question.

• Attach media or articles that represent your connections.

• A short summary of the main theory. Include the chapter/s and section/s.

• A short summary of the idea/s from that theory that connect to your topic. Explain how they relate to your topic. Include the chapter/s and section/s.

• Attach media or articles that represent your connections.

The institution of Family

1. A summary of what you've learned about your topic and research question.

2. Three scholarly sources that discuss your topic (they do not need to be related to sociology).

3. A statement of how they informed your Research Question.

1) syncretism is reflected in Cuban folkloric dance. Specifically, it reflects a combination of Catholic beliefs, and spiritual beliefs of the Yoruba people (West Africa, primarily Nigeria)

2) Government initiatives post revolution have promoted Cuban folkloric dance to help create a unified society.

These articles inform my inquiry about how through dance, Afro-Cuban spiritual beliefs have been preserved, altered and expressed, amidst the social changes inherent through colonization, slavery, and revolution.

Sources:

1) This blog (pictured), from an academic institution, discusses the syncretism reflected in Cuba dance

2) This article, "Santería in a Globalized World: A Study in Afro-Cuban Folkloric Santería in a Globalized World: A Study in Afro-Cuban Folkloric Music" primarily discusses music, but dance is mentioned as a key expression of religious practice alongside music.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://lux.lawrence.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=luhp

3) This article discusses the role of the Cuban state in "producing culture", specifically through the promotion of dancers "producing dance". The author posits that this "National Tradition" was promoted for social cohesion and stability... to representat an ideally unified nation. However, often what is produced in Cuban dance is a diverse and divided expression "along lines of religion and race, and across intensities of rhythm and flow"

(will need log in to PCC)

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41349315

"Portrait of a Cuban Family"

Museum + Cultural Center:

Casa de Africa

Organizations/Projects:

Beyond Roots

Scholarly Sources:

Allahar, A. L. (1994). Woman and the Family in Cuba:  A Study Across Time. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 20:1.

Skaine, R. (2004). The Cuban family: Custom and change in an era of hardship. McFarland.

Waller, B. (2022?). Cuba’s 2022 Family Code: A Different Model for Social Progress. Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality, 41.

Scholarly sources:

Henao, Luis Andres. “LGBTQ-Inclusive Church in Cuba Welcomes All in a Country That Once Sent Gay People to Labor Camps.” New York Amsterdam News, vol. 115, no. 18, 2 May 2024, p. 30. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=176969682&site=ehost-live.

Kirk, Emily J. “Minority Report: Cuban Gays in the International Media.” International Journal of Cuban Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, Spring 2017, pp. 117–26. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.libproxy.pcc.edu/10.13169/intejcubastud.9.1.0117.

Portwood, Jerry. “Santa Mariela.” Advocate, no. 1080, Aug. 2015, pp. 32–35. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=103711220&site=ehost-live.

Talking with local queer activists will be another good source to learn about what the fight for marriage equality was like. It will also be interesting to hear what their current and former relationships to protestant and Catholic churches have been.

I am not sure if we will have the ability to ask questions at the National Procession, but if not I still may be able to learn about and gauge current Cuban attitudes towards religion (as well as its role) through observing the ceremony and researching it and Yoruba/Catholic syncretism.

"The Cuban Revolution: 1959-Today", Dr Fernández.

Museums:

Museum of the Revolution

Organizations/Projects:

Neighborhood primary care doctor

Scholarly Sources:

ACEI-Global Blog. "15 Facts on Cuba and its Education System". 8, January. 2015. https://acei-global.org/15-facts-on-cuba-and-its-education-system/#:~:text=The%20Cuban%20government%20has%20been,a%20high%2Dlevel%20teaching%20faculty.

Carnoy, Martin & Wertheim, Jorge. "Cuba: Economic Change and Education Reform 1955-1974". World Bank. January, 1979. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/ru/527651468749726085/pdf/multi0page.pdf

Whitney, W.T. "The Cuban Revolution: Made by teachers and students". People's World. 4, January. 2023. https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/the-cuban-revolution-made-by-teachers-and-students/

Although the authorities claim that racial discrimination was eliminated by the Cuban Revolution, the Afro-Cuban population continues to face different expressions of structural racial discrimination and social exclusion, such as high unemployment rates, and lack of access to housing and quality education, among others. The poverty and violence suffered by a large percentage of women is even greater if they are part of the opposition to the government, or are independent activists. Meanwhile, the LGBTI+ population finds itself in a context where freedom of expression is controlled and restricted by the State."

I think this will allow me insight into values taught to Cuban children, and how they are socialized, which can lead to the social exclusion faced by Cuban minorities.

12/15 "Casa de Africa Museum and Cultural Center"

I am hoping this will give a more in-depth explanation of impact by Afro-Cubans on modern Cuban culture.

12/17 "Annual Procession at the National Sanctuary of San Lazaro (Babalú Aye)"

Santeria is a religion that has strong ties to Yoruba (a Nigerian ethnic group) religion. I want to learn about not only the influences of African spirituality but also the core values of the religion and how people practice today.

12/18 "Local activists re: gender-based violence campaign and LGBTQ+ rights"

Talking to activists will help me learn and identify societal issues experienced in Cuba. I want to explore how this affects Cubans with intersecting identities. Though Cuba legalized same-sex marriage, I doubt the stigma has been eradicated.

Symbolic Interactionism! Symbols of race, associations with history, cultural aspects, and values associated with certain groups. There will absolutely be evidence of attitudes towards certain people based on the symbol of an aspect of an identity, potentially more than just because of the identity itself.

I also learned about language used to talk about queer people amongst Santería practitioners. I learned many slang Spanish terms (most of them unfortunately derogatory) (Vidal-Ortiz, 2011). It was really interesting to compare these slang words (which I would rather not repeat here) to slang terms that are used to refer to gay people in the US. I noticed that slang in both cultures tended to emasculate and other queer people.

However, most of this research was done studying Cuban ex-patriots who practiced Santeria, so I believe it will be better to learn more from the Cuban people directly. I am especially excited to talk about the language LGBTQ activists predominantly use today, and see what has changed over the past thirteen years.

Vidal-Ortiz's article also placed a large emphasis on queer intersectionality (and racial intersectionality) in Santería spaces (pgs 908-909). I also learned about a deity named Changó, which has both male and female characteristics and forms via possession (pgs 910-911).

These readings also taught me more about the UMAP camps. There seem to be varying interpretations of why queer people were targeted -- some attribute it to the remnants of machismo and other colonial attitudes, while others, including historian Lillian Guerra, believe the Cuban government's treatment of homosexuality as a social contagion was part of the regime's strict enforcement of gender roles (Guerra 2010, pg 289).

Guerra, L. (2010, August). Gender policing, homosexuality and the new patriarchy of the Cuban Revolution, 1965–70. PCC Login | Portland Community College. https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.pcc.edu/stable/27866661

Mayer, M. (2007). Experiences of religious gay men in Havana, Cuba. Loyola eCOMMONS. https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=education_facpubs

Vidal-Ortiz, S. (2011). “Maricón,” “pájaro,” and “loca”: Cuban and Puerto Rican linguistic practices, and sexual minority participation, in U.S. Santería. Research Gate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51477877_Maricon_pajaro_and_loca_Cuban_and_Puerto_Rican_linguistic_practices_and_sexual_minority_participation_in_US_Santeria

These sources have helped lay the context for what the history of gay and religious Cubans was like in the latter half of the twentieth century. This context is important and necessary to have when I have conversations with activists, and learn about how Cuban gender roles and views toward spirituality have shifted. I have also learned a bit about the Santería religion, which I knew very little about before. This is important to know and understand as my project is in big part about religion, and the Santería religion is a major religion in Cuba, especially for Afro-Cubans. These sources have helped me understand that religious communities and queer Cubans have not had a fully adversarial relationship, and how gay people have even found solace in more conservative spiritualities during persecution. I look forward to learning about more recent queer and religious Cuban history from the activists and practitioners themselves who have lived these experiences when I am in Cuba.

- "The Cuban Revolution: 1959-Today", Dr Fernández.

-Neighborhood Primary Care Doctor

Sources:

-Keck CW, Reed GA. The curious case of Cuba. Am J Public Health. 2012 Aug;102(8):e13-22. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.300822. Epub 2012 Jun 14. PMID: 22698011; PMCID: PMC3464859.

-Jonas P, Garbey Savigne E, Koster M, Choonara I. Lessons from Building a Sustainable Healthcare Exchange between the Netherlands and Cuba. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 17;19(18):11742. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191811742. PMID: 36142015; PMCID: PMC9517359.

-AMA J Ethics. 2021;23(3):E258-264. doi: 10.1001/amajethics.2021.258.

Vinales, (one night). Tobacco farm, Q&A with farmer, and tour of village with guide. Impact of tourism. 

Las Terrazas, UNESCO biosphere reserve, and self sustaining eco-village. Walking tour and visit with local artisans. Sustainabilty and eco-tourism with a guide. 

Rutty, M., & Richardson, R. B. (2019). Tourism research in Cuba: Gaps in knowledge and challenges for sustainable tourism. Sustainability, 11(12), 3340. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123340

Staff, K. a. W. (2015, March 23). Havana or Bust: How U.S.-Cuba relations will impact tourism. Knowledge at Wharton. https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/what-the-changes-in-us-cuba-relations-mean-for-caribbean-tourism/

Walsh, J. L. (2019). Success Characteristics of market entry in Cuban tourism. In Oxford University Press eBooks (pp. 155–176). https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190687366.003.0007

These sources helped me to think in terms of economic gain to Cubans. How do tourism rates affect the Cuban economy? How can one maximize the benefits and minimize the cost of tourism?

Tagging along with other students to see how they view the country and its relation to their question

Old habana-tourist

Plaza de caterdal-tourist

fusterlandia-tourist

Education. How has gender equality in education evolved in Cuba? After the Revolution how has education shifted?

Educational Reform After the Cuban Revolution: How did education change after 1959? What were the goals of the new education policies, and how were they implemented in rural areas?

How does education influence opportunities for social mobility in Cuba? Has the quality of education changed over time in different social classes?

Impact of Globalization on Education: With the advent of new technologies and international connections post-1990s, how has education in Cuba adapted?(study abroad?) Has access to global knowledge and education systems changed the Cuban curriculum or student experiences?

Kempf, A. (2014) The Cuban Literacy Campaign at 50: Formal and Tacit Learning in Revolutionary Education, Critical Education. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/48349894/The_Cuban_Literacy_Campaign_at_50_Formal_and_Tacit_Learning_in_Revolutionary_Education.

This article discusses the Cuban literacy campaign initiated in 1959, a critical part of the educational reforms after the Revolution. It analyzes how the campaign reached rural areas and significantly reduced illiteracy, contributing to the empowerment of marginalized populations.

Hernandez, A. (2015). Gender Equality in Cuban Education: Challenges and Achievements. https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=fjil

This source explores the role of gender equality in the evolution of Cuba's educational system. It highlights how access to education for women improved over the decades, but still discusses the ongoing issues of gender inequality in employment and wage disparities post-graduation.

Uriarte, M. (2003) ‘Issue 3 Article 3 Fall 2003 Crisis of the 1990s’, Journal of Pedagogy, Pluralism, and Practice, 2. Available at: https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1176&context=jppp.

This Volume explores the relationship of the economic state to that of educational rates to include, enrollment, literacy, and GDP. It offers solutions that may remedy the disparity in Cuba

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