As Cuba grapples with its worst economic crisis and the future of the island seems perilous, scholars from across disciplines will gather at the University of Miami for New Directions in Cuban Studies, a conference highlighting emerging research on Cuba\u2019s history, culture, politics, economy and connections with communities around the world.<\/p>\n
The conference, which will be held from Oct. 21-23 at the Roberto C. Goizueta Pavillion of the University of Miami Libraries Cuban Heritage Collection, brings together advanced graduate students, emerging scholars and early-career researchers to share new approaches to the study of Cuba.<\/p>\n
The gathering provides an opportunity for participants to engage with fresh research, diverse methodologies and a range of perspectives on Cuba and Cuban communities worldwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Directions in Cuban Studies is the Cuban Heritage Collection\u2019s signature academic event,\u201d said Michael Bustamante, associate professor of history and the Emilio Bacard\u00ed Moreau Chair in Cuban and Cuban American Studies. \u201cWhat distinguishes it from many other conferences is its focus on emerging scholars. We give advanced graduate students and early-career researchers a platform to share new work and receive substantive feedback from more senior colleagues.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bustamante added: \u201cThis year, the conference feels especially important. At a moment of intense uncertainty about Cuba\u2019s future, there is no shortage of speculation about what will happen next. New Directions gives us an opportunity to slow down and engage instead with scholarship grounded in deep archival research, sustained fieldwork and other forms of careful inquiry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat work may not provide instant answers to every question dominating the headlines, but it gives us the historical depth, cultural awareness and intellectual perspective needed to understand those questions more clearly and to think through what public debates might be missing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s keynote address, \u201cGetting Beyond the Balancing Act: Cuban Studies Then and Now,\u201d will be delivered by Lillian Guerra, professor of Cuban and Caribbean history at the University of Florida and co-editor of the journal Cuban Studies.<\/p>\n
Guerra, the author of five books, will draw on her recent scholarship and oral history interviews during the keynote. Her address will examine the evolution of Cuban studies and the intellectual and political debates that have influenced the field.<\/p>\n
She will also address the challenges and possibilities facing Cuba and Cuban communities around the world at a time of what organizers describe as profound uncertainty.<\/p>\n
The conference reflects the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary Cuban studies, bringing together research that approaches Cuba from historical, cultural, political and economic perspectives. By providing a forum for graduate students and early-career scholars, it also offers an opportunity for emerging researchers to contribute to ongoing conversations about Cuba and its global connections.<\/p>\n
The event is co-presented by the Libraries Cuban Heritage Collection and the Program in Cuban Studies at the College of Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n
The Goizueta Foundation is the program\u2019s principal funder. Additional support for the conference comes from the University of Miami\u2019s Wilbur L. and Jean L. Morrison Endowment for Cuban Studies and the Emilio Bacard\u00ed Moreau Chair in Cuban and Cuban American Studies.<\/p>\n