October 16, 2007 - 5:48am
The people of Nanaimo will have a rare opportunity to hear about life today in Cuba when Professor Ramiro Zayas Frutos, who teaches English at the University of Havana, speaks at a public lecture at Malaspina University-College Wednesday, Oct. 17.
The free lecture, entitled Cuba Now: Politics, Culture and the Revolution, will be followed by a slide show and discussion of Cuban government propaganda and social murals photographed by Malaspina professor Dr. Marshall Soules in 2006 and 2007.
As well, the public will hear about a unique opportunity to participate in Malaspina’s first field school to Cuba in May 2008.
“The field school will provide an opportunity to experience Cuban history and culture,” explained Dr. Catherine Schittecatte, professor in Malaspina’s Global Studies program. “It will be offered to students for academic credit or members of the public for general interest.”
The field school will include visits to historical sites and museums, with an emphasis on the Cuban Revolution, Cuba and world politics and some colonial perspectives.
“Cuba has much to share about social justice, health care, education, resource management, environmentalism, and sustainability,” added Dr. Soules, Chair of Media Studies at Malaspina.
“Differences between Canada and Cuba provide a rich context for dialogue and promise to reveal deep feelings of simpatico between our two countries.”
An interesting aspect of the evening lecture involves Frutos’s collaboration with Soules on a project called The Canada/Cuba Image Dialogue. The pair met in Havana in 2006, while Soules was visiting the country to document Cuban public signage, propaganda, murals, and graffiti. Frutos subsequently provided translation, commentary and analysis of the messages in works Soules photographed. Some of these images will be shown and discussed as part of the lecture.
Frutos’s visit to Malaspina University-College is sponsored by the Media Studies Department and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
The public lecture takes place from 7 to 9 pm in Building 355, Room 211 at Malaspina University-College’s Nanaimo campus.
For more information about the field school to Cuba, visit the website at www.cubaculture.ca
Editors note: As part of the Worldbridger Film Series, don’t miss a screening of Suite Habana (80 minutes), an award-winning documentary film (2003) by Fernando Pérez, on Tuesday, October 16, 7 pm in Building 356, Room 109 at Malaspina’s Nanaimo campus. The film will be followed by a discussion of life in Havana, Cuba with University of Havana English professor Ramiro Zayas Frutos. There will also be a slide show and discussion of Cuban government propaganda in Havana, taken in 2006 and 2007 by Marshall Soules, Chair of Media Studies.
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