January 29, 2015 / Modified jan 29, 2015 11:50 p.m.

Cuba as a Classroom

Annual summer trips educate University of Arizona students about the culture, politics and daily life of an isolated island nation.

Listen:

ua cuban trip portrait

Educators from the University of Arizona are planning a one-month learning program for students in Cuba this summer, which is especially timely due to recent discussions between the United States and the Caribbean nation about improving diplomatic relations between both countries.

The program to Cuba focuses on improving Spanish language skills and learning about the region's history, geography, culture and other topics.

Dereka Rushbrook, PhD, is a lecturer with the School of Geography and Development at the University of Arizona.

She has worked with Marcela Vásquez-León, PhD, who is an associate professor in the School of Anthropology.

The session in Cuba was inaugurated in 2013. Since then, dozens of students have participated in the educational and personal exchanges. Students stay with local families and interact with Cubans of different backgrounds.

“The day the students enjoyed the most was the day they painted a school,” Rushbrook said, referring to the exchange in 2014.

The trip to Cuba is just one of many that is offered by the university's Office of Global Initiatives.

Other learning opportunities include Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Egypt, France and Germany.

ua cuban trip bus spotlight
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona