This course surveys Cuban history, culture, and politics from the 15th century to the present. We will examine both the outsized role the island has played in world history and the dramatic ways world history has refracted through the island’s turbulent past. How has Cuban history and culture been shaped by its unique position in global geopolitics, at the crossroads of Europe, the Americas, and Africa? How have inhabitants of Cuba struggled against ongoing relationships of colonialism and dependency with foreign powers? How have inhabitants of Cuba defined what it means to be Cuban both because of and in spite of these global forces? We will draw on a wide array of texts from long before the famous Revolution of 1959 to well after.

Cuban history is deeply and painfully intertwined with our own, from our shared history of racial slavery to the island nation's long-standing struggle to escape a neocolonial relationship with the United States. This course surveys Cuban history, culture, and politics from the 15th century to the present. We will examine both the outsized role the island has played in regional and global history and the dramatic ways those histories have refracted through the island’s turbulent past. How have Cuban history and culture been shaped by the island’s unique position in global geopolitics, at the crossroads of the Americas, Africa, and Europe? How have inhabitants of Cuba struggled against ongoing relationships of colonialism and dependency with the U.S. and other foreign powers? How have inhabitants of Cuba defined what it means to be Cuban both because of and in spite of these external forces? In answering these questions and tracing this history, we will also learn to see U.S. history from the outside in. Readings include a wide array of texts from long before the famous Revolution of 1959 to well after. Students have the option of a final exam or an independent research paper, subject to instructor approval.

Application for the Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) L&S Breadth is in process.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills