天美传媒

President Obama’s historic trip to Cuba has put the country back in the headlines. But months before the president traveled to Cuba, Adelphi students and faculty did, as part of two听separate study-abroad courses. They caught a glimpse of听a society with a storied past on the brink of transformation.

鈥淲hen you study about the world and another place, it’s like looking at the world through a keyhole;听but when you actually travel to that place and explore, it’s like opening the whole door,鈥� wrote Ben听Nichols, a senior majoring in international studies and economics, after returning from the study-abroad听course, Global Perspectives: Cuba in Transition led by John Drew, assistant professor, Mark Grabowski,听J.D., associate professor, and Joan Stein Schimke, associate professor.

Students who participated in the听course served as reporters and videographers, as they journeyed west from Havana to Pinar del Rio,听Cuba鈥檚 poorest province.听

Simultaneously, 16 Adelphi students joined Devin Thornburg, Ph.D., and Anne Mungai, Ph.D., professors听in the , to explore education, community-based arts programs and听the culture of the island as part of Education and Community Service in Cuba, a three-credit class.

Since returning from Cuba, professors Drew and Grabowski听have been featured in media stories on the president’s visit and the opening of diplomacy and trade with Cuba.

听interviewed Drew for its story, 鈥淎re US-Cuba Business Interests Ready to Take Off?鈥� Drew advocated for an end to the trade embargo with Cuba.

In an op-ed in , Grabowski argued that with normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba it is time to re-assess the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, which provides a fast-track to U.S. citizenship for all Cuban immigrants.

also interviewed Grabowski for a story on Cuban immigration and potential policy changes.听

Photos and videos from听Global Perspectives: Cuba in Transition are also being posted at .听