Since its founding in December 1994, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies has assigned a high priority to overcoming the many obstacles that impede scholarly collaboration and exchange between individuals and institutions in Cuba and the United States. Guiding these efforts has been the conviction that restoring and enhancing cooperation between the U.S. and Cuban academic communities can play a significant role in promoting peaceful changes within and between our two countries. In the past ten years, the Center has played host to over 60 Cuban visiting scholars for extended periods of work and collaboration in fields as diverse as archival preservation and indexing, economics, history, tropical medicine, political science, public administration and public health.

Through grant support, each semester, the Center welcomes a small number of professors, professionals and researchers from Cuba who have applied to the Center through a competitive process. While in residence at Harvard and working on their own research projects, typically for four to twelve weeks, these Cuban visitors have opportunities to interact with Harvard faculty and students, use the University library resources, as well as participate in Center conferences and seminars. Visiting researchers from Cuba receive office space at the Center. Researchers are expected to present a lecture on the substance of their research and to be available for consultation with faculty, students and others at Harvard who are interested in their work. 

Cuban Short Term Visiting Scholars, 2009-10

Natalia María Bolívar Aróstegui is an anthropologist, museologist and specialist in Afro-Cuban religions. Trainedat the Arts Students League in New York andthe Louvre Museumin Paris, sheis the former director of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and alsoparticipated in the creation and management of the Museo Napoleónico and the MuseoNumismático de Cuba. She is the author and co-author of 16 books on Afro-Cubanreligions including Los Orishas en Cuba (1995, 3^rd edition, Panapo)and Cuba: Imágenes y relatos de un mundo mágico (1997, Ediciones Unión).She serves on the board of the journal Temasand is vice-president of the Fundación de Cultura Afrohispanoamericana “LaCeiba” in Seville, Spain. Ms. Bolívar Aróstegui isalso a painter and has served as an adviser for several well-known Cuban filmsincluding Fresa y Chocolate, Zafiro: Locura azul and ScubaDrive. During a two-week residency at Harvard,Natalia will present several lectures on Afro-Cuban religions.

Soraya M. Castro Mariño is a researcher and professor at the University of Havana´s Center forStudy of International Migrations (CEMI). She received hertraining from the University of Havana and the Instituteof Foreign Relations in Moscow, Russia.Her research interests include U.S.-Cuban relations, U.S.foreign policy and U.S.foreign policymaking process. She is the author of many scholarlyarticles and is co-author of EEUU: Dinámica Interna y Política Exterior (Ed. Ciencias Sociales, 2003) and Del TLC alMercosur: Integración y Diversidadesen América Latina (Ed. Siglo XXI, 2002). She has taught and conducted research at variousacademic institutions throughout the U.S. including Harvard University and wasinvited as a panelistto the Roundtable of Western HemisphereWomen Leaders organized by the Inter-American Dialogue-International and theCenter for Research on Women in 1994. She has held various short-term VisitingScholar appointments at numerous institutions including the2005 Top Level Seminar on Peace and Security both organized by the Department of Peace and Conflict Resolution, UppsalaUniversity in Sweden, the Smithsonian Institution at The National Museum ofAmerican History and twice at the National Security Archives, WashingtonD.C. (1997 and 2003). In Spring 2007, Soraya was the lead faculty instructor forthe Harvard College Program in Cubacourse taught to Harvard undergraduate students on “U.S.-Cuban Relations: An overview of historical, economical andpolitical perspectives.” While atHarvard, she will be researching contemporary U.S.foreign policy and its impact on Cuba.

Anicia García Álvarez is a professor in the EconomicsDepartment and the Director of the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy (Centro de Estudios de la Economía Cubana)at the Universityof Havana. Holding a PhDin international economics from the Universityof Havana’s EconomicsDepartment, her research focuses on the competitiveness of Cuban industry andagriculture, agricultural markets, economic policies and their impact onagricultural exports. She received her Master’s degree in international economicsfrom the Universityof Uruguay in 2001.  Prior to joining the CEEC, she was aneconomist at the National Institute for Economic Research, a think tankbelonging to the Ministry of Economics and Planning.  Her recent publications include “Las agroexportacionescubanas: demanda y competitividad”,and “Cadenas, redes y clusters productivos:aspectos teóricos” in Cuba, crecer desdeel conocimiento (Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 2005); “Consumption,Markets, and Cuba’s Monetary Duality” with Viviana Togores González in The Cuban Economy at the Start of theTwenty-First Century, edited by Jorge I. Domínguez, Omar Everleny PérezVillanueva and Lorena Barberia (Harvard University Press, David RockefellerCenter for Latin American Studies, 2004); and “Productividad y factores deproducción en la agricultura cubana” in Cuba,reflexiones sobre su economía (Editorial Félix Varela, 2002). At Harvard,she will spend time as a visiting researcher to advance a study on Cuba-U.S.bilateral trade that will seek to examine agriculture and related sectors.

Ida González Nuñez is a pediatrician at the PedroKourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK), where she has served as anattending physician and a member of the teaching faculty since 1990.   At the IPK’s hospital, she is responsible forthe care of all children born to HIV positive mothers, as well as tochildren who are HIV positive. Among her numerous publications, she isco-author with Arachu Castro and Yasmin Khawja of “Sexuality, reproduction, and HIV in women: the impact ofantiretroviral therapy in elective pregnancies in Cuba,“ AIDS 2007,21 Suppl:S49-S54; “Características  Inmunológicas de los niños Infectados por víaVertical con el VIH. Estudio de Casos y Controles,”  Revistade Investigación Clínica, Vol. 57, 4, Julio-Agosto, 2005: 498-504 with LizetteGil, Randelys Molina, Aileen González, María E. Toledo, Manuel Díaz Jidy and Approaches to the Management of HIV/AIDS inCuba: Case Study (World HealthOrganization, 2004) with Jorge Pérez, Daniel Pérez, Ida González, Manuel DiazJidy, Mylai Orta, José Joanes, Manuel Santín, Maria Isela Lantero, RigobertoTorres, Ailen González, and Alejandro Álvarez. During a four-week residency, Ida will complete a study she is preparing on mother-to-child transmission of HIVin Cuba.

Gerardo Martínez Machín is a member of the Departmentof Bacteriology and Mycology at the  Pedro Kourí Institute ofTropical Medicine (IPK) and a professor at the Higher Institute of Medical Sciences in Havana, Cuba in the Department of Microbiology. He was the Head of the IPK´s Departmentof Bacteriology and Mycology from 1994-2008. He received his training as a medical doctor at the University of Havana and specializedtraining in microbiology from the Higher Institute of Medical Sciences in Havana, Cuba. At the IPK, he hasconducted research on several fungal diseases with a focus on their detectionand treatment and directed the department since 1994. The Academy of Sciences in Cuba has recognized him for his contributions on the detection of HIVantibodies in the Cuban population, the characterization and treatment of AIDSCuban patients, the development of a Tropical Medicine Institute in Arauca,Colombia and research on Cryptococcus in Cuba. He has also participated inscientific exchange meetings and conducted short-term residences in the UnitedStates, Europe and Latin America at institutions including University of NorthCarolina Chapel Hill and the Institute Pasteur Paris. For over two decades, Dr.Martínez Machín has conducted research on histoplasmosis, a fungal disease thatis endemic in Cuba and much of the Caribbean along with parts of the AmericanMidwest.  Dr. Martínez Machín will be in residence at Harvard for three months to develop collaborative research on molecular genetic and epidemiologic approaches to studying Histoplasma capsulatum.

Armando Nova González is a professor in the EconomicsDepartment and researcher at the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy (Centro de Estudios de la Economía Cubana)at the University of Havana.  A specialist in Cuban agricultural economicswith a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Havana, ProfessorNovoa has held posts in the Citrus Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and theCentral Planning Board and the National Economy Research Institute. He isPresident of the Scientific Counsel of the CEEC, vice-president of the NationalTribunal for Applied Economics, a board charged with doctoral thesisexaminations, and a member of the Advisory Group to the Ministry ofSugar.  A member of the editorial boards for Revista Economía y Desarrollo and Revista de Agricultura Orgánica, he is author of several articlesand chapters and three books, Aspectos Económicosde los Cítricos en Cuba (Editorial de Científico Técnico delMinisterio de Cultura, 1984) La Organización Agroindustrial en Cuba (Editorial de Científico Técnicodel Ministerio de Cultura, 1990) and Teoría y Practica de la Economía Agropecuaria (Tomo I y II, EdicionesUniversitarias, 1989). At Harvard, he will spend time as a visiting research to advance a study on Cuba-U.S.bilateral trade that will seek to examine agriculture and related sectors.

Lázaro Peña Castellanos isa professor in the Economics Department and the director of the Center for theStudy of the International Economy (Centro de Investigación de la EconomíaInternacional) at the University of Havana. With a PhD in economics from theUniversity of Havana, he has studied Cuba's agroindustry and the sugar industryin particular, as well as economic development processes and trade relations ina comparative context with recent studies focusing on the European Union, theUnited States, Vietnam and China. He has pursued short-term studies at the Universityof Milan and has been a visiting researcher the United Nations EconomicCommission for Latin America (ECLAC).  His recent publications include “La Empresa y la ReformaEconómica en China” in Revista de laEconomía Mundial (CIEI, 2004) and “El mercado internacional del azúcar,edulcorantes, alcohol y melaza” in Laeconomía cubana coyuntura, reflexiones y oportunidades  (CEEC and Fundación Friedrich Ebert, 2000). At Harvard, he will spend time asa visiting research to advance a study on Cuba-U.S. bilateral trade that will seek to examine agriculture and related sectors.

Omar Everleny Pérez Villanueva is a professorin the Economics Department and a member of the Centro for the Study of the Cuban Economy (Centro de Estudios de la Economía Cubana) at the University of Havana.  He received his PhD in economics from theUniversity of Havana and a Master’s degree in economic and internationalpolitical economy from the Centro de Investigaciones y Docencias Económicas inMexico City.  A macroeconomist, hisrecent publications include  The Cuban Economy at the Start of theTwenty-First Century (Harvard University Press, David RockefellerCenter for Latin American Studies, 2004)for which he was a co-editor with Jorge I. Domínguez, and Lorena Barberia; La relaidad de lo imposible: La salud pública en Cuba with Miguel Figueras(Editorial Ciencias Sociales, 1998), “Foreign Direct Investment in Cuba: Recent Experience and Prospects” in Development Prospects in Cuba- An Agenda inthe Making (edited by Pedro Monreal González, et.al., Institute of LatinAmerican Studies, 2002).  He served as an advisor to the City of Havanafrom 2000 to 2002 and in the Spring of 2007 was a visiting professor at theInstitut des Hautes Etudes de l’Amérique latine (IHEAL) at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle.  At Harvard, he will advance research on a Ford Foundation project seeking to applied economic research on the Cuban economy and the feasibility of Cuba’s development goal by 2030.

Raúl Rodríguez Rodríguez is a professor and researcher atthe Center for the Study of theHemisphere and the United States (Centrode Estudios Hemisfericos  y sobre EstadosUnidos) at theUniversity of Havana. Mr. Rodríguez holds a master’s degree in 20^thcentury history and international relations from School of History and Social Sciences at the University ofHavana and a degree in English from the Higher Institute of Foreign Languages. At the University of Havana, he teaches introductory and postgraduate courses on U.S. history and he has co- authored syllabi and taught courses on Cubanhistory and the History of U.S.-Cuban Relations in English language to undergraduate U.S. students from University of North Carolina, American Universityand University of Alabama on semester programs at the University of Havanasince 2004. Mr. Rodríguez’s mostrecent publications include “Convergence and Divergence in United States and Canadian Cuba Policy post 1959: A Triangular Comparative Analysis,” in International Journal of Canadian Studiesno 37, 2008 and “Las relaciones Estados Unidos Canadá en el contexto regionalde América del Norte” in Estados Unidos:Una mirada en el siglo 21, edited by Jorge Hernández (Havana: EditorialCiencias Sociales, 2009).  As a short-term visiting researcher, Mr.Rodríguez will seek to advance his research on U.S. and Canadian Cuba policy between 1959 and 1963.  This research focuses on the similarities anddifferences in the United States’ and Canada’s Cuba policy and a further exploration into its causes, U.S. influence over Canada or lack thereof and Cuba’s responses in the early years of the Cuban revolution.

Jorge Mario Sánchez Egozcue is an professor in the departmentof economics and a researcher at the Centerfor the Study of the Hemisphere and the United States (Centro de Estudios Hemisfericos y sobre Estados Unidos)  at the University of Havana. A PhD candidate in a joint program in international economics of the Universityof Barcelona, Spain, and the University of Havana, his doctoral dissertation is on the challenges of Cuba’s reinsertion within Caribbean – U.S. trade. Hereceived a Master’s degree from Carleton University Ottawa in internationaleconomics in 1995 and focuses on research related to international trade, macroeconomics, and economic and social development including applications of macro-econometric models to analyze questions focused on monetary policy(exchange rate regimes and inflation) and trade policies (elasticities, growth,regional policies, bilateral and triangular trade arrangements). His mostrecent publications include “U.S.-Caribbean Trade:The Challenges of Cuban Participation” in TheCuban Economy at the Start of the Twenty-First Century, edited by Jorge I.Domínguez, Omar Everleny Pérez Villanueva and Lorena Barberia (Harvard University Press, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, 2004)and “Redefining Cuba’s International Economic Interests” in Redefining Cuba’s Foreign Policy, editedby John Kirk and Michel Erisman (University Press of Florida, 2007).  A visiting professor in the Fall 2008semester at the Institut des Hautes Etudes de l’Amérique latine (IHEAL) at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Jorge Mario will advance research on Cuba’s insertion in global markets and the impact on U.S.-Cuba trade at Harvard University.

DRCLAS hosted more than 60 Cuban scholars from 1998-2009. For a list of all former and expected visiting scholars, please click on the link below.