UA to Host Cuban Scholar-Diplomat for Alabama-Cuba Partnerships

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A scholar-diplomat from the University of Havana, Cuba, will be at The University of Alabama Oct. 30-31 as part of UA’s developing academic and educational ties with scholars and educators in Cuba.

Dr. Olga Fernandez Rios, a professor of social and political philosophy and first secretary of the Cuba Interest Section in Washington, D.C., will meet with UA faculty and members of UA’s Cuba Committee during the two-day visit to learn about areas in which the two institutions may build educational and research partnerships.

A reception will be held for Fernandez Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 4 p.m. in the Anderson Room of the Ferguson Center on the UA campus. The reception is free and open to the public.

UA recently received an academic travel license from the U.S. Department of Treasury which permits travel to Cuba for the purpose of educational development. The Cuba Committee, established by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, consists of UA faculty and staff and members of the community with research and educational interests in Cuba who are working to build academic partnerships with educators in Cuba.

The Cuba Committee is headed by Dr. Larry Clayton, professor and chair of the department of history and interim director of UA’s Latin American Studies Program. Clayton has traveled to Cuba to research his book on Bartholomew de las Casas, a Dominican friar who devoted himself to defending the indigenous Indians and, in doing so, helped define the modern human rights movement.

“The University, with its partners and affiliated agencies in Alabama, has a large number of ongoing academic and research interests related to Cuba. To mention only a few, these include rural health initiatives and our 33-year-old Latin American Studies Program. Professor of Journalism Bailey Thompson has reported extensively in the press on contemporary affairs between Cuba and the United States and on various partnerships between Alabamians and Cubans. Professor of Anthropology Jim Knight is researching archaeological sites with counterparts in Cuba from the 1500s to learn more about the Historic Contact Period between Spanish settlers and indigenous populations of Cuba and South Florida. The list is long,” said Clayton.

“The state of Alabama and Cuba have a great deal in common, historically, socially, and geographically. These commonalities are fertile ground for academic partnerships. With our travel license now in effect, we intend to make considerable headway in building these partnerships during Dr. Fernandez’s visit and look forward to learning much from her about our academic counterparts in Cuba,” said Dr. Robert F. Olin, dean of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Fernandez is a member of the Academy of Science of Cuba, a professor of social and political philosophy at the University of Havana since 1971, and a member of the Advisory Group of the Cuban Office for UNESCO. She served as director and principal researcher of the Philosophy Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba from 1989 to 2000 and as a diplomatic attaché of the Cuban Mission at the United Nations from 1984-1988. She is the author or co-author of a number of books on Cuban history and contemporary political philosophy.

The College of Arts and Sciences is UA’s largest division with 350 faculty and 6600 students in over 25 departments and programs.