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June 11, 2008

InteRDom’s Contemporary Caribbean Culture Class Begins

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InteRDom’s Contemporary Caribbean Culture Course officially began yesterday, June 10, 2008. The class forms part of the InteRDom 2008 Academic Summer Program.

In this seminar, led by Professor Pedro Cabiya, students will participate in discussions about the history and culture of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Participants will explore themes related to colonialism and popular culture and discuss the real and fictitious elements that comprise modern ideas of what constitutes Caribbean culture.

Through out the course students will analyze primary source readings and develop command of theories and paradigms used to deconstruct discourse, texts and other materials. Instruction will focus on the micro history of the Caribbean; commercial strategies based on concepts of race, identity and gender; and Caribbean mythology, which will be explored through the analysis of songs, short stories and poetry. Class topics will be examined within the following theoretical frameworks: deconstructionism, Foucault, textual studies, gender studies, feminism, ethnic theory, studies of race, negritude, Caribbeanist discourse, semiotics and linguistics.

Classes will take place Tuesdays, July 10 – August 6, 2008, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE), Room EGRU-004. The program consists of 27 hours of instruction and is equivalent to 2 credits.

InteRDom, an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), is comprised of 60% internship and 40% academic projects. Upon arriving to the Dominican Republic, students may combine their internships with specialized courses and seminars on culture, Spanish as a Second Language and topics of particular relevance to the Region. Courses and seminars, taught by professors from local universities, offer credits which can be transferred to the students’ universities of origin.

This summer’s academic program also includes a Spanish as a Second Language Course and a Seminar on Haitian Immigration to the Dominican Republic.

During January – May and September – December semesters, participating students also have the opportunity to take regular classes with Dominican students at the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE).

About the instructor:

Pedro Cabiya is a Professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE), and a specialist in themes concerning the Caribbean, about which he has written many publications. He is the author of the graphic novel, Ánima Sola, published by Zemí Comics. In 1999 he received awards from the Instituto de Literatura Puertorriqueña and from the Pen Club of Puerto Rico. His short stories have appeared in numerous magazines, periodicals and anthologies (Antología de cuento latinoamericano del siglo XXI; Manual de fin de siglo; El rostro y la mascara; and Los nuevos caníbales).

See biography

 

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