Programs

Cuba: Cultural Heritage, Revolution and New Realities

Cuba's tumultuous history and diverse influences have produced a distinctive cultural mix. This illustrated lecture by George Scheper acquaints the audience with Cuban cultural history, focusing on the indigenous Taino, the Spanish, and the Afro-Cuban traditions. Scheper explores the historic sites of Havana, Trinidad, and Santiago, and compares Cuba's urban policies to urban planning and renewal movements in the United States. Requires slide projector with remote control and screen; video player and television monitor are desirable. Adult and high school audiences.

George Scheper is Interim Director of the Odyssey Program and Faculty Associate of the Master in Liberal Arts Program at Johns Hopkins University, and is Professor emeritus of Humanities at the Community College of Baltimore County. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University in English Literature, and his primary area of scholarship is cultural studies, with publications on Biblical themes, popular culture, Native American and Mesoamerican studies and the encounter of cultures in the New World. Scheper has directed many National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institutes for college faculty; he is a frequent speaker at the Smithsonian and other lecture venues.