Cuban Nationals Accept Invitations
Friday, June 19, 2009 at 1:20PM 
Chautauqua Institution is pleased to announce that the following Cuban nationals have accepted our invitation to present a lecture during Chautauqua’s historic week on Cuba:
Dr. Jorge Perez: deputy director of the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine; an expert on the Cuban health system in all its facets; Cuba’s number one HIV-AIDS doctor (mentioned at length in Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder’s bio of Paul Farmer) and a hero among AIDS patients.
Ofelia Ortega: member, Cuban Parliament; professor of theological ethics and gender at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cuba; pastor of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba; President of the World Council of Churches; Vice-President of the Alliance of Reformed Churches.
Mario Coyula: an architect and architectural historian; authority on the history and preservation of Havana
Rafael Hernandez: leading intellectual on creativity and US-Cuban relations from a Cuban perspective; editor of the magazine, Temas
Esther Perez: educator; director, Paulo Freire Education Program, Martin Luther King Center, Cuba
Pedro Monreal: expertise in economic development and energy in Cuba
Carlos Ham, Executive Secretary for Latin America for the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland.
Julia Sweig, senior fellow and director for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, who is helping to coordinate the week, will also be a morning and afternoon speaker.
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Week Eight - Morning Lecture Theme: CUBA: Enigma and Neighbor
Aug. 17 - 21
The Week Eight lecture series, themed “Cuba: Enigma and Neighbor A change of leadership in both Cuba and the U.S.,” offers an opportunity to examine this long-troubled relationship. In this week we will engage Cuban nationals, U.S. policy-makers, historians, academics, and religious leaders in an effort to understand the present situation, past tensions and future possibilities.
The Department of Religion theme for Week Eight, "Cuba: the Faith of a People," will bring together religious leaders and scholars of religion to focus on the history of religion in Cuba. The week will be rich in understanding of the uniquely diverse expressions of religious faith in Cuba, as well as the relationship of these manifestations to both its recent history and to the religious antecedents that are still inherent in its culture.
Here are some highlights to look for:
10:45 a.m. Lecture Platform
- Aug. 16 – Rev. Luis Leon, fourteenth Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Washington, DC
- Aug. 17 – Julia Sweig, sr. fellow and dir., Latin America Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
- Aug. 18 – Mario Coyula, architect and architectural historian; authority on the history and preservation of Havana
- Aug. 19 – Ofelia Ortega-Suarez, member, Cuban Parliament; professor, Matanzas Seminary, Cuba
- Aug. 20 – TBA
- Aug. 21 – TBA
2 p.m. Department of Religion Lecture Platform
- Aug. 17 – Carlos Ham, Exec. Sec. for Latin America and Caribbean, World Council of Churches
- Aug. 18 – Dr. Jorge Perez, deputy director of the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine
- Aug. 19 – Esther Perez, educator; director, Paulo Freire Education Program, Martin Luther King Center, Cuba
- Aug. 20 – Rafael Hernandez, leading intellectual on creativity and US-Cuban relations from a Cuban perspective; editor of the magazine, Temas
- Aug. 21 – Julia Sweig, sr. fellow and dir., Latin America Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
8:15 p.m. Popular Entertainment
- Aug. 17 – Music School Festival Orchestra, Timothy Muffit, conductor
- Aug. 18 – Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Stefan Sanderling, conductor; Jeffrey Robinson, bassoon
- Aug. 19 – Amphitheater Ball: Dave Stevens Big Band
- Aug. 20 – Amp Special Recital: Dueling Stradivari Violins
- Aug. 21 – An Evening with The Beach Boys
Additional special entertainment:
The Chautauqua Theater Company will begin performances of "The Winter’s Tale" on Saturday, Aug, 15 at 8 p.m. in Bratton Theater.
The Chautauqua Opera Company will present “The Pirates of Penzance” on Friday, Aug. 21 in Norton Hall.
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Reader Comments (1)
I am very excited about Chautauqua Institution's week on Cuba, and am delighted that intellectuals and professionals from Cuba will be participating. However, my concern about the lecture series is that it seems a little imbalanced. I hope that there will be some discussion from the Cuban exile community as well as specialists in the field of Cuban studies who are not part of the regime. Bringing Cubans living and working in Cuba to the U.S. is essential for beginning an open dialogue, but to have a true dialogue, we need to hear from all sides including those who have suffered under the current regime.