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Presenters and Venue

See the wrap up of our September 27, 2008 Learn About Cuba seminar

Mavis Anderson

Since 1997, Mavis has covered US policy toward Cuba, cultivating congressional, organizational and grassroots support for the LAWG coalition's efforts to end the US embargo on Cuba. She also works on US policy toward Venezuela and other issues. Prior to her work with LAWG, Mavis was the Program Director for International Travel Seminars at the Center for Global Education at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, where she worked since 1982. During part of her time with the Center for Global Education, Mavis lived in El Salvador from 1988-1990, where she founded and coordinated the Center's El Salvador educational programs. A mid-westerner, Mavis received her Master's degree from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she focused her studies on international development.

Jeanne Lemkau and David Strug

Jeanne Lemkau is a psychologist, writer, and Professor Emerita of Family Medicine and Community Health at Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio. She holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and a master’s in creative non-fiction writing. In the early 1970s she served with the Peace Corps in rural Nicaragua. Subsequently, as a faculty member in academic medicine, she developed curricula in global health, led medical delegations to Nicaragua, and studied and taught about health care in Cuba.

She has published widely on cultural issues, psychology, family medicine, and Cuba, and recently collaborated with David Strug of Yeshiva University on a study of the effects of travel restrictions on Cuban-American families. She currently practices clinical psychology in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Since 2000 she has focused her writing and activism efforts on Cuba and U.S.-Cuba policy and has written a book with David Stug titled Love, Loss and Longing: the Impact of U.S. Travel Policy on Cuban-American Families (.pdf) about the effect of US Cuba policy on Cuban American families.

The publication is a joint effort of the Latin America Working Group Education Fund and the Washington Office on Latin America featuring a photo exhibit highlighting the cruel effect of the travel ban on Cuban Americans. The photographs are the work of two talented Cuban-American photographers, Nestor Hernandez, Jr. and Juan E. Gonzalez Lopez.

David Strug is Professor of Social Work at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University in New York City. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University, his MSW from the Hunter College School of Social Work, and his MPH from the University of California at Berkeley.

David Strug has co-authored the book titled Love, loss and Longing with Jeanne Lemkau and is co-editing another book entitled Community Health Care in Cuba: An Enduring Model (Lyceum Press, 2009). His research interests and publications concern health care in Cuba, the impact of travel restrictions on Cuban-Americans, and older Hispanic immigrants in NYC. He has conducted ethnographic research in a number of US and Latin American cities. He is also a psychiatric social worker in private practice in NYC.

Sandra Levinson

Sandra Levinson is Executive Director of the Center for Cuban Studies in New York City and Director of the Center's Cuban Art Space. She graduated from the University of Iowa and did her graduate work at Manchester University in England and Stanford University. She was the New York Editor of Ramparts Magazine and has written for various magazines. She has traveled to Cuba more than 300 times, often as consultant to major news organizations.

Dick Cluster

Dick Cluster is the author of History of Havana along with the novels Return to Sender, Repulse Monkey and Obligations of the Bone.

He landed in Havana’s José Martí airport for the first time in 1969 and has been fascinated by the city ever since. He has explored it for many years on foot, by bicycle, city bus, tour bus, camel bus, car and other means.

He is a translator of Cuban literature and teaches courses on Cuban history, culture, and politics at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Peter Swanson

Peter Swanson is a marine journalist who operates the website CubaCruising.net as a hobby in anticipation of an end to the U.S. embargo of Cuba. He grew up in Buzzards Bay Massachusetts and worked as newspaper reporter and editor in New Hampshire for 20 years before working at magazines such as Yachting and Passagemaker.

He currently lives aboard his Morgan Out Island 41 Rio and contributes to the aformentioned magazines as well as Soundings and others. He has an article in this month's Yachting magazine on strategies for cruising the coast of the Dominican Republic.

Merri Ansara

Merri Ansara is director and founder of Common Ground. She traveled and worked in Cuba beginning in 1969 as a journalist, translator, urban planner and teacher. She has a master’s degree in Public Administration and Regional Planning and is a former college Academic Advisor. Merri is responsible for program development and planning at Common Ground.

Rob Sequin

Rob Sequin is an internet entrepreneur that has been following Cuba since 1998 and started publishing HavanaJournal.com in March of 2003. He has a broad knowledge of Cuba and has developed the Havana Journal to serve as an information resource and network for Americans interested to learn more about Cuban business, culture, politics and travel.

He currently operates 41 other Cuba related web sites and owns over 2500 Cuba related domain names. He lives in South Yarmouth with his wife and two daughters.

Venue

Cultural Center of Cape Cod 

The Learn about Cuba seminar will be held at the recently restored Cultural Center of Cape Cod in South Yarmouth Massachusetts. It is located in a historic area of Cape Cod and just about a one minute walk away from beautiful Bass River.

This is just one photo of the main room just before the opening of a sculpture exhibit. The venue offers a state of the art digital projection and sound system along with free wifi internet access. We are very fortunate to be able to host our Learn about Cuba seminar at such a fine venue. See our Directions page for location and directions.