Jose F. Buscaglia-Salgado, assistant professor of modern languages and literatures, is director of the Cuban and Caribbean programs in the College of Arts and Sciences.

	Buscaglia-Salgado

Describe the master's program in Caribbean studies.

Through a unique partnership between the University of Havana and UB, we are offering students the opportunity to study the Caribbean on its own terms and gain first-hand knowledge of its complex cultures and traditions through on-site investigations and participation in the processes that shape everyday life in this fascinating region of the world. The program is organized into four semesters. The first semester will be spend at the University of Havana, the second at UB. Students during the third semester will have the option of studying either in Havana or Buffalo, or at a third participating university in the Caribbean. Students will return to their home campus for the final semester.

Will students be admitted to this program through the University of Havana as well as UB?

Students can apply through the University of Havana, but all admissions will be handled through UB after the applications have been reviewed by a joint committee composed of three UB and three UH faculty members.

Will the degree received be a UB degree?

Students will receive a master's of arts in the humanities degree, together with a special certificate in "cultural studies of the Caribbean." The certificate will have the official seal of both universities.

Is the program actually up and running?

We already have begun to recruit students and have agreed with the dean in Havana that the first class will begin courses in Cuba this fall.

Why specifically the Caribbean? Why not Latin American studies?

Because we are drawing and building on the legacy of the two most important components of our Puerto Rican Studies program, which were its Caribbean focus and its interdisciplinary orientation. We want to be good and recognized nationally and on a hemispheric level, and so we do not want to bite off more than we can chew. As it is, our definition of the area is rather comprehensive: We are looking to expand our connections throughout the Caribbean, from Brazil and the Guyanas, to the Carolinas.

How did the partnership with the University of Havana come about?

Early in 1997, UB began contemplating the idea of establishing a study-abroad program in Cuba. By May of that year, all the arrangements had been made and five students were awaiting final authorization from the U.S. Treasury Department. Four years and four summer sessions later, more than 120 students have gone to Cuba through UB. In July 1998, UB and officials from the University of Havana signed an agreement of cooperation between the two institutions-according to UH officials, it was the first of its kind between that institution and an American university since 1959. The agreement called for the continuation, development and expansion of the study-abroad program in Cuba and committed the universities to the "joint development of a Caribbean Studies Program for the purpose of conducting research and teaching." This was not an easy agreement to broker. Negotiations lasted for a week until finally, a fifth draft of the text was approved. Truth be said, nothing could have been accomplished without first demonstrating to the Cubans that we came in peace and without understanding, first and foremost, their demand that any relationship with them be based on a firm commitment to respect the independence and sovereignty of the Cuban nation. In June 6, 2000, after more than two years of negotiations, UB and UH agreed to begin, by September 2001, the first, joint, degree-granting program between a U.S. and a Cuban university in 43 years. This accomplishment is truly a breakthrough, not just in academic terms but also on diplomatic and political grounds. I believe that this is a modest, though clear, example that relations between the U.S. and Cuba can be based on mutual respect, and that they can be constructive and beneficial for the two countries and for the Caribbean region as a whole. The agreement makes UB the first U.S. university to effectively establish viable relations resting on binding agreements with a sister institution in Cuba and marks a turning point in Cuba-U.S. relations, setting the tone for posibe future accomplishments in other areas.

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