Invited Talks and Academic Conferences 

Talks

1. Invited Speaker: “Soviet-Global South Solidarities. The Case of Cuba.” The University of Amsterdam. Jan. 26, 2023

2. Invited Speaker: “An Ideology that Refuses to Die: Cuba, Six Decades Later, A Cultural Approach.” Also, I participated in two classes of SPAN 490, Cuba: The Enduring Legacy of Colonialism, Slavery, and the Communist Revolution. Students were using my book La maldita circunstancia. Ensayos sobre literatura cubana. (The Damn Circumstance. Scholarly Writings on Cuban Literature. Leiden: Almenara Press. (2020.) I was also invited to lecture students taking the class RUS 280: Russia & the West. They were using my article “Translation Practices during the Cold War: The Battle for Cultural Control in the Caribbean.” Ars & Humanitas (published in January 2022) for that class. Davidson College, Nov. 14-15, 2022

3. Invited Speaker: “Cuba, the Last Soviet Border.” Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM, April 4, 2022

4. Invited Speaker: “From the Sierra Maestra Mountains to Fiction: A Literary Character Named Fidel Castro.” UCLA. February 25, 2021

5. Invited Speaker: “Socialist Realism in Cuba”: Video conference with students from the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech. (They were using my 2012 book, Escrito en cirílico. El ideal soviético en la cultura cubana posnoventa, for a class). February 17, 2020

6. Invited Speaker to the colloquium “Intersections: Race, Sexuality and Cultural Production in the Hispanic Caribbean.” Talk Delivered: “Socialismo mulato: la fascinación soviética con la raza en Cuba.” (“Mulatto Socialism: The Soviet Fascination with Race in Cuba.”) The University of Houston. November 4, 2019

7. “Culture under Socialist Conditions: Literary Translation as a Geopolitical Instrument.” Power of Diversity Lecture Series. Tinkham Veale University Center. Case Western Reserve University October 30, 2019

8. Invited Speaker. “Comfortable Dissent: Writing and Publishing Strategies in Today’s Cuba.” Salamanca University. Master Program in Latin American Studies. Salamanca, Spain. December 13, 2017

9. Invited Speaker. Wofford College. Skype Conference on Current Social and Literary Cuban Situation. March 15, 2017

10. Invited Speaker. “The Soviet Legacy in a Post-Socialist Cuba: A Paradox Explained.” Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies Program. Gettysburg College. March 14, 2016

11. El Atlántico como frontera. Mediaciones culturales entre Cuba y España. Book presentation with Dr. Alina López, Cuban Historian. Digdora Alonso Cultural Center. Matanzas. May 28, 2015

12. Visiting Professor. Department of Social Sciences and Humanities. University of Matanzas, Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuba. Class taught “Modernism in Latin American” to students majoring in Sociocultural Studies. May 14, 2015

13. Invited Speaker to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Vigía Publishing House, Matanzas, Cuba. April 26-29, 2015

14. Invited Lecturer. “Literary Discourses between the Hispanic Caribbean and the US.” Linfield College, Portland –via Skype–. March 18, 2015

15. Invited Speaker. “From Moscow to Havana and Back: Notes on the Soviet–Cuban Sentimental Community.” The Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies. The Cuba Project. City University of New York. Sept. 20, 2013

16. Escrito en cirílico. El ideal soviético en la cultura cubana posnoventa. Book presentation. Tulane University, New Orleans. October 4, 2013

17. Escrito en cirílico. El ideal soviético en la cultura cubana posnoventa. Book presentation, with Laura Ruiz, main editor of Vigía Publishing House. Matanzas, Cuba. May 30, 2013

18. Escrito en cirílico. El ideal soviético en la cultura cubana posnoventa. Book presentation, with Cuban Historian Rafael Rojas. Casa Refugio Citlaltepetl. Mexico City. April 25, 2013

19. Escrito en cirílico. El ideal soviético en la cultura cubana posnoventa. Book presentation, with Natalia G. Med –Chair of the Spanish Department– and Daria Sinitsyna –Faculty–. The State University of Saint Petersburg, Russia. April 12, 2013

20. Invited Lecturer. “Cuba after the 90’s: The Soviet Legacy.” The Laura and Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program. Seniors Scholars. College Club. Case Western Reserve University, February 12, 2013

21. Escrito en cirílico. El ideal soviético en la cultura cubana posnoventa. Book presentation, with Olga Ulianova, director of Instituto de Estudios Avanzados, IDEA (Advanced Studies Center.) University of Santiago de Chile, January 11, 2013

22. Escrito en cirílico. El ideal soviético en la cultura cubana posnoventa. Book presentation, with Marisol Vera, director of Cuarto Propio Publishing House, and Roberto Díaz Muñoz, Cuban poet and critic, former director of El Caimán Barbudo. Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center. Santiago de Chile. January 9, 2013

23. Invited Speaker. “Cuba: The Soviet Flavor of a Tropical Island. A Visit 20 Years Later.” Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, Minnesota. March 16-18, 2011

24. Invited Lecturer. “Cuba in the Special Period.” Modern Latin America History Class. Department of History, University of Iowa, November 3, 2009

25. Invited Lecturer. “Cuban Economy during the 90s.” University of Quintana Roo. Mexico, November 1998

26. Invited Lecturer. “Cuban Economy during the 90s.” Instituto Bachilleres I. Quintana Roo, Mexico, October, 1998

Academic Conferences 

1. “Cartografías afectivas: los límites del amor socialista. Traducción y cultura.” International Congress: Latin American Writers in European Socialism during the Cold War. Seville, Spain April 3-5, 2024.

2. “Куба, любовь моя! Literatura, naranjas y barbudos cubanos en la Unión Soviética.” (“Cuba, My Love. Literature, Oranges and Cuban Bearded Men in the Soviet Union.”) Panel Entre el socialismo y el capitalismo global. América Latina y las políticas editoriales en el exbloque socialista. (Between Socialism and Global Capitalism. Latin America and Editorial Policies in the Former Socialist Bloc.) Federación Internacional de Estudios sobre América Latina y el Caribe (FIEALC)  (International Federation of Studies on Latin America and the Caribbean (FIEALC).) Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sept. 19-22, 2023.

3. “Una ideología que se niega a morir: Cuba, seis décadas después, una aproximación cultural” (“An Ideology that Refuses to Die: Cuba, Six Decades After, A Cultural Approach.”) Panel Contemporary Cuban Literature. SECOLAS –Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies–, Antigua, Guatemala, March 22-26, 2023

4. “Red Codes. Geopolitics of Translation during the Cold War. Cuba and the Eastern Bloc.” Translating Socialism International Symposium, Expanding Horizon Initiatives Grant, Case Western Reserve University, Oct. 18-22, 2022

5. “La maldita circunstancia: el fin de la excepcionalidad cubana y un posible futuro para la literatura” (“The Damn Circumstance: The End of Cuban Exceptionalism and a Possible Future for Literature.”) Panel: If Cuba Were a Normal Country: Speculation about a (Im) Possibility. The Hispanic Association for the Humanities X International Congress. Malaga, Spain. June 21-24, 2022

6. “Mujer y Revolución en Cuba: la lucha por un tercer espacio”. (“Women and Revolution in Cuba: The Fight for a Third Space.”) XXX Congreso AEGS 2021: Redes Transatlánticas: Re-presentar y re-conocer. Cinco siglos de aportes de las mujeres hispánicas. (Transatlantic Networks. Re-Present and Re-Cognize: Five Centuries of Initiatives and Contributions by Hispanic Women.) Asociación de Estudios de Género y Sexualidades (Association of Gender and Sexuality Studies.) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Nov. 17-19, 2021

7. “Where East Meets West: Socialist Translation as a Political Instrument.” Panel Latin America and the Second World: Cross-Cultural Encounters and Exchanges. 2021 Latin American Studies Association –LASA– International Congress. May 26-29, 2021

8. “El hispanismo en el bloque socialista: el papel de Cuba.” Fourth International Congress “Russia and Iberoamerica in the Global World.” The State University of Saint Petersburg. October 1-3, 2019

9. “Los archivos de la censura: represión literaria en la Unión Soviética y en Cuba.” Panel: Geopolíticas de la literatura: para una sociología de la institución literaria en condiciones socialistas. XIX Congress of the International Federation of Studies on Latin American and the Caribbean. University of Szeged. June 24-28, 2019

10. “Geopolíticas de la traducción socialista: circulación de literatura entre el Bloque del Este y el Caribe durante la Guerra Fría.” Panel: Cuba and Puerto Rico during the Cold War Era. Twelfth Conference on Cuban and Cuban-American Studies. Cuba Research Institute. Florida International University, Feb. 14-16, 2019

11. “Soviet Children Literature in Cuba: The Geopolitics of Translation.” Panel: The Geopolitics of Translation: From Cultural Dialogue to Cultural Imposition. Relations Between the Former Soviet Union and Russia with Latin America. Third International Congress “Russia and Iberoamerica in the Global World.” The State University of Saint Petersburg, Oct. 2-4, 2017

12. “La cultura oblicua: ingredientes asiáticos en el ajiaco cultural cubano.” Panel: Entre la República y la Revolución: Política, moda y otredad en la narrativa cubana. Reading Cuba: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Cuban and Cuban-American Literature. Florida International University. Miami. Nov. 9-10, 2016

13. “Piel morena, ojos rasgados: resonancias asiáticas en la cultura cubana contemporánea” (with Case Western Reserve University student Brian McLaughlin). VIII International Congress. Consejo Europeo de Investigaciones Sociales de América Latina (CEISAL). Salamanca, Spain. June 28-July 1, 2016

14. “Epistemologías urbanas: formas de habitar el Caribe.” Panel: Política, urbe y cultura en el proceso creativo caribeño. XVII Congreso de Literatura Hispánica. Mérida, Yucatán, México. March 9-11, 2016

15. “Cuba soviética: de la traducción y sus secuelas.” Panel: Culturas en traducción: interacciones literarias entre la Unión Soviética/Rusia y América Latina. Second International Congress “Russia and Iberoamerica in the Global World.” The State University of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Oct. 1-4, 2015

16. “La cómoda disidencia: estrategias de escritura en la Cuba postsoviética.” Panel: Dos siglos de proyectos nacionales y reinvenciones identitarias: de la Cuba colonial a la postsoviética. Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association –PCA/ACA– National Conference. New Orleans. April 1-4, 2015

17. “Minsk. O la quebrantable amistad cubano–soviética.”  Panel: Approaches to Cuban Culture. XIV Ohio Latin Americanists Conference, OLAC. Cleveland, Feb. 27-28, 2015

18. “El documental cubano contemporáneo: su función en la recuperación de cierta memoria histórica.” Panel: (Des)Memorias históricas del cambio: estrategias audiovisuales, literarias y teatrales en Cuba pos-período especial. Latin American Studies Association, LASA. Chicago, May 21-24, 2014

19. “Rusofilia cubana. Una mirada desde la plástica.” Panel: Notions of Writing and Rewriting Post-Soviet Cuba. Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies, SECOLAS. New Orleans, March 27-29, 2014

20. “La cómoda subversión: estrategias de escritura en la Cuba postsoviética.” Panel: Cuba. Ohio Latin Americanists Conference, OLAC. Wittenberg, Feb. 21-22, 2014

21. “La producción cultural latina en Estados Unidos: notas para un nuevo mapa latinoamericano.” Second International Colloquium on Latinos in the United States. Casa de las Américas, Havana. Oct. 13-15, 2013

22. “Trotsky subversivo: ausencias y presencias en el imaginario insular post revolucionario.” Panel: Critical Roots. Radical Caribbean Conference. Repositioning Caribbean Life. University of Tulane, New Orleans. Oct. 3-5, 2013

23. “Las Matrioshkas de Bofill: todas las pieles de una isla.” Panel: Memoria, historia y literatura en Cuba (1959-2012.) 7 CEISAL -Consejo Europeo de Investigaciones Sociales de América Latina- “Memoria, presente y porvenir.” Oporto, Portugal. June 12-15, 2013

24. “URSS/Rusia en el imaginario narrativo cubano.” Panel: 14. 5th International Conference on Orientalism and the Asian and Arab Presence in the Hispanic and Lusophone World. Pedagogical State University A.I. Herzen, St. Petersburg, Russia. April 12-13, 2013  

25. “Del solar a la yuniversitietie: cubanos y negros en la ex Unión Soviética.” Panel: Las fronteras morales de la nación: sexualidad, raza y cambio social en Cuba. Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association. Washington D.C. March 27-30, 2013

26. “La reconstrucción cinematográfica de la nación cubana post-2000.” Panel: Cuba in the 21st Century. 12th Ohio Latin Americanists Conference at Wittenberg University. Feb. 22-23, 2013

27. “Triangulación española-soviética-cubana: Adiós, camaradas, de Antonio Carballo.” Panel: El Atlántico como frontera. Mediaciones y cruces culturales entre España y las ínsulas caribeñas. XXXIX Congreso del Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana (IILI) Diálogos culturales. Cádiz, España. July 3-6, 2012

28. “Para una interpretación fenomenológica de lo soviético en Cuba. Apuntes para un primer acercamiento.” Panel: South Meets North: The Cold War Encounter of Latin America and the Soviet Union. The 18th Annual Carolina Conference on Romance Literatures. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. March 22-24, 2012

29. “Huellas soviéticas en la literatura cubana contemporánea: los casos de Emerio Medina y Reynaldo González.” Panel: Afectividades literarias cubanas. 11th Ohio Latin Americanists Conference (OLAC). Bowling Green University. Feb. 17-18, 2012

30. “La transculturación imposible: raza y sexo en las relaciones cubano-soviéticas a través de la literatura.” Panel: Cuban Bi/Multi-Culturalisms in Contemporary Literature. South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Nov. 4-6, 2011

31. “The Flow and Circulation of Socialist Literature in Cuba: Uses and Paradoxes of Translation.” Stream: History, Historiography. The Ninth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, Universidad de Granada, Campus La Cartuja. Granada, Spain. June 8-11, 2011

32. “Soy Cuba y Océano: De lo alegórico a lo cotidiano. Transformaciones en las coproducciones cubano-soviético-rusas.” Panel: Cultural Projections: Cuba, the Soviet Union, Russia, and Germany. Cuba Futures: Past and Present International Symposium. CUNY, New York. March 31-April 3, 2011

33. “Literatura en Belice: cultura fractal en un Caribe problemático.” Panel: Diálogos caribeños: el flujo de saberes en la zona del caos. Latin American Studies Association, XXIX International Congress. Toronto, Canada. Oct. 6-9, 2010

34. “El duelo por lo soviético en la producción audio-visual cubana pos-noventa.” Panel: 2.9. Cuba. Memory in World Cinema Conference 2010. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas. Sept. 24-26, 2010

35. “Cuban Mourning for Soviet Aesthetics.” Latin American Modernities: A Collaborative Workshop on Research, Service, and Teaching. Viterbo University, La Crosse. April 23-24, 2010

36. “Seeking Soviet Cuba.” Panel: Collecting, Archiving, and Consuming Cuba. Latin American Studies Association, XXVIII International Congress. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 11-14, 2009

37. “Donde el viaje no existe: destino hacia la nada. O cualquier semejanza con la realidad no es pura coincidencia.” Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana, IILI. XXXVII Congreso Internacional. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico, June 24-28, 2008

38. “Homosexualidad en las sombras en la novela de Antonio José Ponte.” Panel: Queer Cuba: ¿una producción cultural al margen de la oficialidad? Latin American Studies Association. XXVII International Congress. Montreal, Canada, Sept. 5-8, 2007

39. “La metáfora de la exhumación en la reconstrucción del pasado.” Ethics and Expression. The 15th Annual Charles F. Fraker Conference. The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 16-17, 2007

40. “Contrabandeando con las sombras de lo reprimido en la novela de Antonio José Ponte.” CSU-Pueblo 5th Latin American Literatures and Cultures Conference. Colorado Springs, Colorado, Feb. 23-25, 2006