Where: Santiago-Guantánamo-Baracoa-Holguín
When: January 22-29, 2003

Sponsoring organizations:
Cuba Research and Analysis Group, World Music Productions and the Casa del Caribe, Santiago de Cuba

Organizers
The Cuba Research and Analysis Group (CRAG) and World Music Productions are the organizers of this intensive activity to be conducted throughout Cuba. The Seminar guides will be Ned Sublette, a longtime Afropop Worldwide producer and author of the forthcoming Cuba and Music: From the Dawn of Time to Mambo Fever and President of Qbadisc records, and Dr. José Millet Batista, ethnographer, anthropologist and writer with the Casa del Caribe in Santiago de Cuba. Our counterpart in Cuba will be the Casa del Caribe, the foremost studies center in Cuba dealing with Caribbean studies as well as the history and culture of Oriente, or eastern Cuba.

Costs
The costs for the seminar are $2800 per person double occupancy and $3,000 per person single occupancy

The tour price includes:
* Round trip airfare between Miami and Santiago de Cuba
* Airport taxes ($50 departing Miami and $20 departing Cuba)
* Ground transportation for all programmed activities
* Lodging at best available accomodations
* English speaking Cuban tour escort
* Breakfasts, and most lunches and dinners
* Escort, driver and meal tips
* Medical, dental, liability and repatriation insurance
* All entrance and use fees associated with programmed activities
* Preparatory reading materials, logistical information and useful maps
* Cuban visa

The tour price does NOT include:
* overweight luggage charges ($2.00/lb. over 44 pounds up to a total of 52 lbs.)
* beverages
* some lunches and dinners
* airfare from home to Miami area
* accommodations in Miami prior to departure (may be necessary - please see hotel information below)

Who Might Be Interested
The seminar is organized for musicologists, musicians, producers, cultural historians, writers, and others with professional or strong personal interests in Cuban culture, Afrocuban music, and U.S.-Cuba relations. Journalists are welcome (please note section on "Journalistic Activities" below), as are students and academicians.

Level of Seminar
The seminar will be conducted as a unique, high level exposure visit on contemporary Cuban music, and will include a variety of performances by Cuban musicians as well as presentations on Cuban culture and cultural history in a number of different regions of the island by Cubans well versed in the subject matter. Knowledge of Cuban culture and music is desirable although not required. Knowledge of Spanish is desirable but not essential; many presentations will be in English and the remainder will be translated as needed.

Number of Participants
The group will have between 10 and 20 participants.

Objectives of the Seminar
1. To offer the participants a general overview of the many aspects of Afrocuban culture.
2. To introduce key forms of popular Cuban music and their cultural context.
3. To offer a comparison of aspects of differing Cuban cultural forms which vary dependent on their African antecedents and the region of Cuba in which they have developed.
4. To establish institutional, professional and personal contacts between participants and their Cuban counterparts in order to further specific individual research projects or interests.
5. To explore the possibility of greater collaboration between institutions in Cuba and their counterparts in the U.S. on matters related to culture and transculturation.
6. To come in contact with musicians, cultural workers and the Cubans people in general.
7. To visit institutions and social settings that will enhance our understanding of Cuba.

Pre-Seminar Materials
Some weeks prior to departure participants will receive a reader focusing on a variety of Cuban cultural themes pertinent to the trip. You will also receive an updated itinerary and extensive information regarding trip logistics.

Seminar Format
Presentations and performances will be given by musicians, folkloric ensembles, representatives of Cuban cultural institutions and others. While there will be some formal presentations, most will take place on location as a complement to performances or related site visits.

Duration and Location of Seminar
Participants will stay 7 nights in Cuba. Activities will be conducted in Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Baracoa and Holguín.

Activities (subject to change at any moment) The program for this trip is currently being finalized. Featured activities include, but are not limited to:

* a welcoming dinner in a Cuban home, with live music.
* performances of traditional son, changüí and trova.
* overnight trips to Baracoa (the first town founded in Cuba), Holguín and Guantánamo, meeting local folkloric figures and musicians.
* the mountains of the Sierra Maestra and the Sierra Crystal.
* a visit with a society of the tumba francesa, brought from Haiti to Cuba at the end of the 18th century, with 18th-century French salon dancing and traditional African music.
* the practice of traditional and creolized African religions in Cuba, including vodú, palo and santería.

Travel from the United States via Miami We will be traveling on charter flights of a major commercial airline contracted by Marazul Charters in Miami. Participants will be responsible for arranging and paying for their respective flights to and from Miami, Florida.

Departure: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 at 9:30am from Miami. Check-in time will be at 6:30am.
Return: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 at 12:30pm from Santiago, arriving Miami at approx. 2:30pm.

Accommodations in Miami
It is very likely that you will have to spend the night of Tuesday, 21, 2003 in Miami. The following hotels and accompanying room costs are listed for your convenience.

Days Inn Miami Airport North * 4767 NW 36th Street * 305-888-3661 * $65-100 per night Crowne Plaza Miami Airport * 950 NW LeJeune Road * 305-446-9000 * $110-250 per night Hilton Miami Airport and Towers * 5101 Blue Lagoon Drive * 305-262-1000 * $150-240 per night

Please call to confirm these prices. These and other hotels are listed at http://miami.hotelguide.net/hl1ap.htm

U.S. Treasury Department License
U.S. citizens and permanent residents must have a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury Department authorizing them to travel to Cuba in order to engage in cultural, humanitarian and educational activities. If they do not have such authorization they risk fines of up to $55,000 and lengthy prison sentences. The Cuba Research and Analysis Group holds an institutional license from OFAC permitting the organization to sponsor and organize non-academic cultural and educational activities which foster people-to-people contact. You will travel under that license, with an accompanying letter from CRAG authorizing you to do so. Travel to Cuba under such circumstances is legal. However, be aware that OFAC stipulations require that CRAG submit the names and both professional and personal interests of all who travel under our license in quarterly reports.

Passport
All travelers must have a current U.S. or other passport, valid for at least 6 months following the date of their return back to the U.S. Foreign residents of the United States must also have residency permits valid until that same date.

Cuban Visa
The Cuba Research and Analysis Group will make your visa arrangements with Cuba, and the cost of the visa is covered within the tour price. CRAG assumes no responsibility whatsoever regarding the disposition of the Cuban government to grant visas to individuals, nor to allow entry into Cuba.

If you were born in Cuba you must apply directly to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, DC for your visa in order to participate in this trip. It is recommended that you begin this process early and allow two-three (2-3) months for such visas to be issued. CRAG is willing to help facilitate the process. You will be charged a nominal fee for this service. Please contact us for additional information.

Your Status While in Cuba
You will travel to Cuba on a cultural visa and not as a tourist. Cuba readily permits the entry of U.S. citizens on tourist cards, purchased at one's point of departure from a third country (e.g. Mexico or Canada). However, U.S. law prohibits U.S. citizens from traveling to Cuba as tourists. Meanwhile, having tourist status in Cuba does not permit one to engage in several of the activities included in the seminar program.

Journalistic Activities
Group participants are encouraged to write editorials and commentaries about their experience in Cuba upon return to the U.S. However, your visa will NOT permit you to engage in professional journalistic activities in Cuba. Those traveling with the intention of representing any publication or media source during the trip must apply directly to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, DC for a journalist visa. Obtaining such a visa can take several months, and CRAG may be able to facilitate the process for you. Please contact CRAG immediately if you intend to represent any source of media while on this trip.

Payment and Other Deadlines
The payment deadline for this trip has been extended.

Before, or no later than Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - Submit:
* your enrollment form
* The full amount due ($2800 double or $3000 single)
* a clear, very legible photocopy of the first two pages of your passport. Note: foreign residents must also submit a copy of proof of residency, along with home country passport pages showing their current visa information, if applicable.
* a passport-size photograph. DO NOT SEND YOUR PASSPORT!

Cancellation Policy
Participants who cancel after December 17, 2002 will forfeit $350. CRAG will make no refund for cancellations made after January 2, 2002.

Make checks or money orders payable to: Cuba Research and Analysis Group, earmarked "Afropop January 2003 Seminar Tour". Mail your payment to:

Cuba Research Seminar Tour
Cuba Research and Analysis Group
P.O. Box 6510
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87197-6510

If you have any questions, please call 505-344-5049 or email elhead@unm.edu