The Cuba Project
An Interdisciplinary Experience
The Cuba Project is an interdisciplinary internship program that immerses students in another culture while providing them with real-world training in a specified industry.
The Cuba Project launched in 2019 with five Jacksonville University undergraduate students, from five different disciplines spanning the arts and sciences, completing a two-semester internship with TigerLily, a Florida-based film production company, and included an eight-day cultural immersion in and around Havana, Cuba. This program partnered multi-disciplinary students with real-world filmmakers and producers.
How it Works
We collaborate with U.S.-based high schools, colleges, and universities to provide unique experiential opportunities in Cuba.
Our work between U.S. and Cuban institutions in two-fold. We facilitate cooperative agreements and design and implement student internship programs. Our student internship program requires an established company to participate for real-world experience.
Students spend a semester gaining a deep understanding of Cuba’s history, culture, and economy through selected readings, documentaries, and other media. Additionally, students receive hands-on training and mentorship from a local professional industry leader to prepare them for a 7-9 day trip to Cuba where they integrate this knowledge. Students then spend a second semester detailing their experience abroad guided by their industry professional. Students work together as a group, but each student is also responsible for deliverables specific to their discipline or interest.
We are currently re-launching this program after a multi-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photo Essays
Explore photo essays and creative writings from students to get a sense of their experience and the potential this program has to offer.
A Cuba Project Itinerary
Each program has an unique itinerary. This one highlights the day-to-day cultural immersion for a group of Florida-based university students during a nine-day trip to Cuba, mentored by a team of film production professionals and our on-the-ground Cuba travel experts. All of our trips comply with Department of Treasury OFAC rules and regulations under the general license Support for the Cuban People (515.574).
Documentary Film
The Cuba Project program can cater to most any industry. In 2019, we partnered university students from different disciplines with film industry professionals. As a result, students worked in collaboration to produce documentary short films.
“What I Loved the most was being part of the daily life of the Cubans, and I know I would not have gotten this humbling experience anywhere else.”
