Dr. Rafael M. Hernández, scholar of Cuban culture and society, will be the University of Montevallo’s 2017 Hallie Farmer Lecturer with a talk titled, Cuba at a Crossroads. The event, to be held in Humanities Hall Auditorium on Tuesday, April 18, at 7 p.m. is free and open to the public. A public reception will follow at 8 p.m.
Hernández is one of the world’s preeminent scholars of Cuban culture and society. His impressive accolades include time spent as a professor at the University of Havana, director of U.S. studies at the Centro de Estudios sobre América (an influential Cuban think tank) and a senior research fellow at the Juan Marinello Institute in Havana.
Hernández has taught as a visiting professor at renowned higher education institutions in the U.S. including Harvard and Columbia. He has also served as a visiting scholar at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC.
Currently, Hernández is the chief editor of Temas, Cuba’s leading magazine in the social sciences. He has penned and co-edited a variety of ruminations on Cuban and U.S. policies, inter-American relations, international security, migration, and Cuban culture, civil society and politics. His written works include “The History of Havana” (2006) and “Play Ball! Debating U.S.-Cuban Relations” (2015).
The Hallie Farmer Lectures bring distinguished figures in the social sciences to Montevallo for two to three days of lectures and informal appearances. Guests have ranged from a former U.S. secretary of state to a Russian-American documentary filmmaker. The lecture series was established in 1985 in memory of Montevallo professor and civic leader Hallie Farmer.
For additional information on the Hallie Farmer lecture, contact Eric Vaccarella at vaccarellaea@montevallo.edu or 205-665-6415.