Call for Proposals (CFP)

The Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies of the Graduate Center of the
City University of New York (CUNY) announces a call for panel proposals
(CFP) for “Beyond the Dichotomies: Global Cuba,” a cross-disciplinary
conference to be held at the CUNY Graduate Center on Thursday, April 15 and
Friday, April 16, 2027. While we prefer to receive proposals for complete panels,
we also welcome individual paper proposals. We seek approaches that
problematize and interrogate the conventional island/diaspora framework and
explore the many, complex ways of being Cuban.

We anticipate that this will be a rich and intimate two-day conference, comprising
eight panels (4 on each day, 2 in the mornings and 2 in the afternoons) focusing on
diverse aspects of Cuba’s current critical socioeconomic and political reality, its
culture and history, and its potential futures. One of the two keynote addresses

will be presented by the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Ada Ferrer, Dayton-
Stockton Professor of History at Princeton University.

What follows is a list of potential themes that proposals may address:

  • Transnational Independent Journalism
  • Cuba’s Political Reality: Dilemmas & Possibilities
  • The Agricultural Sector
  • The Private Sector & the Cuban Diaspora
  • US-Cuba Relations
  • The Cuban Economy, Social Life, & the Energy Crisis
  • The Impact of Migration
  • Dissent, Opposition & Repression, at Home & Abroad
  • Cuban Cinema Beyond ICAIC
  • Artistic Reflections on Contemporary Cuba
  • Race, Racism, and Anti-racism
  • Afro-Cuban Social & Cultural Practices
  • Writing Literature as Cuban History
  • Responses to Poverty, Inequality & Marginalization
  • Human Rights: Social, Economic, & Political
  • The Digital Revolution & the Cuban Imaginary
  • Cuidados: Social Services & Communities
  • Cuban Music in the 21st Century: Continuity & Change

Guidelines:

  • We aim for both intellectual rigor and topical diversity in the conference.
    Thus, we will not likely accept more than one panel on the same topic.
  • Proposals must include: (1) a title, (2) a single paragraph description of the
    topic or focus, (3) a list of all participants and their roles with their
    affiliations and contact emails, and (4) individual paper titles with abstracts
    (or descriptions of each participant’s contribution if it is a round table).
  • The deadline for submission is Monday, October 5, 2026.
  • Proposals should be sent to the Bildner Center’s Office and Project
    Coordinator, Rosalina López (rlopez@cuny.gc.edu) and the Center’s
    Deputy Director, Ted A. Henken (theodore.henken@baruch.cuny.edu).
  • Notification of acceptance will be communicated by early December.

Bildner Center Director:
Enrique Desmond Arias, Baruch College and the Graduate Center, CUNY

Deputy Director:
Ted A. Henken, Baruch College, CUNY

Organizing Committee:
Tamarys Bahamonde, Medgar Evers College, CUNY
Esther Allen, Baruch College, CUNY
Lidia Hernández Tapia, CUNY Graduate Center
John A. Gutierrez, John Jay College,CUNY
Salvador Salazar, Bronx Community College, CUNY
Lisandro Pérez, John Jay College, CUNY
Julie Skurski, CUNY Graduate Center
Katrin Hansing, Baruch College, CUNY
Ana María Hernández, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY
Jerry Carlson, City College and the Graduate Center, CUNY
Carlos Riobó, City College and the Graduate Center, CUNY