After a wait of nearly three years, when in 2010 the government of President Obama authorized travel again to some Americans to Cuba, the Semester at Sea Cruise, with 568 students from over 200 universities, has been licensed to travel to the island. Most of the students come from American universities. In that order they are followed by those of Mexico and Canada.
The Semester at Sea international academic program established in 1964 will arrive with 648 people in Havana on December 9 and will depart for the United States three days later. This curriculum, sponsored by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and administered by the Institute of Studies on board, arrived in Cuba for the last time in 2004.
Between 1999 and 2004, the cruiser made 10 trips to the island, and in seven of them students held meetings with Fidel Castro. The restrictions that the government of George. W. Bush imposed on academic and cultural exchanges between Cuba and the United States prevented Semester at Sea could return in December 2004.
During the trip, students receive lectures and courses, plus get first hand information about the ports they visit. Because the stay in Cuba Cruise cannot be managed through tourist agencies, the program was licensed this year to reach the country covered in the academy. In the exchange professors from the University of Havana will participate, an institution that works as the project counterpart in Cuba. At other times, also Cuban students have been invited to the meeting.
During their stay in Cuba, the students and American teachers have the opportunity to visit the facilities of the University of Havana. There they will receive lectures on the history, politics and scientific development of the country, among other topics, and attend artistic presentations, organized by groups of supporters of the University.
As part of the course on Cuba they will receive there are scheduled some visits to historical and cultural sites in Havana and other provinces. In this journey they will also be received at the universities of Matanzas, Cienfuegos and Pinar del Rio.
