About the Trip Leader

About the Trip Leader: Cynthia Duncan, Ph.D.

Cynthia Duncan, Ph.D. (Spanish and Portuguese, University of Illinois) and Professor Emeritus of Hispanic Studies at the University of Washington in Tacoma, has more than 35 years experience as a scholar of Latin American literature, film and culture. She is the author of more than 50 articles in academic journals, as well a number of chapters in books. Her most recent book is Unraveling the Unreal: Fantastic Fictions in Latin America (Temple University Press, 2010). Her academic specialization is Mexico and the Hispanic Caribbean. She teaches courses on contemporary culture, history, film and literature of Cuba, and is currently worked on a collection of oral narratives dealing with the history and development of the Lucumí religion and culture in the province of Cienfuegos. In addition to her background as an academic, Professor Duncan is an initiated priestess of Ochun, and part of the religious community in Palmira, Cuba. She has been visiting Cuba for more than 20 years, including many study abroad experiences and outreach programs for her students and members of her community, such as the Tacoma-Cienfuegos Sister City Committee and the Northwest Sinfonietta Orchestra. She has partnered with the University of Cienfuegos on numerous occasions in classes, workshops and conferences. She was given the honor of being named a Distinguished Daughter of Cienfuegos in 2005. In 2015, Professor Duncan was recognized and honored by La Universidad de Cienfuegos for academic service contributions to them over the past 14 years.

This is a people-to-people trip covered under general license as per 31 CFR §515.565(b) the United States Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Civitas Global Educational Services is a licensed provider of people-to-people travel. (License No. CT-2014-312375-1)