CLAS Hosts Discussion on “The Cuban Hustle”
On October 14, 2021, the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), an affiliated center of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University (BU), hosted an event on the book “The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life.”
Author Sujatha Fernandes, Professor of Sociology at the University of Sydney, discussed the collection of essays about Cuban life that make up the book. The essays coalesce around the idea of “hustle,” a word arising out of the Cuban vernacular of “luchar,” describing the various ways Cubans have improvised and invented in order to navigate daily life in uncertain sometimes desperate conditions. She focuses particularly on art and music and how Cuban work through sociopolitical issues through the arts.
The conversation was moderated by Michael Birenbaum Quintero, Associate Professor of Music and Chair of Musicology & Ethnomusicology at BU’s College of Fine Arts.
A recording of the event can be viewed below.
CLAS provides students with a versatile and powerful vehicle to develop an in-depth and interdisciplinary understanding of the Latin American region. The program offers students a wide variety of regionally-focused courses in Latin America, which are taught by a range of academic departments. The interdisciplinary nature of the program provides the necessary breadth and depth for students to understand the complexities and remarkable diversity of Latin America, defined as the 20 independent countries in the Western Hemisphere south of the United States with Spanish, French, or Portuguese as their official languages. Learn more about this center on the CLAS website.