Institute Program

Our four-week program of study will be organized according to the three principal elements that make up this extraordinary history.

Week One: The Immigrant Worlds of Key West, Ybor City and West Tampa, 1868-1898

Participants will come to know the history of the immigrant communities of Ybor City, West Tampa and Key West during the last half of the 19th century, their origins, settlement, rapid growth, and the novel forms of civil society they created, blending old world traditions with the new economic and social realities of their adopted nation. All aspects of these communities will be explored, including political activism, labor strife, social organization, race relations, gender roles and cultural production.

Week Two: José Martí at the Intersection of Empires

Institute participants will train a critical eye on the life and work of José Martí, specifically his role in establishing the Cuban Revolutionary Party among the cigar workers of Tampa and Key West, and their influence on his political thought and revealing analyses of U.S. government and society during the Gilded Age. Moving beyond the historical canon, special emphasis will be applied to the role of Cuban women and Black Cubans in the articulation of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, the independence project, the war effort and the international labor struggle.

Week Three: The Spanish- Cuban -American War: Cuban Independence and U.S. Intervention

We will examine the rationale for the U.S. intervention in the struggle for Cuban independence and analyze the far-reaching consequences that the Spanish-American War had on these immigrant communities, on the course of Cuban history, and on the role of the United States in the global distribution of power, consequences that to this day reverberate through politics, history, culture and economics.

Week Four: Research and Participant Presentations

During the final week, participants will have ample time to develop their teaching modules and/or research projects. A workshop on conducting digital humanities research­, another on presenting their work in a conference format, and collaboration and advising sessions will be offered throughout the week. Free transportation to the USF Special Collections, Ybor City and Tampa Bay History Center will be available all week for any participant interested in availing themselves of these resources. The institute will culminate in a two-day professional conference in which participants will present their work publicly for peer-review and feedback.

A detailed overview, program calendar and presentation abstracts are available below:

Any views, finding, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.