Castañeda, Mayfield present at international women’s conference

College of Education faculty member Carmelita (Rosie) Castañeda and graduate student Kerrita Mayfield joined scholars from across the globe in Havana, Cuba, for the sixth annual International Conference on Women in the 21st Century in November 2005.

The conference, hosted by the Federation of Cuban Women, was intended to “promote dialogue, exchange of information, and the reassessment within the various academic disciplines concerning gender, feminism, and women’s studies.”

Castañeda, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies, and Mayfield, a doctoral student in curriculum and instruction, presented a workshop titled “Women Creating Networks of Survival in Institutions of Higher Education” during the November event. Their session focused on how women and, specifically, women of color in the academy survive and thrive in college and university settings.

This topic is of professional and personal interest to Castañeda. Rosie describes her “twofold involvement in this research topic, first as an area of interest, and second in my personal experience as a woman of color who is an academician in a predominantly white institution.” Her focus on this area of research is grounded in her belief that “it is important to examine the role of power in predominantly white institutions because it is vital to expose prejudices and discrimination.”

Attending this conference in Cuba has expanded Rosie’s level of involvement from the national arena to the international forum. She feels that “being able to share and learn from women both in similar and in unfamiliar cultural contexts enriches my personal and professional interest in these issues.”

An important feature noted by Castañeda and Mayfield upon presenting their workshop in Havana is the fact that women and women of color with the greatest potential to succeed in predominantly white institutions are those who find support within those institutions. In reviewing the literature, Rosie found that “the women who are successful in navigating the tenure and promotion process are those who have exceptionally well-developed networks, from their departments through their college and universities.”

One outcome of the presentation noted by Rosie and Kerrita was that many fellow conference participants were curious about their experiences because many do not share similar academic conditions - specifically in not having the tenure and promotion process known to scholars in the United States. In the absence of the tenure and promotion process, as well as issues of race and class also experienced in the United States, faculty members allowed that they do not face the same kinds of consequences that women of color experience in the United States. As Mayfield described their reaction, “because they have no sense of race or class, they have a hard time disaggregating what you’re saying as an African-American from being an American, or what you’re saying as a woman and how that’s different from being American.”

In addition to hearing about the work of visiting scholars from such countries as South Africa, Chile, Canada, England and Colombia, Mayfield and Castañeda had multiple opportunities to explore the Cuban academic community.

“There was a real love and sense of relish among the Cubans that I encountered, for their education that was different than what you encounter in the U.S.,” Kerrita says. “Inside, there was a really rich, varied and fully functioning educational community.”

United States citizens seeking to travel to Cuba face many hurdles. Because of the U.S. embargo with Cuba, U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba encounter difficulties in arranging for such travel. Hopeful travelers to Cuba apply to Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the federal government’s permission-granting agency. Before the agency grants legal permission, hopeful travelers must prove to OFAC that their work is substantially connected to Cuba and cannot be found in the United States. Castañeda’s paperwork eventually cleared government channels, but Mayfield’s application took multiple submissions to convince authorities that a graduate student’s need to attend this particular conference was valid. Kerrita received word of her clearance only days before departing for Havana. “You really have to want to go there,” Mayfield says. “You really have to prove to the U.S. that your work is connected to Cuba.”

Seeing Havana can be accomplished by looking through two different lenses. Through one lens, the traveler views the city from the vantage points counseled by officials, that is, from tourist taxis, tourist restaurants, tourist hotels, and attending tourist activities. The visitor can strike out in another direction and see the city and talk with local people during copious walking tours.

Once in Cuba, both women sought out opportunities to interact, not only with fellow conference participants, but with the country’s citizens in the neighborhoods and along the streets where Havana’s residents live, work, and play.

Mayfield acknowledged the gap between stereotypes about Cuba and its people and what she experienced there. “There was a very sharp contrast between the people of Cuba and the situation of Cuba that you don’t really expect to encounter,” she says. Those stereotypes work the other way as well. Mayfield says she was surprised to learn how popular media shapes Cubans’ perceptions of American life. “Watching ‘Legally Blonde’ in Cuba makes you realize that their context for who you’re supposed to be is really framed by some of our entertainment exploits,” she says.

Rosie’s effort to spend time observing and visiting with citizens to learn more about Cuban culture added larger dimension to her fascination with the mix of old and new everywhere in the city. Tapping cultural relevance well beyond the simplistic view absorbed by the tourist-bound visitor, she was nevertheless taken aback by the cultural complexity that exploring Cuban neighborhoods evidenced. Her experience in Havana opened her awareness to multiple layers of cultural significance and raised questions that linger.

Castañeda, Mayfield present at international women’s conference

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