Year of the Active Bystander: "Cuba in an Era of Change" Lecture by Elaine Díaz Rodriguez

After more than 50 years of rule under Fidel and Raul Castro and an embargo by the United States, on December 17, 2014, President Obama announced a restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time since 1961. Elaine Díaz Rodriguez, a Cuban blogger, journalist and professor at the University of Havana, brings a keen insight into current Cuban society and the capacity of digital communication to promote public discussion and consensus building in Cuba.   What might a post-embargo Cuba look like?  What would an opening to Cuba mean to the U.S. economy, to travelers from the U.S., to the Cuban people, and to the U.S. standing in Latin America?  Elaine Díaz Rodriguez was a Nieman Fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University in 2014. 

Elaine Diaz Rodriguez’s visit is co-sponsored by the Division of Multicultural Affairs and Community Engagement and the Asian and Native American Center with support from the Department of Political Science

The school year at Wright State University has been designated the Year of the Active Bystander as part of stepped-up efforts to help students, faculty and staff respond productively to prejudice they encounter in their daily interactions.

The designation by Wright State’s Division of Multicultural Affairs and Community Engagement comes in the wake of the public and the federal government’s increasing calls for accountability in making universities free from violence, harassment and discrimination.

The Year of the Active Bystander will feature programs focusing on bias in the university workplace and classrooms, specifically implicit bias, micro-aggressions and stereotype threat.