Brookhaven Courier

Issue date: 9/10/07 Section: News

Dr. Patricia Dodd finds Che Guevara's image honored all around the island of Cuba.

Backpacking through the Middle East alone is not the usual traveler's idea of an exciting way to spend a vacation. But Patricia Dodd, English professor of world literature at Brookhaven College, is not an average traveler.

She has visited Europe, Palestine and Senegal and this summer traveled to Cuba to gain a better understanding of the country's culture, environment and community development.

"Cuba has always resonated with me; it's a small country that was able to deny the influences of the West and consumerism and some of the evils that come with it," Dodd said.

Dodd said she was able to travel to Cuba through a Global Exchange Reality tour. Global Exchange is an international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice.

Dodd said Global Exchange organizes a group of people who are deeply concerned with humanitarian and ecological issues.

"It gives activists a venue to go out and support social change, an opportunity to gather with like-minded people and travel to areas that might be considered dangerous to most people," Dodd said.

Dodd said the preconceived perceptions Americans may have that Cuba is a poor country with limited resources is not entirely true. Dodd said the quality of Cuban life is socially richer than an American's.

"One of the best things about Cuban people is they are well read and intelligent; they have one of the best medical systems in the world," Dodd said. "Art is flourishing, there are so many art schools, there is art all over the streets. It's not a filthy place but an artistic place to visit."

Dodd said the primary goals Global Exchange has for relations with Cuba is to remove Cuba from the list of potential terrorist countries, end the U.S. embargo on Cuba and to end travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba.

Recently, Fidel Castro relinquished his position of the presidency to his brother Raul Castro who says he is willing to talk to the new president in 2008 after the Bush administration leaves power, she said. Castro wants to discuss improving relations, which have been strained by a 45-year-old embargo. This embargo heavily restricts travel and trade between the U.S. and Cuba, Dodd said.

Dodd said she has spent many of her vacations gaining a better perception of human rights violations and what she can do to prevent or help situations. While she was backpacking through Europe, she stopped at a concentration camp.

"I remember going to Auschwitz when I was in my early 20s and I was backing in the winter by myself," Dodd said. "I went to the concentration camps just to feel what it was like to be literally freezing with a lot of clothes on, and trying to imagine people freezing with little clothes on."

Greg Shows, adjunct English professor, said he thinks Dodd is a great professor.

"She provides a counter balance to the conservatives on campus," Shows said.

Dodd said students can get involved in human rights by joining Amnesty International or simply writing letters to their congressmen and congresswomen on issues of concern.

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