The lights come on for professor

The Miami Herald carries a story about an anthropology professor, Katherine Herschfeld, who believed the hype about the Cuban healthcare system until she had it foisted upon her during a bout with dengue fever;

When she experienced the symptoms — aching joints, fever, nausea, sore throat — she was taken to a Santiago hospital and placed in a large ward guarded by a man with a gun. She asked to make a phone call to tell people where she was. The guard said there were no working phones.

“`Oh my God,’ I thought to myself. ‘This place doesn’t exist,'” at least not officially, because the epidemic was a state secret.

During her stay, she says she never saw a doctor. She was given one pill — a vitamin. Fortunately, she had a mild case. Because there were few nurses, she and other patients who were able did what they could for the sickest, especially those who were bleeding or vomiting.

Now an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, Hirschfeld says living with a family in Santiago while doing her research made a big difference in her viewpoint.

”Most academic work about Cuba is based on little or no field research,” Hirschfeld said. U.S. academics often rely on official government studies or do short stays on the island, spending perhaps two weeks, sleeping in government-approved facilities.

Funny how your opinion can change when you put down the books and experience life. That’s a hint for all of you students out there who think you know better than those of us who’ve actually done something besides read books and listen to other people who’ve only read books.

More at Babalu Blog from Alberto de la Cruz who is more familiar with her work than I;

Naturally, her book as not been well received by academia, which prefers to continue advocating the vile dictatorship. Nevertheless, Professor Hirschfeld refused to toe the line and exposed the myths that continue to be reported as facts here and throughout the world.

My point about academia, exactly.

Category: Foreign Policy, Society