Kent State University - School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Murray shoots documentary on Cuban education

Assistant Professor Joe Murray is one of three Kent State colleagues participating in a three-year research project about the state-run system of education in Cuba. He has traveled to the island several times to record interviews and shoot footage. Murray, Anne Morrison from the College of Education, and Gary Harwood, University Photographer, are looking at the Cuban culture and the world literacy rate as part of the project.

"[The Cuban people] truly revere education," Murray said. "They don't have a lot of things in Cuba; food and everyday things we take for granted is difficult. So when you don't have a lot of things, education becomes very important."

He said the team visits the island more as "trained observers" rather than journalists. They are researchers and storytellers, not news reporters.

"We're going down as faculty. We travel on a State Department license that lets us get in there, full knowledge of the Cuban government, full knowledge of the United States government," he said.

Murray records the video, and the audio is then translated into English so that Morrison can analyze it. He plans to create a documentary and hopes to show some of the video in an exhibition, along with Harwood's photography in the United States and possibly in Cuba.

This summer Murray hopes to begin collaborating with Morrison on journal articles.

Joe Murray shows two Cuban women video he has shot in their country. Photo by Gary Harwood.

By Holly Schoenstein for the Co-Lab

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