Global Perspective Spotlight: Tracing family history in Havana, Cuba, with Madelyn Miyares ’25
News & Spotlights |
August 17, 2023
For her Global Perspective summer, Madelyn Miyares ’25 studied at a language immersion school and pursued a family history project in Havana, Cuba.
The scholar took Spanish language and professional salsa classes with Corazón Cuba, volunteered with InSurGentes, and explored the city and culture.
Madelyn also researched her family’s Cuban history, retaking photos from the 1980s of her relatives’ former homes, neighborhood, and schools.
At a church’s archive, she was able to view the record of her great-great-grandparents’ marriage certificate in Havana from 1908.
The scholar also connected with someone who grew up with her great uncles and lives on the same street as her family.
“It was a surreal experience considering we don’t have any family left on the island,” said Madelyn, a BSPH health policy and management student at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
The Global Perspective summer is an opportunity to conduct an independent research project or learn about a new sector or part of the world through a more traditional internship.
