My first memories of Guantánamo are from the Haitian refugee crisis in the 1990s. As a kid I imagined how those people must have felt searching for a better life in the United States only to be held at this military base, uncertain of when they would be released. At that time I was…

When first hearing about Guantánamo, I was not very interested in learning about the sire. It was not until I explored the readings, photos, and videos associated with the Guantánamo Public Memory Project that I wanted to understand more about the place the issues it represents. I learned that GTMO is more than a prison.…

Prior to this course, I had little knowledge of the history of the naval base located at Guantanamo Bay (GTMO). Like many Americans, it was difficult for me to comprehend what was going on there because we are so detached from the site and comfortable in our lives, a distance compounded by the amount of…

  There is a never-ending debate in library science on what types of content should be withheld from the bookshelves. Subjects like pornography seem like a universal “no.” But between the obvious “yeses” and “noes,” there are shades of gray, as with the recent controversy over the popular E.L. James novel. Without clear-cut lines, it…

If you are a politically conscious person in the least, you probably have an opinion on Guantánamo Bay, the American Naval Base cum Temporary Detention Center for Haitian/Cuban Refugees cum Indefinite Detention Center for Enemy Combatants, quixotically located on the southeastern edge of Communist Cuba. Though the existence of the base has been public knowledge…

Zak was the pseudonym of Guantanamo’s Arab-American cultural advisor.  In 2008, Zak and the Joint Task Force initiated art classes at Guantanamo Bay detention camp as a way of controlling behavior.  Zak affirms, “…we want to keep their brains stimulated…once [the prisoners] are engaged and busy, they leave the guards alone…” The Prisoners are encouraged…

While researching Guantánamo, I was amazed at how little I actually knew about the history of this US base. For me, Guantánamo was a place where terrorists went to wait indefinitely for a trial that would never happen. My understanding has since changed dramatically. Although the post 9/11 history of GTMO has become a topic…

  Before I started reading about the history of Guantánamo, I thought it was just a jail that the United States used to house its post-9/11 political prisoners. As I began delving into Guantánamo’s history, I was surprised to learn, that the site was also used to detain Haitian and Cuban refugees. I had always…

The visual topography of Guantánamo in recent public culture is minimal to nonexistent, narrowly ranging from orange jumpsuits and shackles to barbed wire and chain link to nothing at all, as the issues surrounding Guantánamo fade into the collective unconscious with every passing year. Photographer Christopher Sims takes up the subject of this singular and…

Regina José Galindo is a contemporary Guatemalan artist who often uses performance and her own body to comment on international political and social issues.  Often, Galindo will put her body in difficult, violent, and compromising positions as a way to bring attention to ignored or hidden abusive acts by the powerful over the vulnerable.  She…