thumb|Interior view of the institution's archaeological laboratory.

The Center for Advanced Studies on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean (Spanish: Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y El Caribe or simply CEAPRC) is a private institute housed in the former Municipal Penitentiary of Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, Puerto Rico, that offers graduate studies in arts and philosophy. The center is currently accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and it publishes La Revista del Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe.

History

Under Ricardo Alegría

It was incorporated on February 28, 1968, by Pablo Casals, Luis Muñoz Marín, Roberto Busó Carrasquillo, and Jaime Benítez. However, it remained inactive and without organization until 1976, when Ricardo Alegría made a request before the Council on Higher Education of Puerto Rico to transform the center into an academic institution.

thumb|The interior courtyard of the Center for Advanced Studies on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

With the CEAPRC, Alegría intended for a small institution that possessed an intimate environment, with intellectual growth and the promotion of a region-wide Caribbean emphasis as its focus. In her 2002 book, Carmen Dolores Hernández credited the CEAPRC (which she labels an "experimental" institution "unparalleled in the island or the Antilles") with breaking away from the "cultural euro centrism" of higher education in Puerto Rico. The curriculum was intended to be different from that of the universities. Puerto Rico and the Antilles received a central role with historic archeology, local literature and history in the spotlight. Besides numerous local sites, archeological digs were also held by students in the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Foreign professors such as Irving Rouse, Peter Roe, Mario Veloz Maggiolo, Sally Price and Lourdes Domínguez also collaborated with the CEAPRC. Students were allowed to take courses from other universities. On at least one occasion, a course was added due to student initiative.

The institution has had collaboration agreements with Universidad San Carlos (Guatemala), Universidad Autónoma (Dominican Republic, which included joint work with professors José Alcántara Almánzar, Pedro Vergés, Carlos Andújar and Marcio Veloz Maggiolo) and Universidad de Veracruz (Mexico). The classes of Puerto Rican Literature and History, Puerto Rican Society, Puerto Rican the Caribbean during the XX Century and Puerto Rican Culture were mandatory, while several electives involving literature, cinema, racial studies, law, Arts and other practices were offered.

The CEAPRC's faculty worked on a contractual basis, allowing a revolving door of professors to come and go. During its early years it grew to include figures like Arturo Morales Carrión, José Arsenio Torres, Juan Rodríguez Cruz, Eugenio Fernández Méndez, Luis Díaz Soler, José Ramón de la Torre, María Teresa Babín, Carmelo Rosario Natal, Carmen M. Ramos de Santiago, Francisco López Cruz, Lidio Cruz Monclova, Andrés Sánchez Tarniella, Ernesto Jaime Ruíz de la Mata—a member of the short-lived surrealist group El Mirador Azul, Edgar Martínez Masdeu, Gervasio García, Arturo Santana, Héctor Campos Parsi, Luis Nieves Falcón and Esther Melón. During Alegría's tenure as director, the institution had an "open doors" policy. Among those that the CEAPRC has hosted is a chief of the Soshone tribe.

Collaboration with foreign institutions brought the likes of Irving Rouse (Yale), Douglas Newton (Metropolitan Museum), Gordon Willey (Harvard), Jean-Batiste Romain (State University of Haiti), George Kubler (Yale), Nina S. de Friedman (Instituto de Antropología de Colombia), Eduardo Arcila Farías (Colegio de México), William Bascom (University of California), (Universidad de la Havana), Wande Abimbola (University of Ife), Carlos Rama (Universidad de Barcelona) and Manuel García Arévalo (Universidad Nacional de Santo Domingo). Since then, Ángel López Cantós, Antonio Lorente, Pedro Vergés, Lourdes Domínguez, Lorenzo Rubio, Jesús Urrea, Juan Tena Ibarra, Demetrio Ramos, Jorge Febles and Lucio Mijares Pérez, among others have served as invited professors. All mentions of the Antillean natives by foreign historians were compiled, taking 25 years to complete in the Crónicas de los indios de las Antillas.

In 1981, Alegría proposed the creation of a student magazine, Caribe, published on a biannual basis. In 1982, Alegría established an exchange collaboration involving the Academia de Ciencias of Cuba. Since the CEAPRC had its own editorial, it published the work of figures like Arturo Morales Carrión, some of the master's thesis and historic documents. Alegría, however, warned Rafael Rivera García of the Office of Cultural Affairs that he would have to be ousted from Casa Blanca by the police, but ultimately decided to move after new ICP director Leticia del Rosario intended to raise the loan to recover the $6,000. Having participated in the restoration of the San José Church since 1977, Alegría negotiated the abandoned Seminario Conciliar building for the CEAPRC from cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez, offering to restore it as well (in exchange, the institution didn't have to pay loan for some years, the specific quantity later being revised by a Church appraiser). The estimate of the project was $4,000,000 but Alegría recycled materials from other sources and completed it for $600,000. After the process was completed in November 1986, the CEAPRC moved to the building. The CEAPRC also received donations from citizens for particular uses.

In 1982, it received recognition by the Middle States Association, which was suspicious about the $650 salary that the director (Alegría) was receiving since it was improbable that his successor would agree to that sum. The classrooms were named after figures like Eugenio María de Hostos, Roman Baldorioty de Castro, José Campeche, José Julián Acosta and Alejandro Tapia. In 1985, Alegría began publishing La Revista del Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe, emphasizing an academic approach. By the early 2000s, nine documentaries had been completed.

A Middle States evaluation team reviewed the status in 1987, considering the CEAPRC an "institution with [...] a well-defined view of itself" when comparing it to other Universities and colleges. In 1989, Alegría loaned several pieces of his collection for an Antillean masks exhibit. In 1993, the XV International Archeology Congress was held at Puerto Rico. In 1995, the CEAPRC entered a collaboration with the Universidad de Sevilla to offer a joint doctorate in American History. Between 1997 and 1998, the municipalities of Caguas and San Juan offered grants to students. The institution had an endowment fund of $2,250,000 at the moment. By this time, figures like Juan Manuel García Passalaqua, Enrique Laguerre, Luis De la Rosa, Guillermo Baralt, Blanca Silvestrini, José Ferrer Canales, Ana Sagardía, Federico Acevedo, Ramón Luis Acevedo, Carmen Isabel Raffuci, Antonio J. González and Silvia Álvarez Curbelo had served as professors in the CEAPRC.

Notable members

  • Enrique Laguerre - emeritus member.
  • Ricardo Alegría - considered the founding father.
  • Camille Lizarríbar-Yale University Dean of Student Affairs.

Notable alumni

  • Soraya Aracena - anthropologist and curator
  • María Colom Silva-(MA '92) Director of the Municipal Archive of Mayagüez.
  • Cristina M. Miranda Palacios-Executive Founding Director of the Puerto Rican Cities League.
  • Abel Nazario-former mayor of Yauco.
  • Carlos Antonio Otero-Chief of Information at El Vocero.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

  • Official website
  • Official Facebook page