On Monday, December 11, 2017, at 11:00 am, Professor Phillip Brenner and I met for about two hours for the final time of this academic semester. We discussed some current events of Cuba, his upcoming trip conference trip, and what the political future of Cuba holds. We also discussed my year in terms of research; I told him my puzzle, the presence of FDI in Cuba, and walked him through my small-n case study design.

Prof. Brenner agreed with me that Foreign Direct Investment is a very interesting and important topic to cover when it comes to Cuba. When I presented him with my design he made a number of great suggestions that would benefit my research. First, he suggested that for my cases I should include an era case prior to the revolution to provide an interesting comparison to the current Cuban economy to see just how much it has shrunk or grown. This would make for an interesting perspective and would add to the conversation of the current literature.

Professor Brenner also suggested that for 306 I focus on a specific economic sector, like agriculture or tourism, as this would make my research more concise and easier to develop. I am still considering this as an option, but for my Final Narrative Paper, I will probably continue to choose an expansive topic that covers all the economic sectors that engage with FDI and then in 306 I may choose to narrow down my subject down depending on what sector I find most interesting.

I will definitely take Prof. Brenner’s comments and apply them to my final narrative paper and bring some of the ideas up for my considerations for my 306 research. I am very fortunate to have Prof. Brenner as my mentor and I look forward to using him more as a source next year because of his access to old Cuban government documents that could be beneficial to my research.