Page 34 - South Mississippi Living - March, 2016

PEOPLE eye opening experience
& GregBRADLEY
A conversation about traveling and teaching in Cuba
story by Lynn Lofton photos courtesy of Greg Bradley
As relations between the U.S. and Cuba become friendlier, attention turns to the Communist island nation and Americans are expressing interest
in going there. Greg Bradley has had the opportunity to see the changes in Cuba first hand. He’s traveled there on an academic visa eight times since 2013.
Bradley, Ph.D., is an economics professor in the College of Business at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Park Campus and president and CEO of the Bradley Research Group that does economic impact studies for clients all over the country. He is also vice-president of the Coalition for Research to Practice, the organization responsible for
his first trip to Cuba. He met the president of this Omaha, Neb. based non-profit through a university connection. The members wanted
to observe the way 1960s Russian psychology is practiced in Cuba.
“I generally consider myself a risk taker and agreed to go. We went
with a plan to develop long-term relationships,” Bradley said. “We gave a presentation in a government office, and my perception of how Cuba is moving into a free market economy began to grow.”
A meeting with a Cuban university professor, who’s president of the Cuban Psychology Association, led
to Bradley’s invitation to be a guest lecturer in behavioral economics at the University of Havana, an experience that’s been an eye opener for him. He will return to Cuba in May to present a paper to an international psychology conference.
He sat down with South Mississippi Living to answer some questions about his experiences in Cuba.
Q: What are some of your most vivid impressions of Cuba?
A: The people are fantastic; they’re exceedingly warm, nice and smart. Relationships are very important there; that’s why we’ve been able
34 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • March 2016
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