José Manuel García

Jose Manuel Garcia, Ph.D. José Manuel Garcia was born in Sancti Spiritus Cuba and immigrated to the U.S. during the Mariel Boatlift in 1980. He earned a B.S. in political science from Montclair State University and a master’s and a doctorate in Latin American literature from the University of Arizona. He is currently an associate professor of Hispanic literature and Latin American studies at Florida Southern College, where he is also coordinator of the Modern and Critical Languages program. Jose Manuel Garcia’s academic research has focused on the Cuban American immigrant experience in writing and film. He has presented his academic research in many national and international conferences and has published various articles on these topics. Garcia has also appeared in multiple media outlets such as Fox, PBS, Telemundo and ABC. In 2004, he published the book La literatura cubanoamericana y su imagen and in 2011 he wrote the script and co-produced the international award-winning documentary Voices From Mariel. In the spring of 2018 University Press of Florida published his book titled Voices from Mariel: Oral Histories of the 1980 Cuban Boatlift. The book and documentary are some of the most comprehensive oral histories accounts of the 1980 Cuban exodus also known as the Mariel Boatlift. Since its release, the documentary has been received several awards in various national and international film festivals and has been shown in many academic and non-academic institutions across the United States and other countries. His documentary gained national recognition when it was featured on NatGeo Mundo in North America and the Caribbean in the spring of 2012 and again in the fall of 2015. In March of 2018 University Press of Florida published his documentary companion book titled Voices from Mariel: Oral histories of the 1980 Cuban Exodus. Since its publication, his book has been featured in the prestigious American Historical Association magazine Perspectives on History and Dr. Garcia has been invited to several book signings and film presentations in the U.S., Europe and Australia.