The Dominican Experiment

The Dominican Republic is the most visited country in the Caribbean and, according to CNN, the second-happiest place on the planet. However, most of its workers make less than fifteen dollars a day, it has around two million stateless people, and 70 percent of its schools do not offer students safe drinking water. The island is certainly a fascinating place for students to research, so why not take a social justice trip there so they can see it for themselves? That was what Kevin LaMastra had in mind when he took his students to the DR for some snorkeling, horseback riding, and waterfall jumping, but also to check out a garbage dump, a sweatshop, and an HIV/AIDS orphanage. We learn the most when we step outside our comfort zones. Thats not exactly LaMastras sales pitch when hes looking for students to sign up each year, but it becomes the leading philosophy of the trip when he takes them to bond with survivors of Haitis 2010 earthquake, to visit communities hidden deep inside sugarcane fields, and to witness an actual Vodou ceremony.

In eight case studies by leading scholars in history, archaeology, business, economics, geography, and political science, the authors showcase the “natural experiment” or “comparative method”—well-known in any science concerned with the past—on the discipline of human history. That means, according to the editors, “comparing, preferably quantitatively and aided by statistical analyses, different systems that are similar in many respects, but that differ with respect to the factors whose influence one wishes to study.” The case studies in the book support two overall conclusions about the study of human history: First, historical comparisons have the potential for yielding insights that cannot be extracted from a single case study alone. Second, insofar as is possible, when one proposes a conclusion, one may be able to strengthen one’s conclusion by gathering quantitative evidence (or at least ranking one’s outcomes from big to small), and then by testing the conclusion’s validity statistically.

The Dominicans are to be found in every part of the world and engaged in every sort of activity, from fighting for justice and peace to painting and poetry. They live on many frontiers, of the Church and of the World, of the rich and of the poor, of the West and East, and these are places of growth and discovery. This book will communicate some of the inspiration and excitement to be found there by women and men who are both utterly committed to their faith but also to what is to be learned as well.