Corinna J. Moebius, Ph.D.

Corinna Moebius, Ph.D. is a writer, speaker, tour guide, consultant, and educator based in Miami, Florida. Overall, her work centers on the impact of eco-sociocultural landscapes, public spaces, and public remembering on resilience and relations with ourselves, our diverse fellow humans, and the Living Earth.

Among the topics she speaks, writes and teaches about are transformative/regenerative tourism and eco-cultural tourism; the politics and sociocultural/racial dynamics of public memory and commemorations in landscapes, public spaces, heritage districts and other tourism destinations; and Miami’s Cuban community. In addition to offering her own eco-cultural transformation tours and Little Havana walking tours, she also works as a Senior Tour Leader with Classic Journeys. She has taught numerous courses and workshops at colleges, universities and organizations, both in person and online.

For many years Corinna has also advised clients on creative processes for inclusive engagement in the planning of cities, public spaces, and organizations. Her interdisciplinary background includes training as an urban anthropologist, cultural geographer, and public historian, with specialization in (Afro-)Cuban diaspora studies. She is also trained in organizational and intercultural communication and coaching. The editors of Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design profiled her in their chapter on public participation.

Corinna is a sought-after expert on Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood. She has spent a decade conducting extensive archival and ethnographic research on its cultural history as well as the racial/sociopolitical dynamics and politics of placemaking and public memory in Miami’s Cuban community. She co-authored the book A History of Little Havana (The History Press, 2015) and is finishing a new book on the local, national and international ethnoracial politics involved in development of its touristic heritage district. Corinna also draws on knowledge gained from her work as an award-winning civic leader in the neighborhood, her research in Cuba, and her longtime study of Afro-Cuban history, culture and religion.

Major news outlets such as The New York Times, PBS, NPR, and 60 Minutes Australia have interviewed Corinna based on her knowledge of Little Havana and the sociocultural and political dynamics of Miami’s Cuban community. She was also recognized in an exhibit of ten Little Havana changemakers curated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Corinna is a former Graduate Fellow with both the University of Miami’s Cuban Heritage Collection and the Smithsonian Institution’s Latino Museum Studies Program in Washington, DC. She earned her Ph.D. in Global & Sociocultural Studies at Florida International University (FIU), receiving the Alex Stepick Award for Outstanding Dissertation. At FIU, she also earned Graduate Certificates in African & African Diaspora Studies and Afro-Latin American Studies. She earned her M.A. in Speech Communication at California State University, Northridge and an interdisciplinary, self-designed Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Personal passions of Corinna’s include mingling in the streets and plazas and markets of port cities, conversations with friends and strangers, Latin jazz, street festivals and processions, and dancing Afro-Cuban rumba — which she has studied for more than 15 years. Through her work, Corinna strives to inspire a more regenerative, kind, and equitable world.