Album I-R A-H S-Z Glenda Jakubowski, Egypt (spring 2007): Glenda has been awarded a David Boren Fellowship through the National Security Education Program (NSEP) to study Arabic at the University of Cairo during the spring 2007 semester. She plans to stay in Egypt through the summer.
Melanie Jolly, Malawi (fall 1998): "The purpose of my visit was to gain a better understanding of the type of environmental degradation that Malawi is facing, how this degradation is being dealt with at the different levels and how Malawi is addressing the issue of women in relation to their environment [in the]Nkhata Bay, Mangochi and Thyolo Districts ... Having worked closely with the Environmental District Officer in each of the three districts, I was able to get a clear view of the state of the natural environment and an understanding of the situation of women at the village level.
In all three districts it seems that the primary goal is for Malawi to develop. Malawi has a fragile environment. Therefore, it is essential that development be environmentally sustainable. The most prevalent environmental problem in all three districts is deforestation. Deforestation is the major cause of soil erosion. Each of these districts relies heavily on agricultural production. ... Deforestation causes siltation of rivers and lakes. As a result, fishing, as a way of life is becoming more difficult to sustain, which is devastating to the districts along the lakeshore. Siltation also causes water shortages as well. ... Communities must learn how to manage their natural resources. This could be achieved by reducing the population growth rate and by using environmentally sound agricultural practices.
Possible answers to the environmental problems facing Malawi lie with gender issues. It is critically important that existing knowledge and technologies be taught to both women and men who expect to use it on the farm. Local knowledge about indigenous plants (including shrubs and herbs) needs to be recorded and incorporated into improved technologies and training programs. Improving the technical skills of women across all of Malawi should be viewed as an investment in raising women's productivity today and in the future. Training in environmentally friendly agricultural methods and technologies have not been made as available to Malawian women as they have been to Malawian men. This is particularly notable when one considers that women are the major food producers for the home."
Major Stuart S. Jolly, Saudi Arabia and Iraq (1989-1991); Germany (1992-1994); Belgium (1994-1996): "Culturally what I'm most thankful for from my experiences living in Europe is having the opportunity to meet and see people from many walks of life. There are so many countries so close together that are so different either in language or culture that is absolutely astounding. I feel I now see a bigger picture of what is actually important in life. I am able to appreciate what I have for so long taken for granted here in the US: our freedoms and our way of government. Until you've had to pay five dollars for a gallon of gas, or while in the hospital bring your own cup if you want water, you wouldn't know what I mean. Nothing is easier in Europe when compared to the US. I mean, from purchasing clothes to buying gas, it's all easier in America. As much as Americans complain about our way of life and our system of government there is nothing like it in the world. The next time you hear someone complaining about American laws ask them to go and spend a month in Moscow. They'll return home a changed person full of respect for what America has to offer. We live in the greatest country on the face of the earth and four years overseas will prove it."
Jay Keever, Germany (summer 1999)
Susan Stark Keusenkothen, Tonga (1995-1997): ''I assumed that the village had high expectations of what I should accomplish on a monthly basis. I felt as if I were not fulfilling my own duties if projects failed to develop quickly and efficiently. I tied my role as the youth development officer into my place in the community; thus, if I felt the Tongans were disappointed or frustrated with me for not facilitating project after project, I assumed they were disappointed with me as a community member, Through my observations over the first year and as I began to understand more about the psychology and culture of the three villages, I very slowly began to distinguish youth development from my role in the community. Eventually it became clear that the villagers only wanted me to relax. Projects were progressing at a pace acceptable to everyone but me, and my participation in village events was exactly what everyone else expected. They wanted me to go to Church, attend births, weddings, funerals and holiday celebrations, visit the waving house and choir practice, eat at feasts and go shellfishing with the women. What mattered most to them was that I participated in the community as an unmarried female, not as a youth development volunteer, but because of my own western-based thought processes, it took me a long time to realize that I was doing my job.'' photos
Cem Kosar, international student from Turkey (2003-2005): “I believe MAIS program will help me a lot during the achievement of my future goals because I learned basically how to communicate with people from different cultures and backgrounds which is very important if you are thinking about a bright career in business and politics. In addition to this, I learned what are the drives and motives of people in general and what aspects of culture plays important roles and differs one from others. I have always dreamed of to have great social contacts and social relationships with people so that I could both benefit to myself and family and help other people’s life better by using my contacts. I am pretty sure that I will check the readings that I have read in this program to refresh my knowledge and I will always be thankful to my professors and my friends in the program.”
Jimmy Landry, Korea (2005-2006): "My goals in coming here were to finish my Master’s degree, learn the Korean language, and do a great deal of traveling. Unfortunately, the first one is the only one that will be accomplished. Having to complete assignments for class in the United States was compounded with the stress of being in a foreign country. If I were only a student, things would not be so difficult. Going to work all day in a situation where very few people can even speak to me and then trying to complete course work at the graduate level was quite a challenge. Every day I go to work at 6:50am. I teach three one hour classes with a ten minute break in between so I finish at 10:30. Then, I return in the afternoon at 4:50 and the first class starts at 5:20. I finish nightly at 8:40. Every Thursday after morning classes there is a staff meeting to discuss classes and students. I am required to do evaluation assessments of incoming students to determine if they are able to attend my classes. …The class I teach range from basic conversation classes using a book for guidance to free talking conversation classes where the students are expected to be able to hold a normal conversation with grammar correction and learn to new ways to say things.[…]
I learned as much Korean as I did out of necessity at first. In order to eat or be able to get anywhere, certain phrases have to be learned. Later, when I made several Korean friends who speak English very well, they would say something to me in English and then in the Korean language. After hearing certain things many times, I was able to understand and remember a lot of common phrases. […]
Overall, this has been a very good experience. One of the main reasons for this is the people I have met. I have always thought that “people are the same everywhere.” I have found people here with similar interests and feelings as I have. While there are definitely cultural differences, I have been fortunate to find the people who will discuss these differences, and we can learn about and from each other." photos
Sarah Layman, Japan (1995-2000)
Michele Livingston, France (fall 2004)
Paula Lobsenz, Thailand (2001): "Before traveling overseas, I was at a stage in my life of unexamined cultural identity. …[U]ltimately, I have come to cultural identity achievement or “I know who I am.” This process of achieving a cultural identity would not have occurred if I had not left my culture to experience a different one. Before visiting Thailand, I did not really have an understanding of the meaning of culture. I did not realize that cultural patterns are invisible and that their basic components are beliefs, values, and norms. My beliefs about the world were based on my experiences as an American woman living in New York. The values I had adopted were American values and I had not given much thought to them. I never questioned the norms or outward manifestations of beliefs and values within American culture. Essentially, I knew that I lived in America and that I was an American but I did not realize what it meant to be an American. I did not know how fortunate I was to have been born and raised in a middle-class American family. I did not know that many people around the world make less than a dollar a day. A dollar never had much value to me since I had always lived in the US. I never realized how many different languages and alphabets existed in the world before traveling abroad and that the rest of the world did not speak English. I never knew how blessed I was as an American woman compared to women in other countries. I never knew how liberal America was and that I had freedoms that other people did not have. I never realized how privileged I was to fly across the world and be in Thailand. I never knew how small my world was until I experienced more than once Thai culture. Last, I discovered how to walk through fear and the unknown because of my experiences in Thailand. I was not fearless when I traveled alone in South East Asia but I sensed from deep within that this time alone and abroad was important for my personal growth. There were times when I missed America, my friends, family, language, and culture but I gained so much inner strength by continuing my travels even though uncertainty remained a constant variable each time I left the US borders and entered a new country. Most importantly, I embraced each day in Thailand with a sense of wonder about the events that would happen. Since I have been back in the states, I never have felt the same feeling of wonder for each new day. There is definitely a magical quality that I found Thailand to possess, including but not limited to the following: various food vendors and smells on the streets, long beaches and waterfalls on the islands, the lights at night everywhere, the massage parlors in the cities, the massage ladies on the beach, the clear blue water, the smell of fragrant flowers, Buddha temples, monks receiving alms in the early morning hours, Thai music and dancing, friendly smiles, and absolutely stunning sunsets. I am forever grateful for the time I spent in Thailand. Thailand is a country I will revisit again for these reasons and innumerable others not mentioned."photos
Steven Mann, Brazil
Eric Mason, Germany(spring 2001; 2003-2003): "I arrived in Germany in February of 2001. In March, I began a month long intensive language course in Freilburg. This course, which was offered by the University of Freilburg, was very helpful in improving my German before the semester began. In addition, I was able to meet other exchange students from all over the world and form lasting friendships.
After completing the language course, I began my studies in April at the University of Freilburg. As my main goal was to improve my German, I decided to take courses through the Deutsch als Fremdsprache (German as foreign language) program. It was designed specifically with foreign students in mind. Its main objective is to improve the overall German language skills of its students. Most of its students were hoping to earn a degree from the University. That is, they were not just exchange students, but rather planned to study in Germany for at least five or six years. The majority of these students were from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The University of Freilburg began the Deutsch als Fremdsprache program in order to accommodate the large number of foreign students whose German was still in need of improvement.[...]
While studying at the University of Freilburg in Germany, I began to meet people with whom the only language we shared was German. The ability not only to communicate, but become friends, with people with whom I would normally not have been able (due to a language barrier) was quite rewarding and made learning German more than worth the time and effort. In short, I can say that studying abroad in Germany allowed me to achieve one of my original goals, which was to improve upon my German skills.[…]
In addition, studying abroad in Germany has allowed me to better understand different “sub-cultural” perspectives. As an outsider living in Germany, I began to grasp the reality of those on the fringes of German society (consisting mostly of minority groups and immigrants). Living in Germany made me realize that we are all minorities in some part of the world. Furthermore, our status in society is often dependent upon where we live. In other words, if in some part of the world I am perceived by society to belong to a particular minority group, then my social status may be lower than those who belong in the majority. …Although intercultural skills are marketable advantage in today’s globalized economy, they have enriched my life in ways that cannot be measured by monetary standards."
Gena Max, Belize (summer 2001)
Jose Mercado, South America, Middle East
Michele Norton, Mexico (fall 2003)
Carlos Ochoa, international student from Mexico (1995-2001): "Time is another form of silent language, which I had to learn and understand. Time in Mexico would be classified as polychronic, while time in the US could be classified as monochronic. ... Time in the United States is scheduled and compartmentalized in order for people to concentrate on one thing at a time. Schedules and promptness are sacred; time commitments are taken very seriously. In Mexico, on the other hand, time is handled differently. Promptness is not as important and deadlines are flexible. When I came to the US, I was always nervous about the time, it was an extra stress on my life that I had never experienced before. In high school, before the ending of each class, I would stress about getting to the next classroom on time. ...This tight schedule was like a nightmare to me, I could not say hi or talk to anybody, I had to concentrate on getting to the next class before the bell rang."
Angelica Orta, Mexico (fall 2004):
"The biggest and most valuable lesson I learned during my 10 weeks field experience was that you cannot assume you know more about a culture than the people themselves. If you do then you set yourself up for disappointment and confusion. You must also remember you role when visiting another country. You should be an observer of other people, trying to understand and learn about how others live, then appreciate and respect the difference. No one is going to treat you with privilege because you are a foreigner, speak the local language, are from the United States or share the same heritage. […]
But once I arrived in Mexico I quickly realized that all that I had studied did not matter in my understanding of the Mexican people as much as the people themselves in their daily interactions with one another. This daily, social networking is the basis of culture and understanding. Through these interactions with family, colleagues, friends and strangers, I realized over 10 weeks what I had not been taught in a classroom or in a textbook, real Mexican culture. I had to become an observer and really learned what makes this a fascinating culture and in the end, left Mexico with a better understanding of how Mexicans lived.[…]
What this experience has allowed me to do is see how my own "cultural lenses" filter my view of the world and people around me. With this new found perspective and awareness, I have modified my "cultural lenses" to be more receptive that others live, act and think differently than I do. Knowing and understanding this difference is what others should aspire to if we are ever to live among each other in peace. The first step to doing so is to leave the comfort and security of our own borders to see with your own eyes how others live and not allow the media or textbooks to tell you so. You may find that while there are obvious differences, if you look closer, under the surface, you can see a little bit of yourself in another place that allows us all to be connected to each other. I would recommend and challenge others to study or work abroad if not for anything more than to see that there are people all over the world who think differently than you, practice a different religion; observe other customs and traditions, in order to be tolerant and empathetic of others as you would hope they are toward your culture."
Jeff Palis, Germany and Austria (spring 2003): My first two months were spent in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany taking cultural and language immersion classes at the Goethe Institute. My German proficiency grew by leaps and bounds in the short time I was there, but I will remember the social life as being just as influential on my field experience. I cannot imagine anywhere else where so many young people from so many cultures get the opportunity to study, live, travel, and socialize together. I was well traveled and well educated so what else is there to learn about culture and international studies I thought. It turns out I wasn’t nearly as prepared as I thought I was. I learned about the stages of immersion with Dr. Deena, the differences between cultures in class with Christine Avenarius, and about economic and social issues in peripheral countries with Dr.Hapke. These all made more sense during my time living, working, and interacting abroad and were helpful in my immersion and understanding. But I didn’t learn how to dance with a Hungarian girl without seeming too aggressive, how to read a bus schedule in Bohemia, or how to live with a Viennese artist who was ideologically opposed to air conditioning at East Carolina. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, by living abroad in such an unfamiliar environment, I have learned what it looks like to be myself, a young, educated, occasionally hotheaded American, through the eyes of others. I won’t comment any further on what that actually looks like. These things, as Dr. Deena so eloquently put it, are part of the education you get while traveling, the education that in his opinion is the most prestigious and beneficial degree one can ever earn.
Yiming Pan, international student from China (2000-2001): "...the origin of the different classroom roles and activities [in the US and China] can be found within the deep cultures of the two nations. China has a long history of uninterrupted feudal society in which order is highly valued as a positive element to ensure social stability. This order is maintained through a hierarchical social structure in which everyone has his place and assumed proper behavior. For instance, Confucianism, the philosophy that dominated the Chinese thinking for more than two thousand years, believes that an ideal society is one where 'the king is king, the subjects are subjects, the father is a father, the son is a son.' This idea of order and hierarchy has been deeply ingrained into the life and thinking of almost every ordinary Chinese and become a kind of collective unconsciousness. On the other hand, the American society is based on such fundamental ideas as democracy and individual freedom, the intellectual fruits of the European enlightenment movement, which reflected the requirements of the middle class for unchecked development and opportunity. Therefore, respect to authority and emphasis on upholding order created the passivity of the Chinese classroom, while the strong belief in individualism encouraged free-thinking and expression in the American classroom environment."
Dea Papajorgji, Finland (summer 2005):"For most people defining themselves by their country and place of birth comes easy. Not for me. When asked where I am from, I have explaining to do. I came to the United States from Tirana, Albania, after my tenth birthday, right after the fall of communism. My father had received a Fulbright scholarship at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Gainesville is where I lived for the remainder of the time, before moving to North Carolina to pursue a Master’s degree. When asked where I am from, I say: ‘I am both an Albanian and an American’ or ‘I am neither just an Albanian nor only an American’. Having a bicultural background has enabled me to provide and identify different points of view on everything I have been a part of. Having divided my life between two extremely different societies in two far apart continents, I carry memories of dark economical and societal hardships, of an intellectually rich and liberal college town in the USA, of strong Mediterranean winters, of sunny Florida beaches, and struggles of cultural adjustment and quest for acceptance. This dual experience has made me see things from more than one perspective. It has given me an understanding that no culture is better than another and that no country is more important than others. It has inspired me to discover and experience other cultures. It has convinced me of the value of working together for one world.
When looking at myself now, I see how different I am from the person who headed to Finland. I recognize that I am more comfortable identifying myself as a blend of different experiences and cultures. I no longer feel uneasy stating that I am not fully American. I personally do not know what it is like to feel fully American; I no longer feel the need to know; it is not an experience that I would like to have. My stay in Finland helped me understand that I prefer not conforming to a specific category and hope never to have to make that distinction at any point in my future. The intercultural experience in Finland helped create a new perspective on the world and provided me with a new way of not only seeing things around me, but also the way of viewing myself. I have substantially lessened my need to differentiate among people and experiences based on their cultural differences, and yet have gained a better understanding of how multiple cultures co-exist.
When looking to the future, I see myself contributing to minimizing obstacles to fair and equitable socio-economic development. I believe inequality exists in many areas, such as education, opportunity, and material resources and that human equity cannot be attained until the economic and social obstacles to education have been eliminated around the world. By teaching the English language in Finland to immigrants and refugees from various parts of the world, I came to see how challenging life and opportunities can be in certain countries. Some of my students had always lived in poverty or had never had proper schooling in their native country. The cultural and social adjustments they experienced in Finland were both a restructuring of the self and a struggle. This experience reaffirmed my interests in working on a job/project that requires people to recognize that there is a larger world “out there” and become more involved in global affairs."photos
Rachel Parker, Switzerland (fall 2005)
Jennifer Perry, Spain (spring 2003): "Being in a foreign country while one’s own native land ‘goes to war’ is a difficult position to maintain, particularly when almost every person one encounters while abroad is against the act. I consider myself to be patriotic in my own way…I am proud to be an American and truly would not want to be a citizen of any other land than my own. […] At times I felt as though I had to defend America and was forced to elaborate on my opinions, although I can honestly say that I did and still do not agree with the actions that American has taken. I never really did say anything in favor of the war, and of that I am proud. … But at the time, my not defending America’s position felt as if I was being ‘disloyal’. Since I was in Spain, it was like there was a little part of me that was saying that I couldn’t disagree with my country, that I couldn’t take ‘somebody else’s side’. I honestly do love my country and am thankful that I was born and raised in the ‘land of the free’. I think that we all have a certain feeling that our own countries and cultures are the ‘best’ (merely from the fact that it is what we are used to) and it seems to be human nature to not want to admit that we are wrong about some of the things that we do. I felt so torn about the whole situation. I felt as though I was being forced into making a choice as to where my loyalties lay; yet I didn’t feel internally as though it was possible to really do so. Even though I was against the war efforts, I felt the need to defend my country’s actions simply because I am American. And I think that I was afraid that if I expressed my opposition to my country’s actions that it would seem as though I was against more than simply the war, that I was criticizing America in general (as I was afraid that the opposition in Spain to the war could possibly develop into being an opposition to all things American—our people, our products and our way of life). It seemed to me that if I was opposed to my country’s actions that it would seem as though I was opposed to my country. I think that here in the U.S. we aren’t raised to believe in the concept of ‘loyal opposition’—it’s more black and white. You either agree or disagree. Criticism of both domestic and foreign policies in the United States is widespread, yet it seems that domestic policy criticism is more acceptable. Criticism of foreign policy breaks up the united front that the United States projects to the world and said criticism can at times be viewed as being ‘subversive’ or ‘revolutionary’."
Glodeliz Rodriguez, Puerto Rico (90's)
Johnny Rouse, Germany (1993-96)
Amy Royster, Belize (summer 1999): "Belize presents an excellent opportunity to research the ways in which another country’s newspaper industry addresses issues of fair and diverse coverage. The hope of the research is that it would allow findings which journalists around the world could draw upon when establishing goals and protocols.[…]
Research in Belize would include an internship in at the Amandala. In addition to an internship, research would include extensive interviews with editors of several Belizean newspapers asking; whether diversity issues in journalism are a concern for them, which issues are most important to them, how they mainstream various ethnicities into their coverage, and what the demographics of their readership and staff are. Most importantly, research would include discussions or surveys of people among a variety of ethnic groups, asking how fair and accurate they feel coverage of their population is.[…]
How the readership of Belize’s largest newspapers reacts to the coverage of various populations in correlation with the attitudes and policies in place within Belizean newsrooms concerning diversity and mainstreaming will provide an interesting study on the challenges of cross-cultural communication at the level of the mass media. The implications of this research could certainly be applied to newsrooms anywhere in the world which may gleam [worthwhile] advice or warning of the Belizean example."
Christi Russell, Chile (fall, 2006) blog
