The World Within Reach
When Udo Fluck came to The University of Montana from Germany as an exchange student in 1989, he wanted to live on campus, make friends, and generally blend in as a Montanan.
And then the Berlin wall came down.
Suddenly students were clamoring to ask about life in Germany and how things had changed.
“I had the unique opportunity of observing a huge cultural event from the outside in rather than from the inside out,” explained Fluck. “That really changed my way of thinking because I realized how important it is to step outside of your cultural comfort structure and to look at your own culture in a new light.”
That experience 17 years ago helped inspire Fluck to create Multicultural Learning Solutions (MLS), which trains students, faculty, administrators, staff and professionals to become more internationally minded and multiculturally competent in today’s global world.
Funded by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Development and affiliated with the geography department, the program offers courses such as “Introduction to Cultural Understanding” and “Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace,” which draw students from a variety of departments and majors.
Geography senior Aaron Roberts took Fluck’s “Cultural and Global Competence” course, where he learned there is more to international interaction than just knowing another language.
“The class was designed to incorporate everything involved in understanding cultures, from understanding ways of being more thoroughly involved in other people’s lives to learning how other countries conduct business,” said Roberts.
Fluck has also taught workshops to campus staff to help them better serve international students. After working with the employees at Mansfield Library, Fluck said service for foreign students was greatly
improved, and reference technician Patti McKenzie concurred.
“I thought the workshop was very effective, especially for new employees. It made me aware of cultural differences and gave me tips on how to relate and how to associate with those differences. I felt it was really beneficial to my employment and professionalism.”
Thanks to student and staff interest in becoming more globally competent, MLS has seen enrollment grow by 200 percent since it began three years ago. Fluck also attributes the program’s popularity to CAS, which encourages students to explore international education and understanding.
“CAS has a strong commitment to multiculturalizing and internationalizing the existing curriculum,” said Fluck. “That dedication to an individual’s broad education is unique.”
International Development Minor
Another opportunity for students looking to become more internationally aware is the new minor in international development, which was approved by the Board of Regents in March of 2005.
Economics Professor Jeff Bookwalter and political science Professor Peter Koehn collaborated over three years to create the interdisciplinary minor in order to fill a niche both felt was missing on campus.
“We have this great resource of faculty with international experience, but everyone was doing their own thing,” said Koehn. “Students were interested in international development and taking courses across campus, but there was no formal recognition for that.”
Koehn and Bookwalter solved that problem by creating a minor that combines existing courses from several departments. With a total of seven courses, students can complete the minor in just two semesters.
Once it was approved, Koehn and Bookwalter expected between five and 10 students to sign up in fall 2005. Instead, more than 30 students took advantage of the program.
“It’s really satisfying that we created something which has such great demand,” said Bookwalter. “There has been a big push in CAS to internationalize the curriculum over the last 10 or 15 years, and this minor works into that by reflecting the growing interest in international subject matters.”
Both Bookwalter and Koehn see that interest translating into careers for students that will take them across the globe in areas such as non-governmental organizations, international business, community development and the Peace Corps.
“The University has a lot of very idealistic and active students, and that makes the Peace Corps an especially appealing avenue for those students,” said Bookwalter. “We have one of the highest enrollments in the Peace Corps for institutions of our size in the country.”
Koehn added that exposure to different cultures and societies through classes offered by the CAS minor adds to students’ desire to be citizens of the world.
“Once students see what life is like in some third-world countries, they suddenly see what they want to do with their lives: they want to help those underserved by their own government. It’s a pretty powerful experience.”
