“I gained more of an appreciation for speaking with people different from myself. I feel like this course was like an introduction into “out there”. You can bet that I will be in at least two foreign countries in the next four years and that I will have made a larger number of international connections.”
Jordan Smith, UM Davidson Honors College Student, Fall Semester 2005
“I gained a new appreciation for my own culture and the differences within it. I was also able to learn about other cultures abroad that OI may have never learned about. When I meet people of other cultures, I am more sensitive to their differences. Now I am very excited to travel abroad and experience all the cultures I have learned about. This information will help me in my broadcast journalism career because I will be able to communicate better with people I interview and work with.”
Cathy Beecher, UM Davidson Honors College Student, Fall Semester 2005
“I have been outside of the country many times, so I know what it is like to be in different cultures, but this course made me aware about cultures from parts of the world I have never been to. I also liked that we not only focused on cultures from around the world, but also on very different cultures here in the United States.”
William Klaczynski, UM Davidson Honors College Student, Fall Semester 2005
“This course has helped me to picture foreign persons not just as that - a foreign person whom I know nothing about - but as a person worth getting to know with a different background and as much complexity as any other person. As a student this course will help me to be more aware of different cultures - to be more interested to get involved and learn about them. I think it will make foreign relations more defined and meaningful.”
Carly Fetzer, UM Davidson Honors College, Fall Semester 2005
“It would be interesting to see how I would view the class a second time after I have gained the cultural knowledge from the first class. Yes, I would take the course again to become more aware of multicultural issues.”
Elizabeth Coughlin, UM Davidson Honors College Student, Fall Semester 2005
“I would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the workshops. I think that having 3 short, 1 hour sessions was a fine amount and the material was good to save away until I go abroad. The thing I enjoyed most was the class participation and stories of how others in the class dealt with certain situations and proof that the information being presented is something useful to know for our abroad experiences. I also appreciated that we talked honestly about how we might not actually enjoy our experiences for some time (until we get to the top of the W), and that it is completely normal...which is quite opposite from the jaded advice and encouragement I have received from others. The workshops and the paper also made me look more deeply into the cultural differences in the county I will be visiting and made me sit down and think how I would adapt to these differences.”
Breon Rabe, Cultural Adaptation Training for UM Study Abroad Students, Fall Semester 2005
