Online Summer Course – Intercultural Communication

March 23, 2015 by cjf181

CAS 271 – Intercultural Communication:

In today’s globalized world many of us are frequently in contact with people from different cultures, continents, and contexts. We start by defining culture and then, explore the various cultures we encounter in our daily lives to come to appreciate the complexity involved in intercultural exchanges. Our approach is interdisciplinary in perspective and global in outlook.

The goal is to improve students’ intercultural competence, including attitudes such as curiosity and the willingness to step beyond one’s (cultural) comfort zones, skills such as observing, listening, and analyzing in addition to being adaptable and showing empathy are a requirement to successfully complete and fully benefit from this particular course and our program in general. The objective is to provide students with a rich learning experience to enhance self-reflection, flexibility and sensitivity in intercultural communication settings that can be applied to both personal and professional environments.

You have questions? Simply contact Ines Meyer-Hoess (iah2@psu.edu)

Sean W.’s internship at The PA Office of the Attorney General

March 19, 2015 by Ashley Walker

By: Sean Wells

“My Internship: Learning What Can’t Be Taught”

Internship: PA Office of the Attorney General: Bureau of Consumer Protection

Sometimes we are forced to choose between something right and wrong. It may be as simple as choosing chocolate or vanilla ice cream at the creamery. It may be as difficult as switching into a new major. These life challenges aren’t going to end after college. Since graduating I learned that decisions in life only get harder. Yet, what about when we make a wrong decision? I don’t know about you but I hate the feeling of self-pity. I hate dwelling or thinking I made a mistake. I’m referring to internship or co-op you really aren’t interested in. Maybe you just don’t think it’s for you. For those of you in the same bandwagon as me, I challenge you to learn from this experience or “so-called mistake”. You may even find you enjoy it or perhaps what hopefully will happen is you learn something that can’t be taught.

Senior year, I chose to find an internship where I could apply what I learned in school out in the field. I was determined to make the right decision in finding a suitable internship that would open up prospective jobs after graduation. As a criminology student in the College of the Liberal Arts I had every resource available to find this perfectly laid out internship. I must’ve applied to two-dozen organizations only to be turned down one by one. Today I like to argue they just received way too many applicants and my name was shuffled off the list. Let’s be honest, it was because I didn’t have what everyone else had. The one key thing I was missing was a little thing called “experience”. My major heavily relies on field-work in the human service industry. They aren’t just going to let any hotshot walk into a correctional facility or government office and arrest someone. It required more than what I could afford as a full-time student working two jobs at sixty hours a week since freshman year. Yet, let’s not start the self-pity trail again. I was still determined my internship was out there and I wasn’t going to screw this up. It wasn’t until a month before Fall classes I received a call from the AG’s office for an interview. For those who don’t know, the Attorney General’s office aids in investigative and consumer related issues for the State of PA and beyond. Next came the interview process where they referred to me as a “shoe-in”. I had two roads to chose from. The first and most obvious was to take the job and just run with it. The second, was to move onto the next internship that appeared in the Simplicity Internship Networks website. A month later I found myself walking into a government office that would change me forever. While this is a dramatic way of putting it I truly was way to naïve before accepting this internship. I had no idea what the internship would entail or how it would re-shape me as a future Penn State Grad. As an intern I mediated business and consumer complaints day after day until someone either hung up on me or agreed to come to a resolution. I worked with contractors, credit card companies, cable operators, police departments, landlords, and of course the beloved consumers who wrote a complaint. And yet, while most of the time I was just helping people with their daily problems, hearing my rational on issues deemed to be remarkable to them. I became an expert on getting people to come to terms with the opposing parties issue. I found out how to communicate with the most difficult people. But it wasn’t until after this experience that I realized I would’ve never been capable of working with my degree if I wasn’t granted this experience.

My argument is this; Penn State taught me so much inside and outside of the classroom. But, in order to truly make a difference in the world, or to learn what can’t be taught out of a textbook you have to do one thing…experience something outside of your comfort level. Seriously. Take a chance to explore something new. You may just love it or ultimately figure it’s not for you. But you won’t know unless you try it and that’s what I gained through this so-called mistake.

I did it! Graduation came so fast and I would have never expected to be where I am today. My internship played a huge role in helping me on my path to self identity. The strengths and abilities I possess truly showed as I interned for a wonderful organization that helps so many people every day.

Advising Intern for International Students

March 5, 2015 by Carla Beatriz Fernandez

Hello!

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce my self to international students in in the CLA here at Penn State. My name is Carla Fernandez, I am currently working with Nimisha Thakur as an advising intern for international students in the CLA. Of the initiatives that I will be involved in are the How to Succeed at PSU Workshop Series aimed at providing guidance and help for international students in various aspects of their personal and academic lives. I will also be working on developing programs for international students such as peer-mentoring. As an international student myself, I understand the challenges associated with transitioning, assimilating and thriving in a whole different environment. Please feel free to contact me at cbf140@psu.edu if you have any questions or would like to chat with me. I want to be a useful resource for all international students in the CLA!

Thank you!

Study Abroad Liberal Arts: Rachel G. in Vienna, Austria

February 26, 2015 by Ashley Walker

Rachel’s Blog
There’s Only One Eye in Vienna

Journal Entry #5: Day 5

Today was a big day. We boarded a train and set off to Salzburg. The train ride was relaxing and quiet. Before I knew it, we were ready to get off in Salzburg. Our tour guide was my favorite tour guide of the whole trip. She was an older lady who knew so much about Salzburg and its culture, as well as had a shining personality that livened up the tour.

One of the first things we saw were gold plated squares in the ground referred to as “stumble upons.” These marked the residences of Jewish people who perished during World War II. I could tell from the tour guide that it was very important to the city to remember these people and the suffering they endured. It was very difficult and strange to stare at the little golden squares and think that, perhaps, this is the only thing that remains of these people’s existence. The tour guide told of several stories where the Jews in the city were exiled. It seemed that if anything were to go wrong in Salzburg, the people blamed the Jews. This is incredibly sad, yet hard for me to understand. Why? Why them? Perhaps we will never know the answer for sure, but the perilous past of the Jewish people all over the world, as well as in Salzburg, breaks my heart.

Walking into the old, historic part of Salzburg was quite a treat. I (stupidly) asked if the hanging signs were original, which they were, of course. It is a large part of Salzburg’s culture to keep the city in its original condition. They certainly value the authenticity and tradition the city exhibits. The sights were breathtaking. I enjoyed seeing Mozart’s birthplace and eating a Käsekreiner mit Brot for lunch.

The part of the day that I am most grateful for is meeting the 101 year old Holocaust survivor, Mr. Feingold. I am so lucky to have been in the presence of Mr. Feingold and hear him tell his incredible story. He told his story in a tone that I cannot describe in any other way than, good-humored. After so many years, I’m sure he has come to terms with what has happened, but I was still surprised by the nature in which he told his story. He talked rather slow, which allowed me to understand some of his German. Thankfully, Ines translated for us. It was very nice of her to do so. He told us that what he was describing was something we could never imagine. It was the epitome hell. I understand what he was saying. I had a nightmare that night about the little details he did share. I cannot fathom the extent of the horror. I can only give him my respectful silence and always remind myself how blessed I am. The final thing that struck me, was his ambivalence toward religion. I was not sure what I was expecting, but I thought maybe he would say he kept his faith throughout all the hard times. But, he didn’t. I understand how he could lose faith throughout it all. His final messages to our group was to read between the lines in the media to get to the truth. His mission is to spread his story and enlighten anyone and everyone he can with his story. He certainly accomplished this.

Tour of the City Vienna, Austria

Opinion: Adviser Sees Opportunity for More Civility

February 20, 2015 by cjf181

Shannon Telenko is an academic Adviser in Psychology at Penn State and a PhD candidate in Anthropology at American University. For more on Shannon, see her advising page.

To join the discussion, consider adding AF AM 397 to your course schedule. The one credit course titled”The Fire This Time: Understanding Furgeson,” will start in March.

In the last several months students on our campus have been peacefully protesting events in Ferguson, New York, and Cleveland where citizens were killed by police. Responses by some students on social media have been insensitive and lacking in respect for diverse opinions. Regardless of how one feels about the outcomes of these events and the reactions to them, it is important that we all listen. If we have white skin, there’s a good chance we don’t understand the issue fully or at all. That lack of understanding can make our responses sound uninformed, unkind, and one-sided.

None of us is perfect or knows the right way to respond to opinions divergent from our own at all times. If you grew up, as I did, in a place that lacked the diversity such that you find here at University Park you are likely being confronted daily with values and practices that may be unfamiliar to you. Especially if this is your first semester, you are hopefully beginning to see the diversity the world has to offer on multiple levels. It is normal to feel overwhelmed in this whether you have come from a small town in rural Pennsylvania or from a large international city like Beijing. College affords us the opportunity to learn new ways of living life in the safety of a community where we are all learning together. As part of that community, we have a responsibility to learn from one another and to respect one another.

I have closely studied race relations in central Pennsylvania yet am not immune to making mistakes or finding myself in uncomfortable situations where I may not know how to react. While doing ethnographic research several years ago, I had to learn quickly and on-the-ground how to develop rapport with families who were new to central Pennsylvania and in many cases did not trust someone with my white skin, because of their past experiences and current situations with their neighbors, landlords, and caseworkers. It made sense to me that these families might not want to talk to me at first so I had to be patient and avoid making anyone feel like all or any of my questions had to be answered during my visits in their families’ homes.

As an academic adviser in the College of the Liberal Arts I must also build rapport with my students, and occasionally I am met with a student who challenges me to think more broadly about how I might establish the most beneficial student-adviser relationship. In my work as an adviser, I have been challenged by students who think I am treating them differently or unfairly because of their race. When something like this happens, it certainly catches me off-guard. I know that I am not a racist person. As an adviser I am working within the academic policies and requirements to do what I can to help my students make the most of their time at Penn State. What may be leading a student to believe that I am treating them unfairly are a history and an experience that I, as a white person, do not have to deal with on a daily basis. Scholars who research race write about racial battle fatigue, which gives name to the buildup of what Derald Sue has termed microaggressions. Microaggressions can be racially-charged messages delivered through subtext and implicitness and usually in an innocent and unknowing way. The messages could be in regard to someone’s hair texture or accent or lack of accent. They might be comments about how “eloquent” someone speaks or how an individual is “not like” other people in a socially constructed racial category. A microagression could even be the way a tone of voice is interpreted. The point is that microagressions accumulate and may lead a person of color to feel exhausted at the end of the day, the week, the month, and over an entire lifetime.

The idea of microagressions and the impact they can have on people of color challenges me to think critically about how I respond to students who accuse me of treating them unfairly on the basis of race. Our gut reaction might be to say or to think we are not racist but explaining to someone that what they think is racism is not racism is not helping the situation but adding to that individual’s lifetime of defending her perspective and struggle. When we say to fellow students, colleagues, and friends of color, “What I just said was not racist,” or even, “Not all cops are bad,” we are not being supportive of a marginalized history and voice, and we are adding to the fatigue of those acquaintances. Rather than making attempts to placate and ignore the sentiments, we can try to affirm them by saying, “Oh my. I didn’t realize that this situation could make you feel that way. Please say more about this. I want to understand.”

There is great value in the protests we have witnessed on our campus. The protests are opportunities for all of us to reflect on the relationships we have with one another, practice empathy, and to contribute to constructive dialogue. The lack of civility in the social media conversation around these protests would improve if we each took the time and made more of an effort to listen to and understand the myriad voices in our campus, nation, and world.

David S.’s internship with the U.S. Army War College

February 12, 2015 by Ashley Walker

This summer, I had an incredible experience as an intern at the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) at the U.S. Army War College. PKSOI is responsible for developing U.S. military doctrine related to peace and stability operations, delivering relevant educational and training programs, and collecting, evaluating, and disseminating lessons learned from past and current peace and stability operations around the world, most notably the American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. My primary assignment was assisting my mentor Dr. Michael Spangler, a thirty-four year veteran of the Foreign Service, revise the curriculum of the class he teaches about China at the Army War College and develop a new curriculum for a similar class to be offered in a distance-education format. Additional assignments included helping facilitate a retreat for high-level officials from the United Nations Department of Field Support and performing a review of the joint PKSOI-USIP document “Guiding Principles of Stabilization and Reconstruction.”

My internship allowed me to develop some of the most important “soft skills” that employers look for, i.e. effective communication, interpersonal skills, critical thinking, and problem solving. Writing significant portions of the “course directive” for the distance-education version of the China course presented me with the opportunity to practice effectively communicating complex ideas using a limited number of words, a necessary skill for all the career paths I am considering. Working on a team to review the “Guiding Principles” document allowed me to develop my ability to work with a diverse group of people in a professional environment. That same assignment also helped put my critical thinking skills to the test; my team was tasked with critiquing and suggesting edits to a document written by subject matter experts (which I, of course, am not). As a busy man, my mentor was not always available to help me when I encountered problems with developing the China course curriculum. In these situations I was forced to improvise, thus improving my ability to solve complex problems under a time constraint.

I felt truly honored to work at such a prestigious institution. It was gratifying to know that the work I was doing would have a direct impact on the professional education of the next crop of senior leaders in the U.S. military and, due to the International Fellows program, the leaders of many other countries’ militaries. That international cohort of students made daily life at the Army War College an almost surreal experience. For example, in the cafeteria I would frequently stand in line with high-ranking officers from the militaries of such far-flung countries as Afghanistan, South Sudan, Malaysia, and Brazil. In my mentor’s class on China, I witnessed a colonel from Serbia and a colonel from Croatia seemingly get along swimmingly. Scenes like that certainly helped me cultivate a global perspective and, perhaps naively, gave me hope about the prospect of peaceful collaboration in international relations.

I think that this internship will significantly improve my ability to get an internship this upcoming summer with organizations like the U.S. Department of State or the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which are both places where I’d love to work after I finish my undergraduate studies. I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to the three Penn State entities that made my summer financially feasible: the Schreyer Honors College, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Strategic and Global Security Scholars Program.

Major General Tony Cucolo and the summer crop of PKSOI interns outside of Upton Hall. I am the fourth (top) row on the left.

Study Abroad Liberal Arts: Alyssa G. in Sri Lanka

February 5, 2015 by Ashley Walker

This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity of traveling to Sri Lanka with ten scholars from the honors college. Although we each came from different academic backgrounds, we had all been chosen to be Malini Summer Fellows because of our passion and will to fight for educational opportunities and equal rights for women and girls. For twelve days, we toured Sri Lanka, learned about nonprofit and non-governmental organizations, and ran creative arts and reading workshops with about 150 children.
One day while riding on the bus, our mentor and CEO of the Malini Foundation, Valerie Handunge, spoke with us about her nonprofit and social entrepreneurship theory. In words more eloquent than these, she explained to us that running a few two day workshops in Sri Lanka wouldn’t change the world. I knew that what she said was true, and her honesty was refreshing.
Still, I remained confident that my time in Sri Lanka was well spent. Our creative arts and reading workshops, which were fun for the children and for the group of fellows, were also a key piece of the Malini Foundation’s participatory approach to social justice work. By reaching out to communities, Valerie builds relationships with communities and trust is established. Our creative arts and reading workshops were just one component of the community outreach approach. Though our time with these children represents only a drop in the bucket in terms of the time and effort that is necessary to affect change, we went into it knowing that our work was part of a larger plan. Eventually, the time will be right for these women, girls, and their communities to feel empowered themselves.
Unsurprisingly, empowerment was a buzzword on the trip. Upon reflection, I have come to the conclusion that empowerment ultimately comes from within, but that positive outside influences can be a key piece to realizing one’s own prowess. On my trip to Sri Lanka, I joined Valerie and her team of volunteers and interns on their mission to help Sri Lankan women and girls to unleash their potential. Through conversations with Valerie and the group of fellows, I began to assess my own sense of empowerment. I realized that being empowered is an active state. It requires honesty and self acceptance. My own empowerment requires effort and commitment to self growth and to continued flourishing.
This experience has shaped me in more ways than one. Not only do I feel more empowered, but I am also exploring new academic and career opportunities. Next semester, I will continue my work with the Malini Foundation as a senior program development intern. I take pride in this work because it directly facilitates the empowerment of the communities I met this summer. As a result of my efforts, I hope that I can learn and grow to be more empowered myself.

2014 Malini Summer Fellows pose with their parting gift from a village school in Lunugamvehera, Sri Lanka.

Study Abroad Liberal Arts: Jullia H in Amman, Jordan

January 27, 2015 by Ashley Walker

I remember this was a particularly tough day in Jordan. It was one of the first times that I realized that Amman is a foreign city. And sometimes in foreign cities you get lost, you have to adjust to different accommodations and different schedules. After an unintended mid-day adventure around a new part of town, I found myself early to the gym. Because of Ramadan, hours for most businesses change. Really, hours for life change. For the most part during the day, everything is closed. Those who fast sleep later, stay up later, and prefer to not work while the sun is up. Usually businesses started to open around 4 or 5 to prepare for iftaar (breaking the Muslim’s Ramadan fast) and then closed for the iftaar (between 7 and 9 PM) and then stayed open until the early hours of the morning. This made grocery shopping, working out, and many other things inconvenient.
So, after getting lost and going to the completely wrong side of the city, I dejectedly took a cab to my gym. Unfortunately, my gym didn’t open until 4. It was about 3:30. I sat down on the sidewalk near my gym and a few shops and I opened up my books to do some homework. It was uncomfortable because it was about 100o, the sun was shining on my back, and I was wearing jeans. After a few minutes of staring at my Arabic homework, an older man, maybe in his 60s, walked up to me and told me to come sit with him. I politely declined, but he insisted that I get out of the heat. I followed him, secretly grateful for the opportunity to get out of the blistering Amman sun.
He led me over to his shop and pulled up a seat with him and two other young men. He asked me my name, what I was studying, and chatted with me for a while. As I did my homework, he explained to me that he fled Syria and came to Jordan when the major conflicts started a few years ago. I listened to him tell his story, his pain, and his hopes while the two younger men, whom I found out were the older man’s sons, translated words that I did not know.
They asked me questions about my life, as well. They wanted to know what New York was like (they think that there is nothing outside of the city), they wanted to know why I was studying Arabic, and they picked my brain about politics of the Middle East. I barely knew this man. I never even caught his name. Yet, he touched me profoundly. I listened to his struggle to get his family out of danger, his struggle to feed six mouths while working menial jobs, and his hope to one day return safely to Syria. I felt his pain and was simultaneously in awe of his hope of a bright future in dismal times.
It’s those interactions that remind me why I chose to go there. I am a representative for America. I want to break the stereotype that is prevalent in the Middle East that perpetuates this notion of American ignorance. If I can change the mind of one person, so that he no longer sees Americans as conceited and oblivious, then I have served a purpose. I think about all of the people at home and at school who have opened up their mind to this culture and have worked hard to understand and empathize, and they deserve to be acknowledged. By the Middle East acknowledging that Americans are working to bridge this cultural gap, then maybe they too will work to forge the bridge. Being in Amman was eye opening in terms of the cultural differences. However, it also gave me hope that somewhere we will find a connection between these two incredibly different societies to encourage love, compassion and peace.

Watching the sunset from a sand dune in Wadi Rum, Jordan

Adviser Greg Nolan Shares Parting Advice

October 27, 2014 by bdw150

On my last day as an adviser with the College of the Liberal Arts, I am looking back over the past years and reflecting on all the interactions I have had with students. So many good conversations, a lot of fun times, some difficult ones too, but ultimately each moment was special and meaningful. It is my hope that I have been able to help students’ academic, personal, and professional growth and development throughout their time at Penn State, and it is my turn to offer one final piece of advice.

After meeting with thousands of students for a number of different reasons, I have come to realize that the best learning opportunities are those that were least expected (and sometimes the most difficult). Whether it is taking a course that you never would have expected to take, earning a ‘D’ on a paper for the first time in your life, joining a club or organization that you had never heard of, or getting busted for something and needing to go to a student conduct hearing – these are the stories I have heard and conversations I have had with students through which they have learned the most.

So while my last words of wisdom are not going to be to get yourself in trouble (although you will definitely learn a lot from that situation!), they are going to be to step outside your comfort zone and challenge yourself to try something you otherwise wouldn’t. If you have never taken advantage of a professor’s office hours, stop by to say hi and chat about the course. Take a course in Religious Studies or Women’s Studies to fulfill your general education. Stop by the LGBT Resource Center to learn about the resources they have to offer. If you are thinking of studying abroad, challenge yourself to choose a location that you are less comfortable with. Join a club or organization that you have never heard of. Then, after you do this, meet with your adviser to discuss the situation, the opportunities you took advantage of, and what you have learned.

Ultimately, this will not only help to build your resume and make yourself more marketable in the future, but it will also facilitate your personal development. Hopefully this will allow you to reflect introspectively on your identities, take into consideration the diverse backgrounds from which we all come, and think more critically about current events in today’s society. So try something new, step outside your comfort zone, and take a risk! You won’t know how much you can learn until you try!

Wishing you all the best,
Greg

Sierra Leone: Of Markets and Women

September 8, 2014 by wp admin

By: Phoebe Canagarajah

Driving through Makeni, Sierra Leone

The pungent smell of fish in the hazy sun, combined with the unique scents of those crowding around you, overtake your senses. You swivel your head around to find the rest of your group, trying to avoid looking at the stacks of fish swarmed by flies or the arranged piles of chicken feet. You watch your footing as you gingerly maneuver around low-rimmed baskets of onions and cassava leaves as your white sneakers become tinted by the red clay underfoot. Welcome to market, the hub of daily Sierra Leonean life! Looking past the hectic and overpowering scene before you, you see the beauty and serenity of the country—it’s large palm trees and green mountains, their vibrancy both breathtaking and surprising. You didn’t expect Africa to be like this.

As a Liberal Arts student, I had the honor to live and work around the city of Makeni in Sierra Leone for over two weeks this past June as part of Penn State’s HESE program. Most of my time was spent visiting markets and talking to households (generally head female figures), conducting research on general nutrition.

The Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship program at Penn State—commonly shortened to HESE—is a program for students from all disciplines interested in development to gain knowledge and hands-on experience. Last spring semester, my peers and I learned about social entrepreneurship and worked on research projects to be carried out over the summer field experience. Our research was closely tied to the venture we’re trying to develop, GRO Greenhouses. Sierra Leone has the highest rainfall in Africa, yet most of its population is malnourished. Taking advantage of the natural resources in effort to solve a need, GRO is committed to sustainably providing affordable greenhouses to responsible shareholders in order to provide communities with better seasonal nutrition. To this end, my research partner and I conducted a baseline study on common foods the general population ate to discover why malnourishment was an issue and to specify foods that would be needed and profitable to grow in greenhouses. This semester, we are writing a paper using this data in effort to get published and add to the body of literature about Sierra Leone.

Being able to qualitatively research households and build relationships was a rewarding, albeit demanding, experience. While initially exhausting, visiting homes and observing families’ lifestyles and experiences carried their own sense of adventure. My time in Sierra Leone would not have been as rich had I been unable to so immerse myself in Sierra Leonean daily life. I came away from Sierra Leone with an understanding of the lifestyle, a respect for the people and an enjoyment of their culture.

Liberal Arts Voices

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