Category: Uncategorized

We Apologize in Advance: “The Jersey Shore” Goes to Italy

I've written about the "ugly American" syndrome. I've written about the value of going abroad to learn about your host country and yourself. And today, I'm apologizing for what I expect will be nothing by an "ugly American explosion" in the country that gave the world Michelangelo, DaVinci and Botticelli.

This spring, we are sending Italy some of the least cultured media/pop culture that the United States has to offer, a show called the Jersey Shore. One of the more notable characters we are sharing is "Snooki." (This young woman was arrested for public intoxication in the stateside version of the reality show she is on - called "The Jersey Shore." I wonder if MTV cares that it is sending her to a country where public intoxication is not well tolerated. Then again, I wonder if the Italian government cares - they apparently are granting her a visa!)

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The Transformative Power of Intercultural Experiences

As an educator, I believe that intercultural experiences have an important role to play in a world situation that is – to say the least – very confusing. This year, 2011, marks a decade since the tragic events of September 11. Today's undergraduate college students were eight to twelve years old in 2001 and consequently have spent their intellectually formative years with post-9/11 media coverage, little of which addressed the need for intercultural understanding.

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African Languages Initiative

Students are always seeking funding for language study. The beauty of the African Languages Initiative pilot program, designed to increase the number of Boren Scholars, Fellows and alumni engaged in the study of critical languages of Africa, is that it requires domestic US study of the language prior to departure to the host country. (This can be bypassed if the student has reached "novice high" -ILR 0+.)

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How One Young Woman Landed a Free Trip to Australia: The Power of Twitter

With the start of The Ashes, the internet went abuzz. Ms. Kerekes, also known on Twitter as @TheAshes, attracted hundreds of followers who began commenting on the upcoming match. The more she protested their messages saying that "I am not a cricket match!", the more that followed. She went from having 300 followers to 3,000 nearly overnight. The number skyrocketed to 13,000! (She currently has nearly 18,000!)

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Guns and Study Abroad

I traveled to India several years ago and one of my fondest memories was chatting with a young boy in Varanasi. He approached me while I was watching a beautiful performance along the Ganges River. He spoke perfect English at 9 years old and asked me some questions about why I was in India. He guessed, eventually, where I was from. And when he did, the first question he asked was, "Lady, where is your gun?"

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SOLD: The Story of Lakshmi

The atrocity of sex trafficking is highlighting in this heartbreaking book simply titled "SOLD." I read it for a book club recently and was completely floored at the power of Patricia McCormick's writing. It is the story of Laskshmi, a 13 year Nepalese girl whose stepfather sells her to help with his family's financial troubles after a monsoon. She is taken to India and forced into prostitution to survive.

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