After an entire semester with many ups and downs and surprises along the way, I would like to look back and reflect upon what I have accomplished this semester. Looking back to my very first post, I had three learning goals for the class:
- How to identify the fundamental concepts of language, cultural identity, and intercultural competence.
- How to prepare for a study abroad program or job.
- How to reflect upon my own cultural identity as well as my attitude toward the cultures of others.
I believe that I reached and surpassed each of these goals through the various projects and assignments throughout the semester.
- The Capstone Project (Uni Paderborn posts 1,2, and 3) gave me the chance to research and apply for a study abroad/internship program next year, accomplishing goal number two
- Through the Race Card Project I became more comfortable discussing uncomfortable and Taboo topics. I decided to lead a discussion about white privilege, a topic that I was very nervous about presenting in front of a very diverse group of friends. I was nervous that people would not want to engage in the discussion, but to my surprise they opened up and enjoyed discussing my topic.
- This was one of the highlights of the semester because I felt like that moment proved how far we had come in our studies of intercultural competence and how comfortable we had grown with each other.
My objectives, as stated in my initial post were as follows:
- Attend class and follow along with lessons and in/out of class work while investigating themes and topics further on my own.
- Search for a program in Germany, or possibly a country I have never been to, and interview a professor who teaches the language of the country to find out about what needs to be done to apply, as well as what cultural shocks I may experience.
- Pay attention to how I view my own culture and heritage and talk to my friends about their cultures while making note of the differences and similarities between the two.
Just as with my learning goals, I believe I achieved everyone of these objectives.
- I kept up with class and discussed topics outside of the class room with my friends and coworkers, which was one of my favorite parts of the class. I feel like the topics we discused din class were applicable to everyone, not just those in the class, so I liked discussing them with my diverse group of coworkers and friends.
- I started to look at my culture, as well of that of my peers, differently after the Race Card Project. I think this project is something that more people should know about because of the effect that it had on our class.
Overall, I think that this course should be mandatory for all students at KSU, not just those studying modern language. It was an eye opener for me and many of the other students in the class and we discussed taboo topics that need to be discussed in today’s world.
Laura The Explora 