1. Cheryl Caesar, Michigan State University CCCC, 3.19.15
Forging Cultural Partnerships:        Risks and Rewards of a Cross-classroom, Cross-cultural, Cross-lingual Curriculum
Cheryl Caesar, Michigan State University
CCCC,

2. Our Experiment
Bring a mainly-international and a mainly-American first- year writing class together at regular intervals during the semester for shared discussion and work (fall 2013; spring 2015)

3. Our population Preparation for College Writing: 24 students max.
Nearly all international, most Chinese
Evolution of American Thought:
27 students max.
Mostly American

4. Our population Preparation for College Writing: 24 students max.
Nearly all international, most Chinese
Evolution of American Thought:
27 students max.
Mostly American

5. Our goals
Encourage international and intercultural understanding and, possibly, friendships.
-- AACU study: 42% of recent college graduates think they have “awareness/experience of cultures outside U.S.”; only 15% of their employers agree (Jaschik).
-- In a 2012 U.S. survey, 40% of international students regretted having no close American friends (Gareis, qtd. by Jaschik).

6. Our goals
Draw on students’ own “funds of knowledge” (Moll); implement a student-asset-based, “culturally-sustaining pedagogy” (Paris)

7. Anticipated risk: “weak” groups with low levels of participation
Response: organize groups after two weeks’ observation of students, balancing demographically but also according to personality, involvement in class (Connery; Johnson, Johnson and Smith)

8. Anticipated risk: shyness, hesitation to speak (especially international students
Response: plan discussions around sharing of artifacts: meaningful objects, photos

9. Anticipated risk: superficial, “easy” responses
Response: make discussions important with follow-up tasks supporting writing assignments (e.g. shared Google Docs, Coggle mind-maps)

10. Anticipated risk: inadvertent cultural transgressions
Response: prepare with some basic notions from culture studies: high- and low-context cultures (Hall); Five Dimensions of Culture (Hofstede); particularism vs. universalism (Trompenaars)

11. But…Not always possible to avoid…
Serious Korean music student: “I tried to talk to my American partner about my deepest thoughts, and she told me, ‘I have three dogs!’”
Response: make it a discussion point. Importance of pets in U.S.: talking about them could be a way to talk about self.

12. Results: generally positive
2013: End-of-semester reflective statements and university course ratings: majority of students found the experience helpful to their intercultural awareness and understanding.

13. Work in Progress
This semester, course is focused on themes from Amy Werbel’s Lessons from China, e.g. experience of minority populations, youth culture, women’s roles and rights: focus broader and historical.

14. A few interesting resources
Connery, B.A. “Group Work and Collaborative Writing.” Teaching at Davis 14:1 (1988): 2-4.
Hall, Edward. Beyond Culture. New York: Anchor, 1976.
Johnson, David, Roger Johnson and Karl Smith. Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom. Minneapolis: Interaction Book Co., 2006.
Hofstede, Gert Jan, Paul B. Pedersen and Geert Hofstede. Exploring Culture: Exercises, Stories and Synthetic Cultures. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press, 2002.
Jaschik, Scott. “Friendless in America.” Inside Higher Education, June 14, Web.
____________. “Well-prepared in Their Own Eyes.” Inside Higher Education, Jan. 20, Web.

15. Resources (continued)
Moll, Luis, Cathy Amanti, Deborah Neff and Norma Gonzalez. “Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms.” Theory into practice 31:2 (Spring 1992):
Paris, Django. “Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: a Needed Change in Stance, Terminology and Practice.” Educational Researcher 41:3 (Apr. 2012): 93-7.
Trompenaars, Fons and Charles Hampden-Turner. Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.
Werbel, Amy. Lessons from China: America in the Hearts and Minds of the World’s Most Important Rising Generation. Seattle: CreateSpace Publishing, 2013.
Williams, Christina A. and Laura R. Johnson. “Why Can’t We Be Friends? : Multicultural Attitudes and Friendships with International Students.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35:1(2010):