As a teacher, nothing is more satisfying than that “aha” moment in which everything one has tried to convey to students suddenly becomes real. Yes, one can learn about other cultures through reading; however, deeper understandings of the type reflected in the excerpts from Kelly Heber’s original paper require on-the-ground experience (cf. Montrose). Following the success of the honors program’s travel abroad trips, the University of North Florida has recognized the trans- formational power of such experiences and has created the Transformational Learning Opportunity (TLO) program in which fac- ulty propose transformational experiences and receive funding that is intended primarily for student use. Although TLO grants may be awarded for local experiences, approximately half go to study abroad opportunities. In fact, several students on the 2006 Southeast Asia trip received funding through a TLO grant.
When we reflect on study abroad experiences, we have observed that such experiences are not only transformational but life-defining. Ronald Lukens-Bull, for example, first went to Southeast Asia in 1986 as part of a study abroad trip during his undergraduate education. Twenty-three years and fifteen trips later, some between six months and a year in duration, Southeast Asia is the focus of his academic efforts. Leading student trips for him has an element of paying forward.
Finally, we would like to emphasize the synergistic relationship between the preparation for travel and the in-country experience. The preparatory educational experience that the students have had in the
U.S. frames their perceptions of the new country and, if done in a man- ner that teaches cross-cultural awareness and competency, makes it more likely that they will have that “aha moment.” As the Zen aphorism observes, “Enlightenment is an accident; practice makes us accident-
prone.”14 The considerable preparation with which the UNF Honors
Program structures its study abroad opportunities seeks to make stu- dents prone to such accidental moments of enlightenment.
Notes
1The authors would like to thank James Vickers for his help and
insights at the early stages of this project. We would also like to thank the following people for their assistance: Heather Burke, Lisa Coleman, Scott Furtwengler, and Marcia Ladendorff.
2By using a revision of Heber’s conference paper as part of the data
for a wider analysis of perceived student experience, we hope to bypass any methodological shortcomings in her original paper.
3See also Feinberg.
4See Anderson et al.; Engle and Engle; Medina-Lòpez-Portillo; Paige,
Cohen, and Shively.
5Abu Bakar Baysir very cleverly called his group “Jemaah Islamiyah,”
which translates as “the Islamic community.” Thus, when the Western media links Jemaah Islamiya with terrorism, it appears to be a condem- nation of the whole Islamic community. In turn, such apparent accusa- tions link religion and terrorism in the mind of the Islamic community as well.
6The following sections of this chapter that are authored by Heber
are largely borrowed from “Nonviolent Ways to Win the War on Terror with Student Involvement,” the paper she presented at the 2006 NCHC Diversity Forum in Philadelphia.
7This is the classic go-to source on this issue. A Google Scholar search
shows that 1,177 works have cited it.
8While it can be argued that terrorism is also the product of raw
power that is a response to acts of the U.S. government, I focus here on soft power because it was Nye’s book with which I struggled during my travels.
9For example, a student on the 2003 iteration of the Southeast Asia
trip dressed inappropriately despite policies. Our Thai host even addressed her as our “sexy” lady. It is telling that the Thai usage of the English word “sexy” is used in the phrase “sexy movies” to refer to blue films. In a real sense, then, our host was calling her our “pornographic
lady.” Her sartorial transgressions taught us the lesson that the dress code needed to be enforced in the preparatory class. The same student proved to be ill-suited for group travel by frequently being late for group events.
10See Plater et al.
11Malaysia as a whole has about a 60% Muslim population.
12See Altschuler, Sussman, and Kachur; Bennett, Bennett, and Allen;
and Prueger and Rogers.
13One of these trips was part of the Fulbright Senior Specialist
Program.
14The exact provenance of this saying is difficult to determine. No
fewer than four different people have been credited with it, including Richard Baker, Shunryu Suzuki, Palla di Onorio Strozzi, and Krishnamurti.
Works Cited
Altschuler, Lisa, Nan M. Sussman, and Elizabeth Kachur. “Assessing Changes in Intercultural Sensitivity among Physician Trainees Using the Intercultural Development Inventory” International Journal of
Intercultural Relations 27.4 (2003): 387–401.
Anderson, Philip H., et al. “Short-Term Study Abroad and Intercultural Sensitivity: A Pilot Study.” International Journal of Intercultural
Relations. 30.4 (2006): 457–69.
BBC News. “Poverty Fueling Terrorism.” BBC News. 22 March 2002.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1886617.stm>. 15 Oct. 2009.
Bennett, Janet M., Milton J. Bennett, and Walter Allen. “Developing Intercultural Competence in the Language Classroom.” Culture as the
Core: Integrating Culture into the Language Classroom. Ed. R. Michael Paige, Dale L. Lange, and Yelena A. Yershova. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 13–46.
Bowen, John R. “Does French Islam Have Borders? Dilemmas of Domestication in a Global Religious Field.” American Anthropologist 106.1 (2004): 43–55.
Constats, Isabel. Personal interview with Kelly Heber. 1 July 2007. Engle, Lilli, and John Engle. “Assessing Language Acquisition and
Intercultural Sensitivity development in Relation to Study Abroad Program Design.” Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad 10 (Fall 2004): 219–36.