Well, this morning I woke up energized for my first IMI Conference and was very much looking forward to a day of dialogue and intercultural intrigue...I was definitely not disappointed! As a first year graduate student of International Education, I haven’t had very much contact with intercultural communication yet and so I came to absorb and digest new knowledge. However, as a study abroad returnee and aspiring Advisor, I was pleasantly surprised by the direct application that the sessions have had so far to my exact interests. In particular, I thought that Michael Paige’s luncheon presentation was a wonderful overview of the field and touched on many issues that I view as pertinent to the concepts I am so passionate about. I am truly looking forward to hearing more tomorrow in his session on “Study Abroad for Global Engagement.” I am also interested in learning why he uses the term “global engagement” and what he thinks of the term “global citizenship.” Perhaps I can write more on that tomorrow.
About the sessions: Although the three presentations that I attended today were all very well presented and I took much away from all of them, I would most like to focus on the “Ideal Myths & Real Consequences: Differing Cultural Perceptions of ‘the good’” session. For me, this presentation illustrated a fresh approach to working with diverse groups.
To begin, Richard Harris provided a well-placed, brief introduction to the Greek logos, ethos, and mythos. From there, he explained the six categories of paradise visions that he has found in his research. We were then invited to spend some time defining our own ideas of paradise, which is not easy: I find myself hovering between different categories of paradise visions…is my paradise Utopian? Elysian? Hesperidean? Finally, we divided into groups and worked toward compromise on hypothetical environmental, state, or social policies. The discussion generated was both humorous (ie “we’re all going to just live in Madison, WI” and “money will grow on trees”) and thought provoking (ie what would people’s versions of “hell” be?). I look forward to a chance to apply this experiential technique in a more diverse setting where views of Paradise (Mythos) may seep more obviously into the way that we reason (Logos) with each other over practical issues.
Thank you very much to the Education and Development Fund for the opportunity to attend this conference - see you all tomorrow!
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