Milton Bennett:
What? So What? Now What?
This video is provided courtesy of The Scholar Ship, which sponsored Dr. Milton Bennett's workshop at the NAFSA Conference 2007.
We bring students together for an experience away from home. Then what do we do with it? How can we help them maximize the benefits from that experience? Dr. Bennett discusses a series of issues related to study abroad programs, such as: How can we prepare students to successfully integrate into new cultural settings? What tools do they need before they embark on the experience? What can program providers do during the program in order to maximize student adjustment and learning? What can program providers and home institutions do to help students adjust to life at home after their experience in a way that integrates what they have learned and who they have become into their lives and careers?
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Milton Bennett has been active in the intercultural field since 1967. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia from 1968-1970. He holds a Ph.D. in intercultural communication and sociology from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; an M.A. in psycholinguistics from San Francisco State University; and a B.A. from Stanford University.
Dr. Bennett is well known for his Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity and the Intercultural Development Inventory, which are used internationally to guide intercultural training design and to assess intercultural competence. He has received the highest awards for excellence from the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR) and from NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
For 15 years, Dr. Bennett was a faculty member at Portland State University, where he created a graduate program in intercultural communication. Among his published books, he coauthored (with Edward Stewart) the revised edition of American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (Intercultural Press, 1991) and is a reviewer for the International Journal of Intercultural Relations.
In 1986, Dr. Bennett co-founded The Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI), a private, nonprofit educational foundation designed to foster an awareness and appreciation of cultural difference in both the international and domestic arenas. ICI offers an M.A. in intercultural relations (in conjunction with the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California), and it conducts the annual Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication.