Global Issues Debate

Contributed by Bernhard T. Streitwieser, Northwestern University

Many students returning from a study abroad sojourn find themselves feeling empowered with newly gained and sophisticated understandings of issues and lifestyles outside of their own country. In very short time, then, they have become nascent “experts” on a new system and a way of life, and are eager to share this knowledge with others in a comparative, critical way. Yet, what often seems to be missing in classic returnee events is a reflection opportunity, a forum in which students can discuss with their peers in a deep and critical way what the abroad learning experience meant for them and for their host and home countries.

Northwestern’s Returnee Reception Global Issues Debate was conceived on the simple premise that students who have just returned from study abroad need to do the talking, rather than study abroad office personnel telling them what they need to do now that they are back on campus.

In the Global Issues panel, small groups of 4-6 students take active part in a geo-political dialogue through volunteering to discuss on stage, in front of an audience of peers, a range of issues that lead them to reflect on issues relevant to both the host and home country. After 15 minutes of panel discussion, the peer audience members are asked to take up a microphone passed around the room and comment on the discussion themes they have just heard. The conversation is loosely monitored but mostly students engage with one another, sharing observations and insights gleaned from time living in another culture. In this process, students are able to articulate their study abroad learning as it relates to real-world issues and engage in a multi-comparative look at global problems, challenges, and opportunities.

Bernhard T. Streitwieser (Ph.D., Columbia University) is the Associate Director of Northwestern University’s Study Abroad Office and a part-time Lecturer in the German Department and the School of Education and Social Policy. From 2002-06 he coordinated a Mellon Foundation research study at Northwestern’s Center for Teaching Excellence. Previously, Bernhard was a Research Analyst at the American Institutes for Research in Washington, D.C., and worked on program evaluations for the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Education, USAID, and the National Science Foundation. Bernhard is a member of the Forum’s Outcomes Committee and this year chaired the Forum’s Undergraduate Study Abroad Research Awards process.

 

 

Sample Discussion Themes and Questions

Theme 1 —Going Abroad and Coming Back Home

Culture Shock & Reverse Culture Shock:

• What were your first 24 hours like?
• Did you ever get homesick and how did you deal with that? What was your worst day? What was your best day? Why?
• Do you remember a time you got lost? How did you feel, and what did you do?
• Did you ever get really angry? At what? Why?
• Do you feel that you assimilated into the culture over time? How long did it take and what led you to start feeling comfortable?
• Was there a point at which you noticed you’d made a language breakthrough?
• Do you remember a time, maybe the first time, you made a genuine cross-cultural connection? What was it, how, when and why did it happen?
• Did you ever make a serious, funny, embarrassing, or just plain dumb cultural faux pas?
• Tell us about something funny…embarrassing…scary…incredible…that happened to you.
• What was the single most ignorant (stupid) thing anyone ever said about the U.S.? Did you respond? If so, how?
• What was the single most insightful (smart) thing you heard anyone say about the U.S.? What about it was insightful?
• How was the culture shock of going abroad different from the reverse culture shock of returning home?
• Are you a different person now? How have your friends reacted? How have you/your views changed?
• How does it feel to be back in the United States? Back in Evanston? Back on campus with your American friends, their customs, and our culture?
• Are your friends here interested or just jealous of your travels, new friends, and experiences? Do they even want to hear about it? Why?

Change of Life Direction:

• Did you look into your cultural roots when you were abroad? Did you “discover yourself” and how did that feel?
• What did you see as the perception of ethnic or religious minorities in your country? Were you an ethnic or religious minority abroad? As a result, has your belief system been challenged; has it changed?
• How were gender and sexuality issues perceived in your country (i.e., same-sex marriage, trans-gender individuals, acceptance of homosexuals, etc.) 
• What was the role of men, women, and children in the families you experienced?
• Have you decided to make any changes to your academic plans (i.e., new major, applying to grad school, applying for a research grant, writing an honors thesis based on research conducted abroad); or professional plans (i.e., look for employment abroad, work for an NGO, the World Bank, join the Peace Corps, become a London-based investment banker, etc.)

Theme 2 — America and Americans Abroad 

• What is the perception of America and Americans abroad? See The New York Times Article “Anti-American Feelings Abroad”)
• Give us some adjectives you heard to describe Americans. What adjectives do you agree with, which do you reject?
• Did you ever feel you had to defend America? Why and when? Did you ever feel ashamed of your country?
• Has your perception of our country changed--in cultural, political, or other terms?
• Are we bombarded by a propaganda machine or is our media the most open and balanced in the world?
• What do people abroad think about the War in Iraq? How is the US War on Terror, the War in Iraq, and the War in Afghanistan, viewed abroad? How did you respond when questioned about these issues?
• How do you think people in your SA country will respond to Bush’s “surge” plan?
• What are other countries doing, if anything, about the Genocide in Darfur?
• How does the world see America’s efforts, or lack thereof, to save the environment? What are other countries doing to respond to global warming?
• How did people react when the Republicans lost the House and the Senate? What did people say when Donald Rumsfeld got sacked?
• Are our scandals (think Congressional Pages!), our embarrassments (Did Angela Merkel really want that backrub from President Bush?), or our achievements (Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s contribution to fighting AIDS and third world poverty; Oprah’s new S. African school), really that different from those of other countries?
• How is technology used by, and what is its impact on, the country and culture you were in (i.e., cellphones, the internet, email, blogs, Blackberries, etc.)?
• Do you think this technology enhanced your cultural immersion? Positively or negatively?