Cultural Training Resources

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A word of advice on resources and recommended reading: Read publications and online websites that cover world news to get up to speed on the politics of the country in which you will be studying, as well as U.S. policy affecting that country. This is important preparation in that most students find that the rest of the world is much more politically informed than students in the United States tend to be.

Websites

• 
  Culture Matters: On-line workbook developed for the Peace Corps for helping participants to acquire the skills and knowledge to work and live abroad successfully
  
  
• What’s Up With Culture: An excellent on-line cultural training resource for study abroad developed by Dr. Bruce W. LaBrack, Professor of Anthropology and International Studies, University of the Pacific.
• What to Know Before You Go (Module 1) looks at the importance of awareness of cultural differences, using critical incidents from actual experiences abroad of students and Peace Corps volunteers.
• The Center for Global Education Study Abroad Student Handbook's Section on Adjustments and Culture Shock
  
• BeliefNet is a website where you can learn about different faiths
  
  The CIA World Factbook regularly updates country information. Each profile includes information on the people and culture.
  
• Culture Coach's Quick Tips and Culture Coach's Book Recommendations
  
  Global Edge's Country Insights provides historical, economic, and political conditions, along with statistical data, for more than 199 countries. There's also a collection of globalEDGE tools and games that will allow you to compare countries on a variety of statistical indicators, rank countries based on these indicators, and test your knowledge of country capitals from around the world.
  
  Executive Planet is a business-oriented site, but it offers useful tips on etiquette, customs, and protocol

• The Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI)
  
  Intercultural U (IU) is an online community of people from around the world who are interested in intercultural relations: http://cms.interculturalu.com
  
• The University of California, Irvine, Center for International Education's Cultural Adjustment section:
  http://www.cie.uci.edu/world/shock.html

 

Books for Cross-Cultural Learning

Maximizing Study Abroad: A Student’s Guide to Strategies for Language and Culture Learning and Use. R. Michael Paige, Andrew D. Cohen, Barbara Kappler, Julie C. Chi and James P. Lassegard (Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota, 2002)

52 Activities for Exploring Values Differences by Donna Stringer and Patricia Cassiday (Intercultural Press, 2003)

American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective by Edward C. Stewart & Milton J. Bennett (Intercultural Press, 1991)

American Ways: A Guide for Foreigners in the United States by Gary Althen (2nd ed., Intercultural Press, 2002)

Craig Storti's books, published by Intercultural Press
The Art of Crossing Cultures (1990), Cross-Cultural Dialogues: 74 Brief Encounters With Cultural Difference (1994), The Art of Coming Home (2nd ed., 2001)

CultureGrams provide comprehensive, up-to-date information on more than 200 countries.

Do's and Taboos Around The World by Roger E. Axtell (Editor), The Parker Pen Company, 3rd. ed., 2003

Edward T. Hall's books, published by Intercultural Press:
Beyond Culture (1992), The Dance of Life (1996), The Hidden Dimension (1992), The Silent Language (1980)

The Exchange Student Survival Kit by Bettina Hansel (Intercultural Press, 1993)

Learning Across Cultures Gary Althen, ed. (NAFSA: The Association of International Educators, 1994)

On Being Foreign: Culture Shock in Short Fiction by Tom Lewis & Robert Jungman (Intercultural Press, 1986)

Students Abroad: Strangers at Home by Norman L. Kauffman, Judith N. Martin, and Henry D. Weaver (Intercultural Press, 1992)

Study Abroad: How to Get the Most Out of Your Experience by Michele-Marie Dowell & Kelly P. Mirsky, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall/Pearson Education, Inc., 2003.

Studying Abroad/Learning Abroad: An Abridged Edition of the Whole World Guide to Culture Learning by Daniel J. Hess (Intercultural Press, 1997)

Survival Kit for Multicultural Living by Ellen Summerfield (Intercultural Press, 1997)

Survival Kit for Overseas Living by Robert L. Kohls (Intercultural Press, 1996)

Understanding the Education—and Through it the Culture—in Education Abroad by by Linda A. Chisholm and Howard A. Berry (The International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership, 2002)

When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures by Richard D. Lewis (3rd. ed., Nicholas Brealey International, 2006)

The Whole World Guide to Culture Learning by Daniel J. Hess (Intercultural Press, 1994)