CROSSROADS IN CULTURAL STUDIES
Fourth International Conference
June 29 - July 2, 2002, Tampere, Finland

The Culture of "Other": Examining and Avoiding Stereotypes

Organiser: Mary Hadley

Hadley, Mary (Georgia Southern University, USA) MUST I BECOME AMERICANIZED? TEACHING CULTURE TO INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Teaching the culture of the host country to international students who are studying at the university level, is a far cry from teaching survival skills to adults in different situations. What do international students need to know about the U.S. if they are to be successful at an American university? Is it enough to teach them the mores of an American classroom, or do they also need to have some knowledge about our institutions, our history, our holidays? How important is fitting in to the social scene, and how can the student achieve this without losing his or her own ethnic identity? Is there a real danger in becoming so comfortable in the host culture that the student will become a misfit back home? These topics will be discussed referring to specific classroom activities that have been successful in helping students adjust to the United States without becoming overly Americanized.

Hulsman, John (Rider University, USA) MINORITY STUDENTS AND 'RUMORS OF INFERIORITY': OVERCOMING STEREOTYPES IN DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH
At Rider University, we have developed a unique eighteen-week Summer-Fall program in composition and humanities for a group of forty "at risk" inner-city New Jersey minority students who are recruited for the university's Educational Opportunity Program. We teach reading and writing in a "learning community" (with accompanying eighteen-week courses in Logic and Speech) and at a high level, with strong advising and tutorial support systems. We blend traditional humanities with important multicultural works, and each year our students host a major contemporary writer, delivering critical papers on his or her work. What Bowen and Bok call "the aura of high expectations," combined with clear evidence of academic success, is the formula for overcoming, in Claude Steele's phrase, the "rumors of inferiority" that often beset minority-heavy "remedial" programs, which are easily marginalized due to institutional neglect, faculty turnover, academic reductionism, and well-meaning but misguided notions of student needs.

Welford, Theresa (Georgia Southern University, USA) WELCOMING STUDENTS TO THE "CULTURE" OF WRITERS
Many students, even those who enjoy writing, feel that they don't have a place in the "culture" of writing and writers. Many feel that they don't even have what it takes to "join." I must confess that, in my presentation, I'll be playing fast and loose with definitions of the term "culture." However, as I discuss my definition, it should become clear that those of us who write whether we're full-time writers, part-time writers, or "dabblers" can and do form a culture of sorts, with our own practices, beliefs, artifacts, value systems, behaviors, customs, rituals. As a writer, and as a teacher, I show my students that, if they wish, they can at least come in, take a good look around, and see if the "culture" of writers is a group they'd like to belong to. In my presentation, I'll focus on two things: 1) a definition of what I'm calling the "culture" of writers and 2) a discussion of some of the strategies I use in my ongoing efforts to make my students feel that they are welcome to join this group.

Welford, Mark (Georgia Southern University, USA) THE AMERICAN DREAM: WHAT IF YOU'RE NOT INCLUDED?
Teaching World Regional Geography in a rural, Southern university has taught me that stereotypes of international peoples are alive and well among many students. One such stereotype is that most non-westerners are poor because they DESERVE to be poor. Most students equate poverty with laziness, having been told from birth "if you work hard, you will succeed." This is a major component of the American Dream. My principal teaching goal for every semester is to debunk this deep-seated notion. Not surprisingly, it is useless to make one or two simple responses, for these appear glib and unconvincing. Similarly, it is useless to offer a few, quick explanations and examples. The approach must be cumulative, aggressive, and persistent. When I include personal details and experiences, as well as compelling statistics and portraits of real people, I can progressively break down the notion that "If you're poor, it's your fault."

Hughes, Annie (University of York, United Kingdom) INTEGRATING STUDENTS WITH 'REAL' PEOPLE ON THE STREET
In this session we will consider ways in which students from different countries and cultures around the world, attending courses at the EFL Unit, University of York, UK, use the local population as a wonderful authentic interactive resource during their personal projects. Students gather information on people's opinions and reactions within these projects that cover a very wide variety of topics. One of the main by-products of this project interaction and data gathering is that students talk to a wide range of people of all backgrounds and ages. Interacting with 'real' people on the street allows our students to consider the reactions and opinions of individuals who do not all feel or think in the same way as other interviewees.