Assistant Director of Off-Campus Study, Jonathan Larson, on Grinnell-in-Washington

                  Fostering the internationalization of faculty at a small liberal arts college such as Grinnell is bound to differ from how it looks at research and comprehensive universities. At Grinnell it is often done in tandem with off-campus study, thinking of how the network formed by where we send our students opens opportunities for faculty. At many institutions my office would have “study abroad” in its name, but at Grinnell we put programs from the U.S. in the same field of consideration and management as programs outside it. What are some unexpected ways in which a domestic off-campus program on which our faculty teach, such as Grinnell-in-Washington, contributes to the internationalization of the faculty as one might expect for teaching in places such as London, Tanzania, Korea, or Brazil?

                  My visit at the end of last week to Grinnell-in-Washington (GIW) offered food for thought.  To begin, it is worth thinking about how operating GIW out of an office that focuses primarily on non-U.S. programs forces Grinnell College to think of the U.S. and Grinnell within a shared field of “the international,” which breaks down how we classify programs. As one measure of how GIW has contributed to the formation of international expertise for our faculty, a surprising percentage of Grinnell faculty who have taught on GIW—by my count about 60%--have also taught on Grinnell-in-London, taught on another program abroad, or spent time doing research abroad.

Grinnell-in-Washington can serve faculty not only as a milieu par excellence for meeting other actors engaged in work of global scope, but as a laboratory for mentoring and scholarship on the Grinnell home campus. For instance, faculty can enrich their own networks and reflect on their departments’ professional mentoring of students by observing our pilot alumni mentoring program. Relatedly, while teaching the internship seminar and learning from students about how their experiences as interns are shaped by host supervisors, faculty can learn more about the increasingly important role of mediation and brokering in students’ off-campus experiences. Students, faculty, and staff at Grinnell develop international knowledge that is shaped by people who help plan our trips, arrange contacts, and summarize important issues for us. Students on a domestic internship-based program in Washington, D.C. for a single semester are subject to similar influences.

Professor Valérie Benoist on Life in France

            Having lived in France, Mexico, Switzerland, and the United States, Valérie Benoist, professor of Spanish here at Grinnell College, has had diverse international experiences and identifies as a tri-cultural person. She is currently on leave and living in France on the border of Spain with her husband and son while she writes her book, which focuses on the representation of Blackness in the biographies and autobiographies of three XVIth to XVIIIth century Black nuns of Spain and its colonies (Mexico and Peru, in particular). These three women were able to break the rule that Black women were not allowed to become nuns in colonial Spanish-America, so Professor Benoist is interested in the construction of Blackness in these three spiritual narratives. One of the main reasons Professor Benoist and her husband chose to move to France, where her parents and brother live, was to give their son the experience of living in France and learning French at a young age, and to make it possible for him to see his grandparents more often.

            Valérie Benoist has lived and studied in France, Mexico, and the United States, but has now lived half her life in the United States, which makes returning to life in France for a year, especially as an adult rather than a teenager, a learning experience. One of the greatest differences she sees between life in the United States and life in France is the way relaxation and family time are valued. In France, there is a much greater focus on time spent with family and relaxing. Elementary school children do not have class between noon and 2 p.m., so they often go home to eat lunch with their families. Most businesses often close during this time as well. This is in sharp contrast to the United States, where sayings like, “Time is money” are common and there is a huge emphasis on work.  

It might be expected that adjustment to life in France would be a greater challenge for Valérie Benoist’s son, who didn’t speak French before moving to France this summer. However, he, like the rest of the family, is adjusting very well to life in France. Professor Benoist attributes a lot of the ease of this adjustment to the extremely helpful people they have encountered and the speedy and painless process of establishing phone lines, bank accounts, school registration, and the like they have faced. Although her son is the only non-French speaker in his class, the teacher assigned to work with him has had a lot of experience working with non-French speaking students and has designed a plan to help him adjust to the school. This extra assistance combined with her son’s involvement in Judo and soccer have made his transition go far more smoothly. Overall, Valérie Benoist and her family are adjusting well and enjoying the slower pace of life, the people, the food, and the warmer climate of France.

We will also be hearing from Valérie Benoist’s husband, Andy Mobley, professor of chemistry here at Grinnell College, in a few weeks!

Assistant Director of Off-Campus Study, Jonathan Larson, on the Grinnell-in-London Program

                  It is important to be aware of how international experience, and the formation of international knowledge, is brokered and mediated by various experts who shape our itineraries, translate local behavior, frame relevant categories for understanding a place, and more. So how does Grinnell’s own program in London help orient faculty to London, Britain, Europe, and a different vantage point on the globe? How are the structures and approaches of the program evolving?

                  Grinnell-in-London (GiL) has long served faculty quite well as a vehicle for exploring the above locations through their teaching. Faculty offer courses that they have typically not taught at Grinnell, and anchor these courses in sites that they come to know more intimately with students particularly through field trips, but possibly as well through guest lecturers.  The program’s longtime resident director, the American-born and Harvard-trained Dr. Donna Vinter, has earned wide acclaim from past faculty for her efforts to help faculty across the disciplines translate questions about place, people, and artifacts into academic discovery for Grinnell faculty and students. Faculty have also forged and developed local academic and other professional ties, and have benefitted from the research they do prior to arriving in London that draws on a typical array of academic resources (such as the library and Internet) as well as advice from colleagues.

                  In 2014 GiL will mark its fortieth anniversary with a new chapter in the production of international knowledge: the program will incorporate the option for students to take a course at Queen Mary College, University of London. The change’s primary aim is to offer students a new form of cultural integration. However, one question of relevance for the Center for International Studies is whether a flow of peer faculty contacts with Queen Mary will follow from where our students venture. This model for shared student and faculty engagement with different milieu has been explored in other parts of the world: it is Grinnell’s opportunity to leverage localized investments in global knowledge made through off-campus study. Initial faculty exposure to Queen Mary has yielded positive reports.

                  This change to the program comes with other questions. For instance, is GiL the type of program that can or should encourage ties with a single British institution? Is a semester sufficient time for faculty to meet peers at Queen Mary alongside other personal and professional needs on the program? Is Queen Mary the right partner for this kind of modification to the program? For better or for worse, Grinnell-in-London is diversifying its reliance on local translators of cultural knowledge. The college is currently taking applications for faculty to teach on the program in 2015, and hopes to make appointments eager to discover the possibilities and limitations of this additional feature to one of its own administered international experiences.

The Multicultural Experiences of Student Frank Zhu

            After living in Nanjing, China, attending Grinnell, and now studying abroad in the Grinnell-in-London Off-Campus Study Program, Frank Zhu has a unique perspective on the role culture has played in his international experiences. Although he has felt welcomed by the Grinnell College community and recognizes the importance of the college’s “student diversity and openness” in his ability to feel at home and not like an outsider, he has also experienced ways in which the culture he was accustomed to in China and his native language have posed challenges to his adjustment to life here in Grinnell.

            Frank knew from early on that Grinnell College was the college for him. He attended the Grinnell College Preschool at the age of five when his parents were professors here teaching Chinese and he has always loved the college’s environment, appreciated the friendly students, and admired the knowledge of the professors. Given his past experiences in the United States, Frank always had a positive view of Americans, particularly those in small towns like Grinnell, regarding them as friendly and independent, with some of the best personalities. When asked about the common Chinese view of Americans, he said that “evil Capitalist stereotypes” might exist in older generations, but that the view of Americans is probably the opposite for the younger generations. He discusses his understanding of the American view of China by saying that the media portrays a mostly positive view, but one that it is not actually reflective of the conditions in China.

            The role of culture is one that has influenced every aspect of Frank’s experience at Grinnell, both inside and outside of the classroom. He describes the conservative and collectivist culture of China and how this has made achieving independence and self-knowledge challenging, since he grew accustomed to being told what next step to take. Cultural differences have also posed new obstacles in adjusting to a new social life in Grinnell. Frank mentions that while many Chinese college students spend much of their time playing games online and studying, many American college students spend a lot of time partying. This was something he had to adjust to, so it was awhile before he learned to let go and begin enjoying parties. Frank has noticed that Chinese and American individuals place greater value on different things: “Chinese more on study, grades, and superficial evaluations” and Americans on “sports, clubs, friends, hanging out.” In addition, friendships and relationships work differently here in Grinnell compared to China. He has found that, due to decreased competitiveness and a more open expression of emotions, friendships are simpler here in Grinnell than in China, while relationships are more complicated. Lastly, both body language and spoken language are central to his cultural experiences. Frank mentions the increased eye and physical contact that Americans utilize in conversation, which he made sure to learn and use, even though it made him very uncomfortable at times. He recalls spending hours trying to catch up on current American slang, since “people will hardly respond to you if your word selection is standard and dictionary-like.” In addition, he discusses how the language barrier can also be a barrier in deepening friendships. 

Of all challenges Grinnell has to offer, Frank felt that he was most prepared for the rigorous academics, as his high school was extremely intense and he spent most evenings doing 4-5 hours of homework. At the same time, language has created a new struggle within the classroom, where he worries any misuse of the English language could lead to the professor looking down on him. When I asked whether or not, given his diverse international experiences, he looked at himself as a global citizen or primarily as a citizen of one nation, he responded by saying that he identifies himself as a global citizen with a citizenship of China. Overall, Frank Zhu has found that his international experiences thus far at Grinnell College and at Grinnell-in-London have made him a better person, because he has learned to openly embrace other cultures and values.