For our sixth RGLP session, Becky Field, who photographs cultural diversity in New Hampshire, came to show us her photo projects and speak to us about immigration to New Hampshire. We were joined by three very special guests: Martin Toe, Mmunga Masimango, and Emelyne Niyoyandemye. They were African immigrants who had arrived in the United States either as refugees or to seek asylum.
[more]
Adaptability is one of the most challenging aspects of intercultural interactions. This is reflected through personal experiences, such as the challenges of experiencing culture shock, as well as through theory, for example as seen in the idea that we must use accommodation practices when communicating with people of other cultures (see: Communication Accommodation Theory [Giles, 1971]). However, there are several tactics that one can use to be more adaptable in intercultural encounters.
[more]
Surprisingly, the experience that took me the most out of my comfort zone was the Capoeira workshop. As someone who was born and grew up in Brazil, it would make sense that I would be comfortable in engaging in such a major aspect of Brazilian culture. However, because of the vast extension of the country, the culture and environment that I’ve grown up in was very different from that in which Fuá grew up in. I’d only ever seen Capoeira from a distance, or on TV, and the only thing i was familiar with during the workshop was the language.
[more]
The past eight weeks participating in the Rockefeller Global Leadership Program (RGLP) allowed me to reflect on my own personal cultural values and grow to understand what it means to be a global cultural leader in the era of fast-changing technology and globalization. Before participating in the RGLP, I was tied to my own comfort zone and was afraid to engage in things that were beyond my own cultural background or something that I was not prepared to face.
[more]
I stumble down the stairs to find all 14 other female students making posters for tomorrow’s rally. The next morning, at the Supreme Court, which happens to be our neighbor, justices will be hearing oral arguments in the most recent abortion case. I stand silently in front of signs reading “No Uterus, No Opinion” and “Never Again” intertwined in bloody coat hangers that cover our living room floor. I clutch my crucifix, grab a granola bar, and call my father: he will know what to do.
[more]