Participants in the Rockefeller Global Leadership Program share their experience and reflections at the end of the remote Spring 2020 term.
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Early on in the Rockefeller Global Leadership Program, our small cohort of students learned the difference between ethnocentrism and ethno-relativism. Whereas someone who is ethnocentric has a narrow-minded view of the world and considers their own culture to be that of all humans, someone who embodies the ethno-relativist mindset thinks in a different way. Rather than being blind to cultures of the world, an ethno-relativist is aware of their own culture and how it impacts their viewpoints, while also exhibiting the same consciousness for other cultures. For a person l
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RGLP forced me to take a deeper look into myself in order to analyze what learned behaviors, biases, or aspects of my culture were preventing me from truly being able to look at other cultures with understanding and empathy. The remote format for this term presented a new challenge for everyone involved, and I want to thank Leslie, Sadhana, and all of our guest speakers for showing us firsthand what it means to be adaptable by successfully maintaining an engaging and enriching program.
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Anyone who knows me well would admit that my conflict style is direct. When it comes to any type of problem, large or small, I’m not the kind of person who likes to “beat around the bush”. I prefer open conversations that address the problem at hand. While not always associated with French culture, the French are very direct with both positive and negative comments. As my mother is French, my French American family is no different. Growing up in South Florida added to this, as most of my friends developed the same conflict style in their families as well.
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Culture shock is the discomfort, anxiety, and sometimes embarrassment one experiences when being in a space where that person’s own cultural norms are not the general norm. Moreover, culture shock is displacement and the constant obsession of one feeling as if they do not belong. No, I cannot speak to everyone’s experiences, but I find it hard to believe someone has not experienced culture shock at least once. No, culture shock cannot be avoided; however, yes, there are ways one can overcome the symptoms of culture shock.
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