This activity uses an episode from NPR's Morning Edition to consider different perspectives on empathy and learn what the "dark side of empathy" means.

This activity is based on Jamil Zaki’s concept of the empathy gym, which he discusses on the podcasts Hidden Brain and Clear + Vivid. In those episodes, Zaki describes how he developed empathic skills as a child of divorced parents with two very different sets of values and priorities. He also discusses the positive and negative aspects of empathy in addition to providing some techniques that anyone could use to increase their level of empathy. This activity adapts one of those techniques, which he calls “Disagree Better,” and provides participants with tools for better understanding and empathizing with individuals who they may disagree with.

This activity uses an interview with acclaimed author Ann Patchett to help participants consider the importance of empathy within fiction, the relationship between empathy and culture, and how their empathy for fictional characters might translate to empathy for real people or situations.

During this activity, participants will critically analyze and interpret the music and lyrics of a culturally significant song, reflect on the significant role of cultural and societal critique, engage with a song via their worldview and the worldview of others, and understand the complexity of worldview elements important to members of their own and other cultures.

After completing this activity, participants will be able to understand the complexity of elements important to members of another culture in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices; better formulate and articulate their own worldview, and recognize how these elements affect the formation of a person's worldview.

This activity requires participants to articulate a nuanced understanding of one domain of intercultural knowledge and competence from the AAC&U Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric, list activities that will help them personally develop in that domain, and identify evidence that signals they have personally developed in that domain. 

This activity enables participants to define empathy, recognize how we develop empathy for fictional characters, discuss the relationship between empathy and culture, and articulate how empathy for fictional characters might translate to empathy for real people or situations.

This creativity-training activity was designed for a Spring Break study abroad program at Purdue University titled Amsterdam: Creative Thinking & Innovation in Collaborative Leadership. Specifically, it was designed to help travelling students their airport "down time" productively. It enables participants to enact connections between science, creativity, teamwork, and intercultural competence; take risks; embrace contradictions; as well as connect, synthesize, and transform.

This activity was created as part of a Purdue University Spring Break study abroad program, Amsterdam: Creative Thinking & Innovation in Collaborative Leadership. It allows participants to develop a better understanding of their stressors and how to deal with stress during a study abroad program.

This icebreaker activity helps participants to develop awareness of others as both individuals and cultural beings and build empathy and a sense of team identity by listening and sharing. It is best done with pairs who will be working together afterwards, for example: lab partners or project teammates.

This activity uses board games to help participants recognize different aspects of indirect communication styles, develop mental empathy and teamwork skills, and navigate cultural context.

This assessment measures participants' general sense of belongingness and loneliness. The iLEAD version of these two tools was created to assess visiting scholars' sense of loneliness and belongingness. The wording in this survey is specific to the university hosting this program. Edits will be necessary to adapt it to other contexts.

This assessment measures the extent to which participants believe that cultural influences on one's beliefs, attitudes, and behavior are controllable or uncontrollable. It can be used formatively (assessment for learning) to inform curriculum design, summatively, in a pre/posttest format (assessment of learning) to measure growth as the result of a learning intervention, or as part of the learning process (assessment as learning) in which results are debriefed and discussed with learners as a group.

This activity requires participants to identify two to three skills that a company/job requires on a career posting and discuss ways that the skill-level increased during, and because of experiences from, the semester abroad. They will also formulate an interview response in which one of the skills identified can be linked to an intercultural skill and develop a brief story following the STAR method, and create at least two intercultural questions to ask an interviewer. The activity is designed for students who are studying abroad.

This activity asks participants to reflect on their experiences working in teams and examine communication and intercultural issues that can arise when working in teams. It also requires them to practice identifying sources of behaviors using Hofstede's Power Distance Index, practice reflection and application of teamwork strengths to improve teamwork in a hypothetical situation, and draw connections between the practice of these skills in the hypothetical to real-world applications specific to the culture in which they are studying abroad. The activity is designed for students who are studying abroad.

This activity requires participants to interview a professional from their host country, explain how their chosen career and educational path function in a different country, and synthesize or draw conclusions by combining examples, facts, or theories from more than one field of study or perspective. It is designed for students who are studying abroad.

During this activity, participants will reflect on their impressions of their career field and compare them with the views of their host country, develop a better understanding of the complexity of elements important to members of another culture in regard to worldview, and ask deeper questions about other cultures and seek out answers to these questions. It is designed for students who are studying abroad.

This activity asks participants to use the SWOT analysis method to critically analyze and revise intercultural and linguistic goals set at the beginning of the semester abroad experience. It also allows them to practice deeper reflection on weaknesses and challenges in order to make informed revisions to those goals, critically consider the influence of their context and assumptions on goal setting, and prioritize evidence and perspectives to draw logical conclusions in the revision of past goals.

This activity enables participants to identify the five qualities that they view as most important in your career field, discuss and compare their qualities with another person's, recognize the role cultural values play in informing and defining professional norms and practices, and practice perspective-taking in considering worldviews other than their own regarding professional cultural values and acting in a supportive manner that recognizes the feelings of another cultural group. It is designed for students who are studying abroad.

This activity incorporates readings and two activities aimed at getting participants to think about the cultural values that define who we are by examining their own identity and values. It is designed for students who are studying abroad.

This activity requires participants to observe people from another culture and practice complimenting others, reflect on connections between verbal and nonverbal responses and cultural factors that dictate social norms in the host culture, and recognize and participate in cultural differences in verbal and nonverbal communication. It is designed for students who are studying abroad.

This activity requires participants to ask deeper questions and interact with members from a different culture; find culturally significant objects and places; and seek out and articulate answers to questions about culturally specific objects and places in a way that reflects multiple cultural perspectives. It is designed for students who are studying abroad.

This activity enables participants to contemplate and explain their culture-learning goals for their time during their semester abroad, develop logical and consistent plans to attain goals, and identify multiple approaches for attaining goals. It is designed for students who are studying abroad.

This activity allows participants to introduce themselves to other classmates/group members, as well as consider cultural factors that led to their study abroad experience. It is designed for students who are studying abroad.

This activity is often introduced with a focus on privilege, e.g., "nationality privilege, race privilege, gender privilege," etc. This version is designed to lead participants to an understanding of privilege as unearned advantage without initial use of the term. Delaying the use of the term may allow participants whose instinct is to shut down, to experience immediate deep feelings of guilt, and/or to focus on their family's use of "privilege" as something earned to engage more fully with the experience of collecting Legos.