A master's thesis by Jacie Lynn Grant, Department of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture, Purdue University

Grant, J. L. (2019). Development of intercultural competence through short-term study abroad programming. [Master’s thesis, Purdue University].  https://hammer.figshare.com/articles/Development_of_Intercultural_Competence_Through_Short-Term_Study_Abroad_Programming/8279381/1

From the abstract: "We developed and assessed a formal undergraduate course that mentored students through their first professional scientific conference. Assessment results indicated that students made significant progress in their professional and social abilities, with many students expressing a new sense of belonging to their field. Based on these results, attending national scientific conferences provides undergraduate students with a supportive environment to explore their future career and develop professional social skills."

Flaherty, E. A., Day, C. C., Urbanek, R. E., Wood, D. M., D'acunto, L. E., Quinn, V. S., & Zollner, P. A. (2019). Mentored conference experiences support students' career exploration and professional development. Wildlife Society Bulletin.  DOI:  10.1002/wsb.1013

From the abstract: "Groups of five to seven students were assigned learning activities as treatments in a Latin Square design consisting of three experimental periods. At the beginning of selected laboratory sessions, students completed 10 minutes of the experimental activity immediately followed by a questionnaire. Students rated hands-on, problem-based laboratory stations as more challenging, novel, and attention-grabbing than they rated case studies or video lectures. Interest, intrinsic motivation, and behavioral engagement were greatest for groups completing laboratory stations followed by those completing case studies and lectures, respectively."

Erickson, M., Marks, D., & Karcher, E. L. Integrating extension educators in agricultural study abroad programming. NACTA Journal, 63, 156-163. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1251142

This activity challenges participants to learn and practice ethnographic interviewing skills. In small groups, they will practice interviewing each other using ethnographic techniques and then set up an interview with someone from their host country.

This activity challenges participants to explore culture through ethnographic fieldwork and video storytelling. Following extensive preparation and research, they will create a video that presents one aspect of a particular culture.

"Green Card Voices is a Minneapolis based, nationally growing non profit that connects immigrants and their communities through multimedia storytelling."

Crossing Borders Education's "documentary trilogy brings diversity in our world directly to your doorstep. The films are designed to initiate, prepare and support intergroup dialogues, practice communication skills and deepen intercultural understanding."

This activity challenges participants to better comprehend the concept of empathy by embracing their own story, sharing it, and processing it with someone different than them. To effectively empathize with someone, it helps to first form a personal connection. In this activity, participants will pair up with someone who is culturally different from them. Then, they will share their personal experiences with each other and determine how their stories intersect.

Counter-storytelling, a method often used in critical race theory, highlights the stories of individuals who are marginalized within society. It aims to push back against dominant narratives that often privilege certain voices over others. This activity introduces the concept of counter-storytelling through the points of view of Asian/ Asian American individuals who have experienced racialized microaggressions. Participants will first read excerpts from Yeo et al. (2019) and watch three videos that depict Asian/Asian American perspectives on the microaggressions they endure because of their race. Then, they will discuss these videos as examples of counter-stories and identify what they can learn from these perspectives.

"One means of addressing indigenous peoples' desire for self-determination in educational research is to develop collaborative storytelling as a research approach. Such an approach, when conducted within indigenous ways of knowing, facilitates ongoing collaborative analysis and construction of meaning about participants' lived experiences" (Bishop, p. 1, 1999).

Bishop, R. (1999). Collaborative storytelling: Meeting Indigenous Peoples' desires for self-determination in research. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED467396

This book by Darla K. Deardorff introduces the use of Story Circles to develop intercultural competence.

From The Skin Deep: "Are you ready to start having meaningful conversations about social justice? {THE AND} On Racism Edition is the perfect tool for those who want to delve deeper into critical issues surrounding racial equity, prejudice, and privilege. Collaboratively created by activist and author Sonya Renee Taylor of The Body is Not An Apology and leadership facilitator Didier Sylvain, this edition features 199 thought-provoking prompts that will help you initiate honest and open dialogue. Through using this powerful starting point, you can learn from yourself and the relationships around you to make a difference. Don't wait any longer to take action towards social justice and self growth--start your journey with {THE AND} On Racism Edition today."

"Story Circles is a structured yet flexible methodology for developing intercultural competencies in a variety of contexts, both formal and informal..."

"Although not the first, the theory of invitational rhetoric offers a significant challenge to a strict definition of rhetoric as persuasion. Invitational rhetoric's link to feminism, paring of persuasion with violence, and the polysemic nature of theory, generated both interest and critique. This essay explores six common critiques of invitational rhetoric and illustrates the ways that invitational rhetoric is at work in the world in both historical and contemporary public deliberations. The essay concludes by articulating a link between invitational rhetoric and civility, suggesting that invitational rhetoric and civility are a means to create ethical exchanges in difficult situations" (Bone et al., p. 1, 2008). 

Bone, J. E., Griffin, C. L., & Scholz, T. L. (2008). Beyond traditional conceptualizations of rhetoric: Invitational rhetoric and a move toward civility. Western Journal of Communication, 72(4), 434-462.

"Through accessible language and candid discussions, Storytelling for Social Justice explores the stories we tell ourselves and each other about race and racism in our society."

Lifeboat and Adjectives (document file included in this post - these are two examples of activities that were used in diversity trainings that did not end well, resulting in reinforced stereotypes and in one case, a major lawsuit - exercise caution!)

A Retrospective View of Corporate Diversity Training From 1964 to the Present

• https://www.wintersgroup.com/corporate-diversity-training-1964-to-present.pdf

Who’d Be on Your Spaceship? A School Exercise Backfires in Ohio

• https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/us/ohio-school-spaceship-diversity-quiz.html

Lucky Stores will Pay Millions to Women in Job Bias Lawsuit

• https://www.deseret.com/1993/12/17/19082264/lucky-stores-will-pay-millions-to-women-in-job-bias-lawsuit/

Case: Stender v. Lucky Stores, Inc.

• https://clearinghouse.net/case/9469/

Alien Among Us (another version of Lifeboat)

• https://hubicl.org/toolbox/tools/165/

This survey is based on the Wesleyan Intercultural Competence Scale (WICS) created by Steven Stemler, Toshie Imada, and Carolyn Sorkin of Wesleyan University (Frontiers vol. 24, Fall 2014). The current version was revised and edited by Dr. Daniel Jones and Dr. Kris Acheson-Clair of the Center for Intercultural Learning, Mentorship, Assessment and Research at Purdue University. We are in the process of validating it. 

Please peruse this website to learn more about the GLUE curriculum. 

This activity challenges participants to consider how they view people in different situations and from different cultures, as well as how empathy impacts our views of others.

This is the presentation we used during the session. 

An intercultural activity which teaches Dr. Stella Ting-Toomey's EAS model for asking effective, appropriate, and satisfactory questions

An exercise by Dr. Nagesh Rao