Abstract:

During Fall Semester 2011, a course entitled Managing Cultural Diversity was offered in the Richards College of Business at the University of West Georgia in the United States and structured with an experimental approach. Rather than traditional reliance on textbooks and similar sources, the course was designed for students to frequently "travel in place" to other countries. Students would experience immersion in other cultures through video, maps, music, food, books, newspapers, guest speakers, and other activities without actually leaving the area. A motivating factor in using this approach was to address the issue of United States students living in a "bubble" in which their exposure to, and interest in, other countries and their cultures were limited. This insularity puts United States students at a distinct disadvantage in thriving in a global economy and in a country in which demographics are rapidly changing. The desired outcome of the travel in place approach was to develop student awareness of, knowledge about, and interest in other cultures through an array of experiences. It was also intended to encourage student involvement in the various study abroad programs being offered by the Richards College of Business during the coming academic year. Overall, the approach was successful. Students were evaluated at the outset for their exposure to other countries, their language skills, and their world knowledge. The students varied widely but overall had limited exposure to other countries. During the semester, the students were given a variety of options for cultural experiences to supplement textbooks, lecture, websites, and guest speakers. Over the course of the semester, the students had numerous experiences and exposure to other cultures both in and out of the classroom. Furthermore, students kept a journal throughout the semester. Evaluation of the students at the end of the semester indicated that students had indeed gained greater awareness, knowledge, and interest in other cultures. Students did express interest in participating in study abroad offerings. The approach was not without its challenges given the widely ranging prior experiences of the students, the cross-listing of the course as both Management and Sociology with correspondingly different student interests, and time constraints. This paper will discuss the implementation of the course including practices and pitfalls and ways of addressing both.

Keywords:

Innovation, cultural differences, education, international, pedagogy.