Cultural immersion: Black Issues associate editor experiences first-hand the benefits of studying abroad during a weeklong trip to Strasbourg, France

Black Issues in Higher Education, August 15, 2002 by Robin V. Smiles

Knowing what I know now, there is no way I would have finished my undergraduate degree without studying abroad for some period of time during those four years--a semester, a year, even two weeks during the summer. Now, a decade or so later, I know the importance of immersing oneself in other cultures, learning another language, studying in another country. I know now how these types of international experiences not only inform one's view of the world, but one's identity as well.

Still, I have to admit that much of what I know, I have learned from writing about international education for Black Issues over the past year, talking and visiting with study abroad directors and international student services officers at colleges and universities and other organizations across the nation. Yet, as many times as I have listened to people tout the advantages of studying abroad, it wasn't until I engaged in my own excursion that I gained the confidence to speak in first person and to count myself among those advocates who truly appreciate the importance of an international outlook.

The study abroad advocates I know are die-hard. They are eager to share what they know with the uninitiated and anxious to recruit new converts to their cause. But even in their fervor, they remain patient, understanding and willing to answer the "dumb questions." Fortunately for me and several other first-timers, there were several such individuals among the participants in Brethren Colleges Abroad's (BCA) international seminar for faculty and administrators held in Strasbourg, France, this summer. For those of us who were on our first trip abroad, we appreciated their expertise--appreciated their language proficiency when we needed to ask for directions, or buy the right size; appreciated their knowledge of French etiquette when we sat down to our first plate of cheese.

BCA's seminars are designed to introduce faculty and administrators with little or no international experience to the organization's study centers around the world and encourage them to take that experience back to their campuses.

"We hope they will come back to campus enthusiastic about the value of an international education and in turn will work on the campus to undertake a number of international activities ... such as attracting international scholars or developing course content that has an international perspective," BCA's president Karen Jenkins told Black Issues in an interview last year.

BCA, a consortium of seven higher education institutions, is one of several organizations, including the Council on International Educational Exchange and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars that offer one- to two-week international seminars for faculty and administrators as well as semester or year-long programs for students (see Black Issues, Aug. 2, 2001).

CITY OF ROADS

For eight days this summer, I accompanied a group of 19 American professors and administrators as they were introduced to Strasbourg. The group members, a mixture of those with little to no international travel experience to those who had traveled extensively, were almost all new to the city, whose name means "city of roads." Unlike the more popular French cities such as Paris and Bordeaux, Strasbourg, located in France's northeastern region of Alsace, does not garner the same wide-eyed, awesome recognition upon name--at least, that is, among most Americans. Outside the United States, things are different.

In the weeks before my departure, when I mentioned my upcoming trip to Strasbourg, most asked "Why not Paris?" But just as I began to feel as if there was no other worthwhile French destination, a German friend of mine suggested otherwise.

"You are going to Strasbourg?" she asked. "I've been there many times. My boyfriend used to live there; it's right across the French border. I would visit him often. It's a wonderful tourist spot."

"A tourist spot?" I questioned.

"Those outside of France go to Pads for holiday," she said. "The French. They go to Strasbourg."

Perhaps the French do know better. Known as the heart of Europe and European democracy, Strasbourg has much to intrigue both the academic and the tourist. It is the site of several international organizations including the seat of the European Parliament, which is the legislative arm of the European Union; the Council of Europe, a human rights body representing 43 countries; and the European Court of Human Rights, an institution of the Council of Europe. As well, it is home to the University of Strasbourg, composed of three separate prestigious universities: Marc Bloch University, which offers programs in the humanities and is the only university in France to house both Protestant and Catholic theology departments; Robert Schuman University, which specializes in political science, law, business and journalism; and Louis Pasteur University, which specializes in medical and physical sciences. More than 42,000 students attend the universities. Fifteen percent of the student population is from outside of France, many from former French colonies in Africa.