There should be more cultural immersion at universities

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by TeacherBelgium, Sep 6, 2022.

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  1. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    I am literally shocked what little cultural immersion there is at most universities.
    Universities are often times still too ethnocentric.

    Cultural awareness is so important.

    I like to think of myself as a culturally aware person overall, but last time I was talking to a guy who visited Pakistan and I told him : "Wow. You did? I would be so scared with all the bomb attacks in that region."
    He asked: "What are you talking about?"
    I replied: "Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, all those areas are known for being places where bomb attacks are a regular thing."

    He then elaborated on how Pakistan nowadays is a very modern country that is safe to visit for western tourists.
    I still held a lot of prejudice against Pakistan so decided to watch some documentaries on Youtube about it and it really was totally different than what I expected it to be.

    Cities like Lahore and Islamabad look like modern cities with Dunkin' Donuts chains and other western facilities.

    I'm still amazed sometimes how countries that we, in the west, have been told were primitive and poor and dangerous, can look so much more modern and advanced and their citizens way more intellectual, than the image that we were stereotypically presented with.

    Last year I was following a course in fintech and one of my fellow learners was a lady from Nigeria.
    She was very well spoken, enjoyed a great education etc.
    Nigeria was one of those countries that I always thought to be dangerous and super poor and its population mostly illiterate.
    However, after doing the necessary research I actually found out that they have a splendid education system (in accordance with the British education model).
    That this is not some kind of a third world country with a couple of huts amidst of a desert, like I was always told.
    I found out that they have big financial centers like we have. That their cities look way more modern than we often imagine ourselves.

    This really taught me that we, in the west, are way too ethnocentric.
    We tend to think that those former colonies are poor, underdeveloped nations that need us.
    In fact, they don't.
    Often they are better off without us.
    Most of what we have was built off their back, exploiting their natural resources and richness.

    This is something I was not fully aware of when I was younger.
    Now however, I realise that the media that former colonizers show us about the colonized, are just a framework of subjective image painting and not what they truly are.

    I think there should be more cultural immersion at western universities.
    So that we don't go through life with a superiority complex, when interacting with the rest of the world that deviates from western standards.

    It would definitely have helped me value other education systems, other countries' cultural standards etc without seeing the white, western world as the arbiter of what is normal or ok.

    If there is one thing that working for an international company with US roots did for me, it must be: opening my eyes to the latent racist bias that an ethnocentric education system instills in people.

    Thanks to the Spanish education courses, the Mexican education courses, the Czech education courses, that I followed, I learned to stop trying to model everything after western standards and acknowledge the richness of a different model that has its own integrity and its own values that can only exist in its non-western context.
     
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2022
  2. Vicki

    Vicki Well-Known Member

    Honestly, this sounds more like YOU have had ethnocentric views. That has not been my experience AT ALL. Even back in the 90’s when I first went off to college. I met people from all over the world. The courses I have taken online recently constantly talk about global mindset. You should have learned that in your business and law degrees.
     
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  3. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    We learned about international trade in both my business and law degrees, however it's completely different than receiving practical real-world exposure to other cultures.
    Theory can't replace that.
    That's why I believe every student should be required to study abroad for a semester.

    PS:
    I often see the titulo propio for example on this board being equaled to a pseudo degree.
    In Spain, it's a completely valid degree.
    Yesterday I read so much bias about Nicaragua and UCN, while it's simply another system.
    That too is ethnocentrism.
    So no, Vicky, I'm not the only one, trust me :)
     
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2022
  4. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    Not everyone can afford to study in another country, especially when that can cost tens of thousands for just a couple of months abroad. University is cheap in Europe... but only for Europeans.

    I've been lucky to have a rather worldly education, but I had relatives concerned about how "safe" even Western Europe is to visit when I announced my plans to visit a few countries. It really depends on where you get your information from.

    Also, fun fact: before 2020, most of the world was already "unsafe" to visit (for various reasons) according to the US State Dept. travel site. I think the only "safe" country was Canada.
     
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  5. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    And you can't call yourself an astronaut if you studied everything about space from the comfort of your home but never went up there.
    You need to have been in space to call yourself an astronaut.
    In that same fashion you can't consider yourself a homo universalis just because you took a couple of Coursera courses that mentioned the term "global mindset".
    It takes more than that.
    Something universities still lack too much nowadays.
     
  6. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    True.
    I think it's a fair thing though that studying in Europe is more expensive for oversees students than for our own people.
    It's a matter of protectionism.
    Every nation has that to some extent.

    However, you're right about the information source also being a crucial factor.
    Just like Fox news brings different views than CNN etc., one university (depending on its geopolitic location) focusses on different aspects of a curriculum than another university ( in another geopolitic location).

    That said: nowadays universities have conventions and scholarships are available, so studying in another country should have become more affordable.
    If I see what higher education in the US costs, it would only be a fraction of that to study here in Europe.
    KU Leuven charges Euro 900 per year (excl. books).
    That's 1-2 credit hour(s) in the US.
    Here you get 30 credit hours for that price.
    So very affordable imho.
     
  7. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Who lied to you, exactly? Go after them!

    The population of Lagos, alone, is 'way more than that of your entire country - Belgium.
    Lagos - 15.3 million. Belgium 11.6 million. Lagos is projected to have nearly 25 million people by 2035. That's 2/3 of the present population of Canada!

    One of the things that intrigues me about Nigeria is that although English is the official language, there are around 525 Native languages spoken here.
    Plenty of Nigerians here in Canada. Quite a few in Government service - quite frequently at senior levels.

    Good luck in nailing that person who lied to you. This insularity happens over here, plenty. even in degree forums. I was talking about Pakistan HEC once, in a now-dead forum. Some guy with half-a-dozen US degrees started joking - "Wow! Do they actually have a Higher Education System? Who knew?" I set him straight. The population them was over 160 million - it's over 230 million now.

    The sad truth is, though - in South Asia particularly, there's a lot of rural poverty. Can't be denied. Millions of kids who should be in school -- aren't.
    "Rural areas in Pakistan typically have higher poverty rates, while urban areas show higher inequality. Based on the latest available estimates (2015), poverty is more than twice as high in rural areas (30.7 percent) than in urban areas (12.5 percent)."
    Same in India: "Poverty ratio 32.75% in rural areas against 8.81% in urban: NITI report"

    We're talking 1 Billion, 600 million people in those two countries combined. Their governments have a lot of work to do. I hope they succeed.


     
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