International Cooperation

Overall

• Intercultural training at all levels; students, administrative and academic staff – employ a “cultural ambassador” who can bridge cultural gaps
• Preparation of outgoing students at home univ. – customs and educational system in host country
• Send students by one and force them to be independent
• Same start date of big welcome week for native and int. students – earlier start date contributes to isolation
• Introduction courses at host univ. – language, customs, educational system
• More fun introduction courses! Musical presentations, role-play (to be used also in preparation of outgoing students)
• Peer/buddy programmes - pros and cons with peers from the home country (safety and bridging of cultural gaps vs risk of inaccurate information about the hosts/host country/university), returning students could be peers or just meet with new int. students during introduction, language peers/tandem (practice each other’s languages)
• Pay attention to religious issues – support from students with the same religion and information from host university before arrival
• Offer incentives to students on the host univ. who socialize with and supports int. students. – e.g. certificate, money, shirts
• Services for all students, not only for exchange students
• Pay attention to/question the categorization of native-foreign, us-them

Inside study context

• Academic staff should ensure that (project) groups consist of a mixture of int. and native students (mix the students whenever it’s possible), preferable to put one int. student per group of locals

Outside study context

• Steer the choice of accommodation and prevent accommodation in clusters, arrange mingling
• Promote non-verbal activities, an easy way to hang out – sports, choirs, treasure hunts etc.
• Cooperate with the local community, arrange informal gatherings/festivals off-campus where different cultures can be presented and language knowledge practiced (has been tested with good results!), advertise in local newspaper
• Negotiate with student clubs for discounts on membership fees when int. students stay less than a year
• Urge student clubs to inform about their activities in English – or do the non-English information promote attempts to learn a little bit of the language of the host country, which might be expected?

Some thoughts

• Is it a problem if int. students make friends from countries other than their own and the host country?
• We will never be able to know what expectations all of the int. students have of their stay, integration might not be first priority
• The integration will depend on the int. students cultural backgrounds –  it is individually