More students at college and universities are taking advantage of the opportunity to study abroad. During their time overseas, many will confront culture shock. Upon their return, they may also encounter a difficult transition, resulting in reverse culture shock. This study explores the various long term effects of reverse culture shock among study abroad alumni at a land grant institution. The alumni in this sample represent a variety of study abroad programs as well as experiences with reentry shock. By contributing further evidence regarding the influence of reverse culture shock over an extended period, it can provide incentive for universities to increase the level of reentry support for their students. Furthermore, by assisting students through the challenges of their reentry, educators can enhance the level of cultural learning from the experience as well as contribute to the students’ personal development.

The State Department conducts exchange programs for thousands of participants each year to build mutual understanding between the citizens of the United States and other countries. At the beginning of each program, inbound exchange students participate in pre-departure orientations to prepare them for their experiences in the United States. It is vital that these pre-departure orientation programs lay the groundwork for mutual understanding by fostering intercultural sensitivity and developing intercultural competence. For this study, I explored best practices for facilitating intercultural learning online among international students and designed an interactive, facilitated, student-centered, and culturally adapted virtual pre-departure orientation that promotes intercultural learning online. Experts evaluated this course plan and their feedback resulted in lessons learned and recommendations for the development phase of instructional design for this course plan.

The primary emphasis in the field of expatriate adjustment has focused on the experiences of the person working overseas on assignment. Research that includes the experiences of the accompanying partner of the working expatriate frequently positions this person as an antecedent to the working partner's adjustment process. Understanding the adjustment process from the accompanying partner's perspective is underrepresented in the literature. In this qualitative research project eight expatriate couples were interviewed to examine in detail their experiences of adjusting overseas on assignment in order to identify the critical adjustment factors, the resources that are available to assist the adjustment process, and what personal characteristics aid a successful intercultural experience while living overseas. Recommendations are provided for both the employer and the accompanying partner to assist the adjustment process.

China is the top sending country of international students to Western universities. Chinese students can benefit a country's economy and aid in internationalizing campuses, providing opportunities for students to develop global competencies. However, as the number of Chinese students is increasing, so is the awareness of their difficulties in acculturating to the Western system of higher education. The literature attributes some of these difficulties to cultural, academic, and social factors. Filling a gap in the research, this cross-level study compares the preparation programs of four different types of secondary institutions. Results of surveys and interviews were correlated between faculty and alumni evaluating satisfaction and effectiveness of university preparation. The students generally were satisfied with their preparation training as compared to the faculty at the secondary schools. Results of this study will help bridge the gap of eradicating the difficulties Chinese students face in the Western higher education system.

This study was developed to explore the intercultural interactions among college student-athletes at a Division IA university. The primary research question of this study was: How do individual cultural identities contribute to the experience of diversity and inclusion on a sports team? This study was designed to examine how athletes feel included in their teams and whether they can express--or feel the need to suppress--their other social identities in order to fit into the collegiate athletic realm. The following academic areas were relevant to the study: identity development and negotiation, intercultural interaction and contact, athletics, and multicultural education. The data and discussion suggested that the strong sense of team identity may downplay other identities on a team, and student-athletes may negotiate their other identities to fit into the team. Although teams are perceived to be welcoming, there is an underlying need for further multicultural training for the population. This study helped to bridge the gap in research about college sports and intercultural interaction.

This study examined the impact of migration and the resulting intercultural interactions on the cultural identities of first-generation immigrant Trinidadians living in the Philadelphia area of the United States. It focused on four identities: race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and nationality. The goal of the study was to determine how Trinidadian immigrants define and reconceptualize these four dimensions of their identities as they make new lives in American society. Another goal was to determine whether identities shift and, if so, how, for Trinidadian immigrants when they move across cultures to a society where they are no longer in the racial, ethnic, or cultural majority. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research included an initial online survey followed by qualitative interviews with a few selected participants. Survey results showed that for three of the identities (ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and nationality), more than half of respondents indicated no change in saliency. Survey respondents rated their shift in racial identity as almost equal between more salient and no change in saliency upon moving to the United States. However, qualitative findings showed that, of the four identities, race became most salient in the United States, even for those who showed no shift in this identity after resettling here. The racial identity of interviewees was influenced by three main factors: the racial identity they were ascribed in the United States, their experiences with racial discrimination, and being made to feel “othered” in a society that does not recognize their Trinidadian racial and ethnic categories. Findings also showed that immigrants in this study who are ascribed a Black identity in the United States acculturate to both African American and European American cultures in multicultural Philadelphia, while maintaining a strong connection to their Trinidadian national identity. This research has practical implications for intercultural researchers and trainers who work with Trinidadian or West Indian populations.

International House at the University of Alberta (I-House) is a living-learning campus residence that aims to build a strong community from an intentionally diverse population of international and Canadian students. With global education programming that focuses on leadership through community building, I-House creates opportunities for new leaders to emerge in a culturally complex environment that is thought to foster global leadership development. Eighteen I-House alumni and residents who were recognized for their leadership contributions were interviewed in-depth to determine whether and how their experiences at I-House contributed to developing their global leadership capacities and to offer insight into best practice leadership behaviors for an intensive multicultural environment. It was found that the global education culture at I-House created a nurturing environment where diverse perspectives were actively valued; I-House leaders perpetuated mechanisms of active inclusion and support, and global leadership practices that were developed in I-House continued into leaders‘ personal and professional lives.

The political instability of the Middle East is often perceived to be derived primarily from the interaction of Middle Eastern nations with external forces; with significant emphasis placed upon the disruptive effects of modern colonialism and Westernization. While this study does not seek to directly contest the catalytic primacy of exogenous factors, it does seek to establish the necessary causality of pre-existing internal factors. Rather than approaching the situation from a linear causal perspective, this assessment is oriented around an interdisciplinary examination of confluent factors. By examining the political history, ethno sociology, and economy of the region, the analysis investigates the underlying variables which have contributed to the instability of the Jordan, Syria, and Turkey. The primary conclusion of this analysis is that the interactions of multiple endogenous variables provide a basis of necessary causality which may be of equal causal import to that of modern colonialism and Westernization.

Abstract omitted for problematic racist terminology. View Scholarly Commons Ethics Policy for more information.

Ancient India was reported to produce excellent iron products that were prized in all parts of the world. Not only did she make swords, plow points, and other products necessary for the useful arts, but also ornaments such as ear and finger rings, and iron ornaments to beautify her buildings. India today, though to a lesser degree, is still carrying on the tradition of hand-made iron ornaments, by using the ancient method of smelting and processing. Indian wootz, a product similar to steel, was the best iron product made in olden times, and only India's failure to develop new and improved methods gave the West a chance. And so, during the nine-teenth century, India's iron industry began to decline and iron products were bought from the West. ... So while India has many important advantages, it is almost counterbalanced by the problems that need to be solved. India has been able to produce pig iron profitably since about 1895. With the finding of better iron ore deposits by the Martin Company in 1910 and the construction of a modern iron and steel mill by Tata in 1908-11 steel has been produced profitably with the exception of the years 1920 and 1937. During those years the Government of India gave protection to the iron and steel industry in the form of protective tariffs and bounties. In the early years of development the iron and steel industry of India was able only to produce steel for the market in India at a price lower than other iron and steel companies of other nations could produce and sell it in India. Today, the iron and steel companies of India actually produce the lowest price steel as well as pig iron, in the world. This is not because the iron and steel industry of India has solved its problems, but due to India's natural advantages together with the adverse conditions in the other iron and steel centers of the world, high labor costs and depletion of local iron ore deposits. In all probability India's position in the iron and steel industry of the world will become still more favorable and profitable.