Free Program Enhances Intercultural Skills

With Duke becoming ever more global, faculty and staff have a unique resource to gain and enhance intercultural skills.

Duke’s International House is accepting applications for its Intercultural Skills Development Program, a free, seasonal class open to all Duke community members looking to connect, support and engage with students and employees from different backgrounds and countries. Applications are being accepted for the program’s summer class, which is a condensed version of the program in the fall and spring semesters.

Classes will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 26 and 28 and June 2 and 4. Applications are available online. Those that aren’t able to attend the summer session can apply to join a fall session that begins in September.

“Opportunities to learn about ourselves and the impact of our behaviors towards others is beneficial for all of us,” Seun Bello Olamosu, associate director for intercultural development and outreach.

In addition to sending faculty and staff across the globe and opening a new campus in Kunshan, China, Duke’s international population on campus is growing, too. Ten percent of undergraduate and 24 percent of graduate and professionals students identify as non-American. The class of 2018, which began its first year on campus this academic year, has students representing 47 countries.

During four workshop sessions with the Intercultural Skills program, participants will engage in a variety of experiential exercises, from examining the “cultural lens” of how they view the world to studying challenges faced by international students and scholars when they come to Duke. A full listing of the summer session’s curriculum and schedule can be found the International House website.

Sarah Russell, director of academic engagement for global and civic opportunities at Duke’s Academic Advising Center, took the class during the summer 2013 session.

“I can’t imagine anybody for whom a major part of their job is working with students who couldn’t benefit from this training,” she said. 

Russell said she was better able to understand strengths and weaknesses of her own intercultural competencies and also earned an appreciation for the experiences international students and employees go through in coming to Duke.

“It’s profoundly useful to think about what others’ cultural experience is and how they’re going to approach a conflict or conversation because of that,” Russell said. “It reminds us not only who we ware in a cultural sense, but also how we might have impact on connecting with those coming from other backgrounds.”

For more information about the Intercultural Skills Development Program and to apply, visit the International House website.