People are the best teaching tools: a media experiment

How do we come to understand places that are not familiar to us?

As I have conducted my interviews over the course of the semester, I have heard a very common thread of knowledge. International students use the people who surround them to create their space. Knowledge of a place; how people communicate, what is “right” and “wrong”, and just the general gist of the local environment are things you cannot learn in a book. These are concepts that only someone with insider experience is going to understand. In this instance, my subject took it even a step further.

He was placed into a house which had people from many different backgrounds all over the world. In order to make the necessary social connections which helped him create relationships he had to understand these others on a deeper level. This coupled with his interactions with local people from from he was attending school allowed him to get an all encompassing exposure to different cultures.

Through these encounters and understanding international students are better equipped to appreciate where they stand and what their role is in their new society.