Crossing Cultures: My GPC Experience
Allison Kittinger
This website was developed for the NCSU Global Perspectives Certificate final project requirement, but that is not what this website is truly about. This website is about cross-cultural engagement. For me, making the most of my Global Perspectives Certificate experience meant learning as much as I could
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about other cultures and global issues through active participation, so I made it the theme of my work across all of the requirements.
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Instead of taking in cultures passively, I chose to join Japan Culture Club and Korean Conversation Club. These clubs were long-term commitments I participated in for years. I served as culture chair and vice president of Japan culture club, which propelled me to research and develop materials and activities for the club while making friends along the way. In the coursework I took for the GPC, I made sure to participate in class, and worked to eliminate my fear of making language mistakes. I also used what I learned in the classroom outside of it to inform my interactions with people from other cultures, especially during
Cross-cultural engagement has also shown me the connections between my experiences. Learning about the intersection between language and culture has greatly informed my interactions with different cultures; I can sometimes even infer a cultural norm or value from the culture's language. Engaging with Japan and Korea in particular has opened my
my study abroad experience. When I studied abroad, I only went back to my room to sleep; I took every opportunity I had to meet people, attend events, and travel to different places. At Ten Thousand Villages, the more I learned about the concept of fair trade and its surrounding issues, the more helpful I became in conveying the mission of Ten Thousand Villages to customers. Soon I was able to provide information on where a product originated, what organization made it, and what that organization stands for in addition to the meaning of fair trade.
eyes to the interesting and troubled relationship between these two countries that is often left out of the History curriculum in America, and how it informs Japan-Korea relations and policies to this day. Lastly, working at Ten Thousand Villages made me aware of the global issue of working conditions, and thus a more careful consumer. Actively participating in other cultures, learning languages, and making international friends have made me a more adventurous informed global citizen.