SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A group of Wofford College first-year students spent the day speaking with and learning from Dr. Tara Harvey, one of the nation’s most prominent figures in the field of intercultural studies. Students learned more about primary concepts and language of the field and participated in a variety of exercises and group discussions.

This opportunity came about through the “Cultural Crossings: Explorations in Intercultural Learning in the 21st Century” living-learning community (LLC) led by Dr. Dan Mathewson, associate professor of religion, and Dr. Britt Newman, assistant professor of Spanish. The students in the living-learning community live together in the same residence hall and are all enrolled in both Mathewson's "Newer Religions of the World” class and Newman's “Intermediate Active Spanish” class.

In addition to completing coursework for both courses, the students in the LLC also work to build an intercultural e-portfolio and participate in a series of community engagement projects. At the beginning of the semester, students took the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and used the results to formulate their own personal intercultural goals. They will retake the IDI at the end of the semester to gauge their progress toward developing intercultural competence.

by Kelsey Aylor, Wofford Class of 2018