{"id":18414,"date":"2013-10-29T19:03:42","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T23:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=18414"},"modified":"2014-07-29T15:33:35","modified_gmt":"2014-07-29T19:33:35","slug":"near-home-cross-culturals-prove-to-be-life-changing-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/near-home-cross-culturals-prove-to-be-life-changing-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Near-home \u201ccross-culturals\u201d prove to be life-changing too"},"content":{"rendered":"

For most EMU undergrads, cross-cultural study entails deepening their knowledge of humanity in such settings as South Korea, Eastern Europe or the Galapagos. Yet others find equally life-changing experiences in their own backyards.<\/p>\n

Since 2001, EMU has offered the \u201clocal context cross-cultural<\/a>\u201d program for students whose work and\/or family responsibilities preclude lengthy travel, says Deanna Durham<\/a>, assistant professor in the applied social sciences department<\/a> and the program\u2019s course leader.<\/p>\n

Sarah Baker, starting her senior year at age 26, was one of 13 this May who explored diverse communities locally during evening sessions, and in Washington, D.C., for a weekend.<\/p>\n

Perfect for single parent<\/h3>\n

\u201cIt was perfect for me because I\u2019m a single parent,\u201d says Baker, who had wondered since entering EMU how she would complete the cross-cultural graduation requirement. She and her son, in third grade, live with her parents in Rockingham County. Having never traveled further than Florida, she hopes to go overseas someday, but not without him now.<\/p>\n

However, Baker told fellow-students in a recent chapel service that having been raised locally, when the class studied Harrisonburg history, \u201cI thought I couldn\u2019t learn anything new. How wrong!\u201d<\/p>\n

She explained, \u201cWithout this class I would never have heard about Zenda or Newtown.\u201d Newtown is the historic name for the northeast Harrisonburg<\/a> area settled by former slaves. \u201cWe\u2019d always considered it the \u2018bad\u2019 part of town. I had no idea why,\u201d Baker recalls, although her aunt attended school with Newtown\u2019s basketball icon, Ralph Sampson. Studying Newtown and Zenda (a historic black community in northern Rockingham County), meant enjoying a home-cooked meal and hearing residents\u2019 stories. Learning about \u201curban renewal\u201d decimating Newtown in the 1960s, Baker empathized, recalling woods and fields of her childhood being razed for development.<\/p>\n

Discovering “bad” part of town. . . isn’t<\/h3>\n

Students visited a Newtown church and a local mosque \u2013 both \u201cdifferent, very different, but good,\u201d says Baker. And although raised in the Brethren church, she encountered fresh history when visiting the Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carrie Allen McCray\u2019s book, Freedom\u2019s Child: The Life of a Confederate General\u2019s Daughter<\/em>, served as a reference, Durham says \u2013 giving perspective from black descendants of Gen. J.R. Jones, buried in Harrisonburg.<\/p>\n

More lessons came with viewing the locally produced documentary, The Latino Underground<\/em>, and meeting EMU alumna Isabel Castillo<\/a>, who advocates nationally for the Dream Act proposal to allow a citizenship path for undocumented youth such as herself, brought to the United States as a child.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is amazing,\u201d says Baker, who grew up observing immigration changing the local community. Early in elementary school, Baker met her first, lone Hispanic classmate, while adults complained, \u201cThey\u2019ll steal our jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eager not to be narrow minded<\/h3>\n

She says that mindset had been a \u201csingle story\u201d for her \u2013 referring to a video the class saw in which Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie addressed The Danger of the Single Story. Starting with childhood memories of reading, and trying to emulate, British tales containing snow and ginger beer, Adichie said such a \u201csingle story\u201d may crowd out other perspectives. \u201cWe form our own opinion from others\u2019 stories. It makes us narrow- minded,\u201d explained Belinda Hinkle, of Grottoes, who also spoke in chapel about the class, calling Durham\u2019s teaching \u201cawesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baker \u2013 who had only seen one large city (D.C.), and that only with her son to visit museums — shared a poem it inspired her to write:<\/p>\n

The city created beggars and riches.###Starvin\u2019 people in line for soup kitchens. . .<\/em><\/p>\n

The students visited D.C.\u2019s Mennonite Central Committee<\/a> office, studying its work of public advocacy. They stayed at Church of the Pilgrim and visited the multicultural St. Augustine\u2019s Catholic Church<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Exploring non-touristy D.C. on foot<\/h3>\n

Durham, sending them off in small groups to explore city neighborhoods, advised sampling ethnic foods, adding, \u201cDon\u2019t go as a tourist. Go to feel and see.\u201d She reported, \u201cThey walked their legs off\u201d \u2013 estimating 15 miles for many.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was real,\u201d Baker recalls. When she suggested her group visit the historic Ben\u2019s Chili Bowl<\/a>, and two young men realized they would be the only Caucasians present, she says, \u201cThey freaked out.\u201d She smiles: \u201cI told them I was going in, so they had to follow me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recalls an earlier \u201cwow moment\u201d when employed in the EMU cafeteria<\/a> during a Summer Peacebuilding Institute<\/a>. Clearing tables as an African group finished dining, she realized she was the only white person there. \u201cI was sticking out like a sore thumb,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIt was humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changed forever<\/h3>\n

In the class and on the trip, conversing and keeping journals, she feels \u201ca lot of us learned from each other\u201d\u2013 often from sharing uncomfortably different reactions. Some, herself included, were moved, but others not, by the film, Chocolate City<\/em>, depicting black residents displaced by gentrification. Seeing homelessness troubled most classmates. Baker observed, \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got the super rich, you\u2019ve got the super poor.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s determined to attend graduate school. The local context class, Baker says, \u201cchanged me forever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For most EMU undergrads, cross-cultural study entails deepening their knowledge of humanity in such settings as South Korea, Eastern Europe or the Galapagos. Yet others find equally life-changing experiences in ... read more about Near-home \u201ccross-culturals\u201d prove to be life-changing too<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":18479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,266,5593,5730],"tags":[14146,14214,6778,8115,12246,6100,17235,15196],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-18414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-intercultural","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-applied-social-sciences","tag-cross-cultural-program","tag-deanna-durham","tag-dining-hall","tag-isabel-castillo","tag-mennonite-central-committee","tag-spi","tag-valley-brethren-mennonite-heritage-center"],"yoast_head":"\nNear-home \u201ccross-culturals\u201d prove to be life-changing too - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/near-home-cross-culturals-prove-to-be-life-changing-too\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Near-home \u201ccross-culturals\u201d prove to be life-changing too - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For most EMU undergrads, cross-cultural study entails deepening their knowledge of humanity in such settings as South Korea, Eastern Europe or the Galapagos. 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