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SIT Graduate Institute
Unlocking Potential:
Intercultural communications
"The flexibility and support to investigate our own interests in San Miguel allowed each of us to make the experience our own."
--Julia Fisher
SIT Graduate Institute
- Putting passion into practice with experientially-based master's degree programs.
- Equipping tomorrow's leaders with real-world strategies, on-the-ground field experience in area of study, and the intercultural management skills sought after in global leaders.
Julia Fisher
During a recent off-campus course in Mexico, SIT Graduate Institute student Julia Fisher was forced to confront her own stereotypes about Mexicans – and to listen as Mexican students described their own stereotypes about US Americans.
Fisher, an SIT student of conflict transformation and international education, participated in a 10-day course on intercultural communications in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico this past January. Along with seven other SIT students, Fisher explored issues of intercultural communication through interviews, oral narratives, and a unique photo voice project. Each student was asked to choose a topic to explore in Mexico, from food to economics to the impact of tourism, and then to present their findings using only an inexpensive camera.
"The flexibility and support to investigate our own interests in San Miguel allowed each of us to make the experience our own," said Fisher.
The strong arts component of the course inspired Julia to further explore photography and oral narrative in a digital story. The story is an account of her experiences with Mexican students of various ages in an English language classroom, and the lessons they learned from being honest about their stereotypes.
"The intention of this assignment was to examine these stereotypes from different angles, and in the process of dialogue, to validate each other’s concerns, laugh, and build new friendships," Fisher says in her story. "I cannot speak for the others, but I can tell you that I came to understand the narrowness of my own assumptions."
For Fisher, the class allowed her to build intercultural communication skills, while exploring the ethics of traveling and her own ambitions for working abroad. She feels both are important issues she will continue to explore even after she leaves the SIT campus this Spring.