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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Laura Ingalls (laura.ingalls@worldlearning.org) in Washington, 1.202.464.6973

Carol Bellamy moderates panel on "Engaging our Cultural Differences

World Learning hosts alumni panel discussion at annual CIES conference

BRATTLEBORO, VT (March 12, 2007) -- World Learning hosted a panel discussion and reception at the 51st Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) annual conference. The panel discussion, which highlighted this year's conference theme of "Engaging our Cultural Differences", was moderated by Carol Bellamy, CEO/President of World Learning/ SIT, and featured three World Learning/ SIT alums as panelists. Bellamy asked the panelists questions that highlighted the importance and challenges of engaging with people across cultures. The alums then discussed the impact their SIT education had on their personal journeys of engaging with people across cultures.

One of the panelists, Lily Williamson, an SIT Study Abroad Madagascar alum, discussed the fact that her semester in Madagascar taught her more than academic knowledge. "By placing myself in an unfamiliar environment, I was challenged to define a stronger sense of self, morals and values in the midst of cultural differences. Innate in engaging our cultural differences is the process of self-reflection and evaluation. I learned to better listen to others and to think critically about my own opinions and how these opinions are formed."

Reem Jafari, an SIT graduate alum and originally from Palestine, shared the challenges she encountered along her journey of living and adapting to a new cultural context and the importance of being open to change. "Engaging in different cross-cultural experiences through studying at SIT and living in the U.S. helped me to demystify my own serotypes, perceptions and prejudices," said Jafari. "If I …was not open to understanding the United States as a culture, I would have been easily living a life of isolation and alienation, devoid of meaningful relationships."

The third panelist included current SIT graduate student Ricardo Vargas who shared his perception on the superficiality of the current globalized society and his adjustment to the U.S. cultural context. "Very often we run into the misconception that only because we can go to McDonald's or drink a Coke anywhere in the world we have achieved a true global identity, but today, more than ever it is important to take it to the next level. We need to understand and respect our differences and then, hopefully, we can achieve a more equitable globalized society. My experience at SIT definitely challenged a lot of my stereotypes of what I thought I knew about certain cultures different than my own."

In general all three panelists emphasized what they found to be true:engaging cultural differences requires recognizing our cultural biases and being open to challenging those biases. While this can be difficult, the panelists agreed that the process allowed them to arrive at more informed and considerate opinions, decisions and tolerant ways of thinking.

The 51st Annual CIES conference focused on CIES' mission of fostering cross-cultural understanding, scholarship, academic achievement and societal development through the international study of educational ideas, systems and practices. Thus, the panel discussion was in direct alignment with the CIES' mission. All CIES participants were invited to the discussion between Bellamy and the panelist. CIES President Elect, Dr. Steve Klees with the University of Maryland, introduced the panel. The discussion was then followed by a reception.

World Learning's presence was evident throughout the CIES conference. On Monday, Feb. 25th World Learning for International Development (WLID) staff members, including Julio Ramirez, Director of Education, held a panel entitled '"Engaging Diverse Community Stakeholders to Support Basic Education: Examples from Asia, Africa and Latin Americe." On Tuesday, Feb. 27th another WLID led panel including Naoko Kamioka, WLID Senior Program Manager, and Preeti Shroff-Mehta, WLID Director of Civil Society and Social Change, focused on promoting youth led action for social change. Finally, on Wed, Feb. 28th Liudmila Mikhailova from WLID/Delphi presented on issues in International Education Exchange, entitled "Building a Lasting Foundation: Measuring Success in Professional Exchange and Training."