Abstract

Shantou University (STU) in China is a public university in the city of Shantou that has teachers from within China and various countries around the world. With so many international teachers at STU from other countries, cross-cultural understanding is needed, especially between teachers and the university students who mostly come from China, to create good communication and prevent cross-cultural conflicts. In addition, the presence of international teachers has a positive impact on increasing the treasury of cultural knowledge about other countries. Therefore, STU holds various activities (around twenty per week) to enrich cross-cultural insights, especially for its students. One such activity is a cross-cultural workshop about American, Chinese, and Indonesian culture. The workshop is designed to bridge the cross-cultural understanding of the three countries at STU. The workshop presentations of the three countries’ cultures to the STU students was one solution to increase cultural understanding among the students at STU. The workshop was held once a week for one semester. Three teachers, each from the US, China, and Indonesia, took turns speaking in each of the different workshop topics each month. Each topic was discussed in the perspective of the three cultures of each country. Question-and-answer sessions and discussions were held in connection with each presentation. Thus, both the speakers and students share cultural knowledge and experiences, which in turn can enhance each individual’s cross-cultural knowledge and understanding.