Abstract

I am interested in sharing ideas, and receiving suggestions, towards organizing Study Abroad Programs for college students of all ethnicities between the USA and Europe (for starters) focusing on global diversity. What if American and European universities were to support specific study abroad exchanges between and among (so-called) minority students? What if a similar group of non-minority (caucasian) students were to join the first group as allies, also focusing their study abroad experience on race and ethnicity in their host country? What if, upon their return home, these two groups were to work together as one, sharing their experiences and discoveries among themselves, and continuing together to walk the talk of diversity on their own campuses, both in Europe and in the USA? I am convinced that students of all ethnic and racial backgrounds are in a better position to understand, and positively practice, diversity back home from the vantage point of having lived and studied it abroad. Looking at one’s own culture from the perspective of the other’s allows us to displace the historical and emotional “baggage” that prevents us from moving forward, and access a more encompassing and constructive global perspective. I would like European and American students to be given the opportunity, via a well-directed and well-supported Study Abroad experience to think diversity globally, in order to more positively act and practice it locally.