Global Intercultural Experience for Undergraduates 2004
The RC Arts, Identity and Social Action (AISA) Project:
Exploring Intercultural Communication & German Language and Culture
through Visual and Theater Arts and Intercultural Dialogue
Resid
Project Director: Janet Hegman Shier

What will participants do?*
(This page is under construction. Check back frequently for updates. . .)

Students will have an orientation to the trip and project. They will participate in movement, speech, and theater workshops designed to frame the experience in Germany. They will become familiar with some readings on travel and on identity and reflect on all aspects of the project in writing or using any medium of their choice (drawing, painting, etc.). The AISA project puts the focus of identity, reflection, and awareness of social issues at its core in a way that actively engages students.

Students will spend 20-21 days in May (exact dates to be determined.) in Munich where they will:

  • interact with Germans and foreign students living in Germany about identity issues. past and present;
  • visit the outstanding art museums of Munich and the surrounding area, featuring many art works that were banned in Nazi Germany (i.e., all the major modern artists like Picasso, Klee, Kandinsky, Marc). In the art museums, students will draw, write, and reflect;
  • attend several theater performances where current issues of identity are explored (e.g., a cabaret where all the artists perform from their wheelchairs, small and large theaters that attempt to explore issues of interest to youth.) Students will discover that Munich has one of the most progressive and engaging theater scenes in Europe.
  • learn first-hand about theater by participating in some theater workshops in Munich.;
  • take day trips to Dachau and visit to a medieval town (. . .traveling back in time. . .)
  • go on a memorable hike in the Alps;
  • take unorthodox walking tours (the kind that are not usually for tourists).
  • compile materials and reflections that document the overall experience.

In Fall 2004, students will share their experience and their intercultural learning with others. They will have opportunities to do so through outreach to schools, development of materials and a theater workshop for local high school and university students.

* Since the AISA project is still being designed, some aspects may be subject to change.

Apply through GIEU FAQs