Cultural Corner

The world is truly flat.  Every day, communicates that we live, study, work and play in a global environment.   A recent study by Global Detroit http://neweconomyinitiative.cfsem.org/resources/research-library/global-detroit-study reports that America’s foreign born population has grown more than 250 percent to 1 million in 2007.  This does not include foreign nationals who are studying and living temporarily in the U.S.

Because of Michigan’s rich diversity, and  WSU’s international recognition as a top urban research institution,  WSU has over 2,800 international students and scholars from 80 countries.

Beyond WSU’s rich and diverse learning community is a wider community made up of various ethnicities and cultures.  We owe it to our students, to ourselves and to our future to see ourselves as citizens of a broader world.

How would you answer the following questions true or false?

1. The world is essentially a global village.
2. The world would be a better place if everybody behaved like the people in my country.
3. One could live in any country in the world, if one were honest and well-intentional.
4. Business is business in any country.
5. Children’s upbringing at home and their lives in school and later in the workplace are unrelated.
6. National cultures will be a thing of the past fifty years from now and beyond.[1]

In addition to the training currently offered, we are in the process of working collaboratively across campus to develop a variety of workshops to address all areas including culture specific workshops.