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Synthesis (FSt 4949)
After spring semester 2008 the University of Minnesota Duluth will no longer offer the Foreign Studies courses, Fst 2929 and Fst 4949, required for the Foreign Studies Minor. Students who have not completed both courses by the end of Spring 2008 semester will not be eligible for the minor. See the UMD catalog and speak with your advisor to select an alternate minor offered at UMD. Students who have completed both courses by spring semester 2008 must complete all other requirements to earn the minor by graduation. |
This course addresses the issues involved in returning home from the study abroad term. There tend to be very predictable phases and common experiences students go through when reentering their home country subsequent to studying abroad. No additional texts are required for the Study Abroad Synthesis course, but students should revisit J. Daniel Hess's Studying Abroad/Learning Abroad (pp. 134-137 and 90-96) to read about reentering their own culture.
The assignments will be completed after returning home and are designed to capture the most from the reentry experience and to help students who are going to be leaving for a similar study abroad experience. You are returning to living in a community that is inherently different from the one you have been living in. It is difficult to think of your own country as somehow alien to you, but you will find yourself facing problems similar to those you experienced when you arrived in your host country. All of these final exercises are aimed at helping you to think and learn about yourself and how you are reacting to being home and living with your friends, family and acquaintances now that you're home. You are again going to experience "culture shock", but by thinking and writing about what you have experienced, and how you reacted to change when you started your travels, you should be able to adjust to these differences faster. Visit the FSt 4949 course page http://www.d.umn.edu/~tbacig/FS4949 to begin work on the re-entry course.
The first three assignments must be completed prior to returning home in order to receive credit for the class. The last assignments must be completed within the first month back home.
