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By Edward Bodine
University of California, Berkeley
The American undergraduate and graduate experience is exceptional in so far as the intellectual and social life at most U.S. colleges and universities tends to revolve a central campus, like the planets around the sun. While a campus may range from Columbia University's small plot of land in the middle of New York City to Stanford University's sprawling acreage south of San Francisco, the fact remains that many American students look forward to joining a campus community as they prepare for their undergraduate or graduate studies. In this sense, American higher education is not viewed merely as the acquisition of a higher education academic degree, and the academic specialization that entails, but as an initiation into a new kind of society that promises a qualitatively different intellectual and social milieu.
For international students, who may be used to a different institutional culture and social organization at their home universities, American campus life may seem to them strange, perplexing, and no doubt a little overwhelming, especially at the start of the school year. I, myself, have lived and worked closely with international students for the past five years, both at Columbia University and at the University of California at Berkeley. During this time I have seen first hand the difficulties and challenges these students face as they struggle to adjust to life at American universities. Among the many issues and complaints I have heard international students raise are that Americans are too aggressive and provocative in the classroom, or that professors are often too informal and classroom lecturing too disorganized and free flowing. Or that American students can be especially cliquish, superficial, and/or uninformed about the wider world—and particularly when it comes to a foreign student's own country and culture. Add to this an often bewildering diversity of course offerings and an academic advisor or international student coordinator who is chronically overworked, it is easy to see how international students find it so hard to adjust to life in American higher education. An unfortunate few may 'fall between the cracks', especially at larger universities where there are fewer support mechanisms for international students. These students, without the necessary guidance for navigating the new terrain of American higher education may return from a semester or year abroad with unfavorable attitudes toward their host university in particular and American students in general. Perhaps in the end they may even wonder what they ultimately got out of their time at the American university or college they attended. An important question to consider, then, for international students preparing for study in the U.S. is: what do these students expect to get out of this experience? And following from this, another question, equally important: how do they plan to make the most out of this experience? The fact is, international students have many cultural expectations about what higher education should offer them, which may differ considerably from the sorts of expectations that American students have. For this reason alone, it is valuable for international students, before leaving their country, to reflect on what their expectations for study in the U.S. really are, and to check these expectations with what American universities and colleges generally offer. To be sure, there's no substitute for learning-on-location. But I would like to address a number of considerations that may help make their adjustment a little easier, or at the very least, give a little peace of mind about what to expect before they get on the plane. I organize these considerations along three lines, or three aspects of the campus community: academic life, residential living, and campus participation.
ACADEMIC LIFE
Inside the classroom: For American students who are accustomed to the liberal social organization of the U.S. classroom, the experience of that first college class should not generally be a shock to the system. For international students, however, the ways of interacting with professors — some in fact may even ask students to address them by first name — might come as a surprise and may run against the grain of their custom. Many American classrooms, which are generally small enough for a collective dialogue, are organized into two parts: half lecture and half group discussion. But even the lectures themselves are often flexibly structured, and professors may encourage students to interrupt, question, even to challenge them in midstream of their lecture. Other classes are organized along even more liberal lines, where students, as a team or individually, may be called upon to lead the class through certain materials and arguments. Generally speaking, the more enterprising and initiative - taking students are, the more favorably they are looked upon by professors, who often will devote part of the final grade in a course to "class participation." Besides making the most of the intellectual life of the classroom and getting good grades, the art of making oneself heard and establishing what I would call one's "academic voice" can go far when it comes to asking a professor for such things as letters of recommendation. Professors have dozens of students; making a strong impression early might eventually lead to a professor's strong endorsement, be it for an academic scholarship or admission to a higher level of study. Students should not wait patiently for professors to 'recognize their talent' and reach out to them. Students need to take the initiative and reach out to professors first.
Outside the classroom: Nor should this entrepreneurial spirit be limited entirely to the classroom. An essential part of professors' academic duties and a key responsibility of academic departments is making faculty as accessible as possible. While wealthier, private colleges and universities have been able to maintain smaller student-faculty ratios, even public universities consider it important to make their professors (noble laureates and adjuncts lecturers alike) within the reach of their students. The form this generally takes is office hours, and some professors actually look forward to student visits, whether it regards course content directly or something that is quite intellectually removed. Both professors and students, it can be said, look forward to office hours because it provides an occasion to talk and exchange ideas in a context which is less formal and more intimate than the classroom. Students with ambitions for advanced study in their field generally take advantage of these office hours, not only to learn more from a perhaps acknowledged and well-published expert in that field but also in order to build an academic relationship with a potential mentor and/or advocate. As I mentioned earlier, these relationships can help to open up great opportunities later along in one's academic career.
Academic survival in American higher education, particularly for undergraduates but for graduate students too, can often mean forming study groups, especially for technically demanding subjects such as statistics. Often professors and course instructors will encourage students to form such groups to work out difficult homework assignments or collaborate on issues which are generally enriched by a diversity of perspectives. In some cases, which are becoming more frequent I believe, students may be required to work in groups. But an important caveat to all this, which may or may not get communicated in class by the professor: each student is expected to submit written work which may be collaboratively reflected on but must be individually authored. The sanctity of authorship is cherished in academia (as well as many other areas of American intellectual life) and that sanctity is vigorously protected through a university's code of conduct. Plagiarism, whether committed intentionally or unwittingly, can ruin a student's (and professor's) academic reputation as well as career.
RESIDENTIAL LIVING
In the college dormitory: Beyond the classroom, the academic department and the library, the shared living experience of dormitory residency can be, for many American students, one of the most memorable aspects of their college years. It can also be an important dimension of campus life, where one begins to develop a social and intellectual circle and where one can find exposure to a great variety of cultures, ethnicities and lifestyles. As such, dormitory living can be a veritable education in its own right. For the past five years, I have lived and worked at a residential and cultural center called International House in Berkeley, where students from around the world, including the United States, live and eat together, study together and even do laundry together. I have learned a great deal from this experience, which has been no small motivation for my pursuit of a Ph.D. in comparative and international education. For international students interested in learning as much as possible outside the classroom as well as inside, I strongly recommend considering the dormitory experience. When students live on their own in a foreign country, there is always a higher risk of social isolation. Living together with American and other international students provides numerous opportunities to build cross-cultural friendships as well as giving one a window on how students go about their lives in American society. Furthermore, for those who find it difficult to meet the expenses of dormitory residence, some institutions provide special financial assistance specifically for students whom they believe will contribute to the cultural diversity of a dormitory community. International House in Berkeley, CA for example, allocates some $500,000 a year to residence scholarships, for which any international student, who demonstrates financial need, is eligible.
CAMPUS PARTICIPATION
The third dimension of campus life I call "campus participation," which can be any number of things. For example, a student may choose to become involved in one of the many student organizations, associations and clubs one will find on nearly every large college and university campus. These organizations span a range of purposes and functions, from mountain climbing, martial arts, yoga and meditation to church fellowship, photography, music and star gazing. Some have rather more political agendas, and international students obviously need to be cautious about the causes they become involved with in the U.S. Some international students, who face considerable financial hardship to come to the United States and attend a college or university, may see such opportunities as a luxury or a needless distraction from their academic commitments. But I think I speak from experience as a doctoral student myself when I say that at least an ounce of diversion from straight course work can be healthy.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that the many possibilities to get involved the broader life of a campus community makes the higher education experience in America about more than just classroom learning. Certainly there will always be those students who see only the grade at the end of the course or the degree at the end of the program. Generally, these students are content with not looking beyond what is expected of them in the classroom and in their academic department. In today's credential-driven world, the singular focus on grades and the final degree is understandable. But for international students considering a semester, a year, or perhaps even a degree in the United States, I would encourage them to seek out a broader education that does not end at the classroom's boundaries. John Dewey, America's pre-eminent philosopher of education, once wrote: "interest in learning from all the contacts of life is the essential moral interest" in education. For Dewey, this educational impulse lies at the heart of democracy itself. The three areas I've outlined above, academic life, residential living, and campus participation, collectively represent what I might refer to as 'learning from all the contacts of life' on a college or university campus. As students prepare for their study abroad, I think they should be encouraged to examine their own expectations for education in the U.S., what they believe American higher education can offer them, and how they can most effectively take advantage of this offer. But it's worth considering that this offer doesn't just consist of a selection of courses in the university course catalogue or the extent of a library's book holdings. Rather, this offer includes all the learning opportunities embodied by the campus community of an American college or university.
Questions or comments? E-mail me at bodine@uclink4.berkeley.edu
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