Examining intercultural transition and history through service learning

Abstract

This paper documents a half-semester service-learning teaching activity for engaging students to think critically about intercultural communication theory. In collaboration with a community partner, students in my intercultural communication class researched the influence of the Great Migration on U.S. society, producing five books summarizing academic research and interviews students conducted with community members who had migrated to the Kansas City area during this time period. The students presented their work to the community at the end of the semester. Variations of this assignment are also proposed for instructors who might want to do something similar in their classes.

Courses

Intercultural Communication.

Objectives: (1) Apply, analyze, and evaluate cultural transition and collective memory theory. (2) Produce an original work on a topic of interest to a community partner.