{"id":76755,"date":"2026-01-13T07:59:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T14:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=76755"},"modified":"2026-01-13T07:59:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T14:59:49","slug":"a-classroom-without-borders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/a-classroom-without-borders\/","title":{"rendered":"A classroom without borders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learning\u00a0about a culture from a textbook\u00a0can give us a glimpse\u00a0into\u00a0a different world. However, talking to someone from a different culture will provide us with a more detailed view of their culture and a deeper understanding of our own.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Inquiry Into Self and Culture is a unique class at Northern Arizona University\u00a0that does just that,\u00a0by pairing students with international classmates to learn more about cultural differences and similarities.\u00a0<\/span>Samantha Clifford<\/span><\/b>, assistant teaching professor of\u00a0anthropology, started teaching the class in 2011\u00a0and had to pause because of the COVID-19\u00a0pandemic. This spring semester, she is again embarking on a journey to teach in a classroom without borders.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe work closely with the\u00a0<\/span>Center for International Education<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to recruit international students who are interested in getting to know American students,\u201d Clifford said. \u201cWe have half international students and half United\u00a0States\u00a0students who want to learn about\u00a0different cultures\u00a0and\u00a0anthropology and\u00a0who\u00a0are looking to develop friendships and connections.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The class meets once a week on Wednesdays in the evenings and is highly interactive. Students meet outside of class to complete assignments together and then write their own reflections.\u00a0Some of the assignments and activities include interviewing family members about\u00a0different cultural\u00a0interactions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStudents meet family members of their class partners through a video chat,\u201d Clifford said. “They learn the cultural expectations\u00a0of meeting family members and how to introduce themselves. This also sparks a conversation about similarities and differences in cultural etiquette. Students\u00a0get to broaden their perspective on practices in our society,\u00a0and it really helps them reflect and understand them. It is\u00a0a nice way\u00a0to bounce things off and reflect on your own culture by learning from the other students.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another assignment includes getting a news article from their hometown to discuss what prevalent news\u00a0is\u00a0not shared\u00a0in other\u00a0cultures and to look at contemporary issues that help students learn more about\u00a0different places.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0like\u00a0to have at least\u00a0two\u00a0or\u00a0three\u00a0students from the same country\u00a0to have a broader group discussion,\u201d Clifford said. \u201cEveryone has different experiences and backgrounds, so you might have three students from South\u00a0Korea,\u00a0and they all are going to have different experiences in their own culture. If you grew up in a city versus in a rural area, your experience is going to be different. One student does not\u00a0represent\u00a0an entire culture.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before going on hiatus from COVID,\u00a0Clifford had students do\u00a0a follow-up survey about the class.\u00a0Almost 90%\u00a0of her students\u00a0said they learned something in class that\u00a0could be\u00a0used\u00a0in their personal\u00a0lives\u00a0and skills that\u00a0prepared\u00a0them for their future\u00a0careers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have presented at a couple of different conferences based on the results of the class,\u201d Clifford said. \u201cThe research for the class is looking at how instructors can\u00a0leverage\u00a0pedagogy and curriculum to really foster deep and meaningful relationships because we\u00a0examine enculturation, values,\u00a0beliefs\u00a0and morals,\u00a0which\u00a0are very culturally bound.\u00a0It’s\u00a0a unique opportunity to speak to someone from outside your culture about academic topics,\u00a0but it also has the benefit of helping students reframe both what they\u00a0observe\u00a0and what they learn through conversations to better examine and understand one’s own culture.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clifford\u00a0said\u00a0students\u00a0often\u00a0are\u00a0surprised when they\u00a0learn\u00a0more about their own culture\u00a0in the class. While discussing practices that some might consider foreign, they learn about how others might perceive their\u00a0cultural practices.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the most important thing\u00a0students\u00a0learn is to suspend their judgment and assumptions when they encounter new information,\u201d Clifford said. \u201cWe\u00a0talk about that a lot, just being able to step back and reflect on\u00a0different topics. Why\u00a0am I reacting\u00a0this way\u00a0or assuming this thing? What is it in my culture that\u00a0makes\u00a0me\u00a0think these things\u00a0about this other person? I think\u00a0that’s\u00a0a\u00a0really helpful\u00a0lifelong learning skill\u00a0if\u00a0you’re\u00a0trying to work with people who are different than you.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Inquiry into Self and Culture is a general studies class that fulfills Social and Political Worlds credit requirements. Students interested in enrolling can email\u00a0<\/span>Clifford<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for information.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>Mariana Laas | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-5050 | mariana.laas@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learning\u00a0about a culture from a textbook\u00a0can give us a glimpse\u00a0into\u00a0a different world. However, talking to someone from a different culture will provide us with a more detailed view of their culture and a deeper understanding of our own.\u00a0 Inquiry Into Self and Culture is a unique class at Northern Arizona University\u00a0that does just that,\u00a0by pairing…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":76756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1829],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics","category-student-edition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}