Laurier International Cultural Conversations 3.0: Moving Back to the Classroom

For the third consecutive year, Laurier International, in cooperation with Laurie Jacklin's HR261: Multiculturalism course and Community and Workplace Partnerships brought together undergraduate students to participate in Laurier International Cultural Conversations (LICC), a program that provides an experiential learning opportunity for relationship-building and improved understanding across cultures, nationalities and languages.

As classes pivoted to online and remote delivery in fall 2020, the LICC program was created as a Community Service-Learning (CSL) opportunity to support course content and bridge the physical divide many students were experiencing.

This year, as students returned to the classroom, international student volunteers were matched with small groups of HR261 students to participate in guided conversations and mutual learning about ​their lived experiences. Students on the Brantford campus could choose to meet in person, while students in Waterloo or abroad could join the conversations using online video platforms. 

HR-261 students also had the opportunity to participate in the Intercultural Certificate to aid in development of intercultural skills, knowledge and attitudes to strengthen their ability to support and understand a globally diverse world.  

The students' collected reflections shared here explore how they built connection and expanded their intercultural learning by meeting together five times over the course of the term.

Please also enjoy submissions from Fall 2020 and Fall 2021.

Student Reflection Essays

Serenity: "... allowed me to explore my creative side and show the artistic side of who I am in addition to giving me the confidence to express myself and get out my comfort zone and work better in a team environment."

Madison: "passed the threshold of the known through revelations and transformations, our personal hero's journey."

Alyssa, Claire, Kristi-Lynn: "...able to recognize where Canadian society falls flat on their multiculturalism policies, and what we can do as individuals and society as a whole to uphold this important Canadian policy."

Juan, Nia, Maddy, Nadia and Monique: "...a foundation for future friendships and relationships with others from different countries."

Karina, Lauren, Alyssa and Emma: "...we’ve come to realize that multiculturalism is akin to a cherry tree."

Zeina, Jasmine, Thea, Michaela and Anisa: "...we discussed significant issues that allowed us to see all the things we have in common and admire about one another."

Jiayi: "...students from all over the world actively share their values in a multicultural society."

Anna: "...culture is not divisive but brings people together."

Shilpa: "...many of us are confined within our own cultural “bubble” and fail to become immersed in learning about the varying cultures in Canada."

Ainslie: "...perspective on the world around me has started to shift positively with an eagerness to continue conversations within my circle of family and friends."

Rebecca: "...we want to dismiss new ways of doing and thinking instinctively, we need to fight past this to fully consider different ideas."

Kal: "...each person is distinct, but they also overlap with one another and create unique colours and shapes."

Avtar: "...Canada is a “Charcuterie board” of cultures."

Ayesha: "...a safe place to communicate and discuss topics not many of us may touch in our day-to-day lives"

Helene: "...be comfortable with confronting uncomfortable topics"

Amrita and Lauren: "...allowed us to feel more confident and comfortable in having open honest conversations about complex subject matters."

Sarah: "...broke the barrier between being an outsider and being immersed in a culture by giving us the opportunity to share our own experiences while learning from one another. "

Laurier International Cultural Conversations is a collaborative teaching initiative produced by Anne-marie Henry (Laurier International), Sara Darling (Laurier Brantford Community and Workplace Partnerships), and Laurie Jacklin (contract teaching faculty at Laurier's Brantford campus). Thank you to our international student volunteers for making this virtual learning journey possible.