Laurier International Cultural Conversations 4.0

For the fourth consecutive year, Laurier International, in cooperation with Laurie Jacklin's HR261: Multiculturalism course and Community and Workplace Partnerships brought together in-course and volunteer international undergraduate students to participate in Laurier International Cultural Conversations (LICC) 4.0.

This Community-Service Learning program is an experiential learning opportunity for students to build relationships and develop their intercultural knowledge across many diverse cultures, nationalities, and languages.

HR261 students participated in several workshops from Laurier Global Engagement’s highly-regarded Intercultural Certificate to understand the theories, contemporary challenges, and best practices of relevance to a broad range of intercultural skills and knowledge. This learning assists students in expanding their worldviews and understanding across our transnational and global communication paths.

The thematic learning throughout the Intercultural Certificate workshops provides the intellectual foundation for a series of peer-to-peer student discussions. This year, the in-course students welcomed international volunteers from Laurier University, Wilfrid Laurier International College, and Laurier’s English Skills Program to join them in guided conversations, mutual learning, and learning self-reflection as the students collaboratively discussed their lived experiences. Together, the international and domestic students explored and exchanged real world perspectives on many challenging aspects of multiculturalism as they developed their own unique intercultural competencies.

The following reflections – as authored by several in-program students – offer culminating ruminations and musings about the rich and diverse learning journeys during the semester.

Please also enjoy submissions from Fall 2020, Fall 2021 and Fall 2022.

Student Reflection Essays

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 learning journey possible.

Sophie, Shem, Chaehyeon and Yameen: "this concept is so complex and ever-evolving, we are still left wondering."

Hanna: "Our differences shape us, but they do not define us."

Domonique: "brief conversations with diverse people can have just as much impact on fixing our broken world as big actions can."

Neilab:"multiculturalism demands time, patience, and a commitment to genuine understanding."

Owen: "Being in this culture is not just defined by all the negative perceptions that people have of us."

Serena: "have never been more cautious of my single-story perspective."

Isabella: "Beyond theoretical concepts, these dialogues became a compelling journey into the complexities of our diverse world."

Emily: "We had group members ranging from Canadian, Korean, Ukrainian, to Pakistani and it was such an eye-opening experience."

Tareq: "my own journey and the collective tapestry woven by my peers and international companions."

Isabelle: "I am able to translate the acquired skills easily into other courses and to grow my own professional abilities."

Sowmiya: "helped me better critically analyze what I considered to be my "Canadian Identity"

Heather: "constantly changing to become an even more beautiful version of itself that everyone can enjoy."

Catherine: "it required me to critically reflect on my own beliefs, behaviours, and experiences, and how my culture has influenced these."

Sierra: "being wrong can lead to some of the greatest learning opportunities we will ever have."

Cerenna-Tee: "allowed me to engage with topics or situations I had not considered before." 

Chantel: "can be a huge revelation for individuals who often relate diverse cultures to being completely different or ‘wrong’ compared to their own cultural beliefs and values."

Melina: "I realized that there wasn’t really any change at all." 

Johany: "despite our similarities, we still had different interpretations, but we still felt a sense of interconnectedness."

Sunandini: "it has been a mind-altering experience for me."