Study Abroad And Culture Shock Education Essay

Study Abroad And Culture Shock Education Essay What is meant by study abroad is shortly that Off-campus education that occurs outside the participants home country as defined by Peterson, Engle, Kenney, Kreutzer, Nolting, and Ogden (2007, p.177). As defined in the study by Kitsantas and Meyers (2001) study abroad programs are based on an educational aim and they take place out of country boundaries which are participants native land. To be familiar with a new culture, to be receptive and more knowledgeable, to get professional information from another university and to reach a high level of target language can be some purposes of study abroad, in reference to Behrnd and Porzelt (2011). Study abroad programs require to be connected with foreign societies and cultures. However, trying to be adapted to a new culture sometimes ends up with culture shock. There is a need for knowing the meaning of culture to be able to understand what culture shock is. Culture, according to Mcleod (2008), is to learn social heritage covertly and overtly, implicitly and explicitly, consciously or unconsciously and it helps to perceive, relate and interpret the reality. What is the culture shock? According to definition of Chapdelaine and Alexitch (2004), culture shock is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the multiple demands for adjustment that individuals experience at the cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social, and physiological levels, when they relocate to another culture (p. 168). Culture shock, especially for students, is a very common issue when they are in a study abroad program. Culture shock can be defined as the period of adaptation of a new culture when a person experiences some feelings like anxiety, confusion and disruption while living in the new culture (Befus, 1986). Additionally, Pedersen (1995) has many definitions about culture shock: (1) is a process and not a single event, (2) may take place at many different levels simultaneously as the individual interacts with a complex environment, (3) becomes stronger or weaker as the individual learns to cope or fails to cope, (4) teaches the individual new coping strategies which contribute to future success, and (5) applies to any radical change presenting unfamiliar or unexpected circumstances. Situations of culture shock abroad provide metaphors for better understanding culture shock related to physical health, environmental disaster, economic failure, psychological crises, or any radical change in lifestyle (p. vii). 1.2 Purpose and Rationale As the social life has an important place in everybodys life times, this study was conducted to examine the symptoms and causes of culture shock on the social lives of foreign METU students coming from Asia, Europe and other continents. By searching the symptoms and causes of culture shock on the social lives of foreign METU students, we wanted to contribute to the studies searching solutions to problems resulting from these causes if there was any. With the help of this study, foreign METU students may get some information about what culture shock is and they may learn what kind of problems they can face at METU because of culture shock. The main reason for this research was to find out whether or not there were any differences in terms of symptoms and causes of culture shock on social lives of foreign METU students coming from Asia, Europe and other continents. In addition to this, it was aimed to explain (a) what the symptoms of culture shock were, (b) what the causes of culture shock were and (c) which of these causes were the most common. 1.3 Limitations This research was conducted with only METU students coming from Asia, Europe and other continents. Since there was no possibility to reach all the foreign students at METU, the number of participants was limited to 40 students. Therefore, the results cannot be generalized to all foreign students in universities of Turkey. LITERATURE REVIEW There are many people who travelled to remote regions so as to work, settle, teach, study and have fun in human history (Bochner, 2003). In recent years, study abroad programs have become very popular among university students. When the participants are away from their home country, they may have some difficulties in adjustment to new country and its culture. These difficulties are mostly caused by culture shock. According to Bragg (2005), culture shock is a situation hard to get accustomed because of some elements like different physical environment, clothes, transportation, and food. Researchers state that in the globalizing world, study abroad gets more and more students attention due to the fact that it has a crucial role on students analytic abilities, aspects for cultural diversity and their potential to cope with ambiguity (Carlson, Burn, Useem, Yachimowicz, 1991). Whereas the specific objectives of study abroad programs depend upon the institutions participating in those, intercultural and academic proficiency are common to all institutions, in respect to Anderson, Lawton, Rexeisen and Hubbard (2005). Teichler (2004) indicates that the reasons for participating in study abroad programs are generally to learn a language in its native environment, to improve oneself, to take academic courses in another university, to understand and be familiar with a new culture, to increase the opportunities for business and to travel. There are three types of study abroad programs: full year, semester and summer term programs. Dwyer (2004) points out that full year programs generally last 32 weeks, semester programs last at least 16 weeks and summer term programs change six to seven weeks in length. No matter what the length of program is there will be culture change in their lives. There is no connection between duration of staying in a new culture and attitudes towards this culture either positively or negatively (Feichtinger and Fink, 1998). Like language, culture acquisition occurs in early childhood with an inner aptitude and then it is supported with formal and informal education in social life into adulthood. (Stewart Leggat, 1998). As culture has an important role on all human beings lives, any change in the culture may cause some problems and one of them is culture shock. Culture shock, especially for students, is a very common issue when they are in a study abroad program. Pyvis and Chapman (2005) illustrate that in the concept of higher education, international students travelling to other countries in order to study are identified at risk of culture shock. People usually suffer from emotional disturbance when they are in an unfamiliar culture. There are many troubles of students who come from a country to another one so as to take higher education, especially if they have quite distinctive culture in their home country. Jimà ©nez and Leichnitz (n.d.) note that the exchange students may confront many problems on their social lives, for instance, they may not know how to use the bank systems, where to go shopping, how to use public transportation and how to live according to traditions of that culture. Previous research on this topic is limited in Turkey. However, there have been conducted many research about this topic around the world. For example, there is a study conducted in United Kingdom by Mehdizadeh and Scott (2005) and they emphasize problems that students may encounter such as educational system which is quite different from the methods their own country, difficulty in adaptation to British customs, places to stay or sorts of food. In view of Mcleod (2008), exchange students from Western countries, especially ones in Europe, experience lower degree of culture shock than non-Western countries students. The degree of culture shock changes because of racism and discrimination not only Western cultures but also their taboos. In addition to this, the effects of exchange students beliefs related to Americans negative perspective about their own country may cause infelicity and adaptation problems. As mentioned by Chapdelaine and Alexitch (2004) The term culture shock was first introduced by anthropologist Kalervo Oberg in the late 1950s. Culture shock occurs due to decline of well-known elements of culture; therefore, some negative feelings appear in individuals lives While travelling to a new country and being familiar with a new culture seem as positive affairs, they do not always positive effects in peoples lives. There are five stages of culture shock according to Pedersen (1995). He defines and explains those stages. First stage is honeymoon stage in which exchange students experience curiosity and excitement to new culture. In the second disintegration stage, they have feeling of disintegration and they cannot supply the requirements of the new culture. In the third reintegration stage they start to adapt to and reintegrate with new culture. In the fourth autonomy stage, there is a comparison between the new culture and the old one in terms of positive and negative elements. Lastly, in the fifth interdependence stage, individuals become bicultural, so they feel comfortable in both cultures. However, it is uncertain that whether or not every individual reaches to fifth stage and acquires biculturalism On the ground that every student cannot reach the fifth stage, culture shock does not always end up with positive results (p.3). The research Culture Shock: Causes and Symptoms by Miller (2008) mentions that there are 13 factors that cause culture shock. According to him, elements causing culture shock are language, interpersonal communication, politics, mentality, religion, Americans attitude toward international students, infrastructure, service quality, education system, food, environmental concerns, social responsibility and immigration policies. These causes are so general that they should be narrowed down. Since the main focus of this research was the social lives of foreign METU students, only some causes based on social life were included in this research. In social life people always communicate with each other. Thus, interpersonal communication has an important role on peoples lives. Selà §uk (n.d.) assumes that every society has their linguistic behavior models so as to use in daily life. These linguistic behavior models differ from society to society and culture to culture. If individuals participating in communication have different cultures there will be a disagreement in communication as they will not know the meaning of attitude and behaviors in the new culture. Since people cannot communicate with each other due to the differences in linguistic behavior models, they have high possibility to confront culture shock. The problem in communication with the people of a new country has a close relationship with the attitudes of host country people toward foreign students. According to a statement by Frost (2007), Finding a group of like minded people who will welcome them with open arms and empathize with their plight is like finding an oasis in a cultural desert. All of the students in host country do not have positive attitude toward foreign students, hence, the students coming from different counties have problem with finding friends. Frost emphasizes this issue saying that the exchange students, in fact, do not prefer to be friends with whom they have when they are in a study abroad program. However, as their choices are very limited, they have to be friends with those of host country. As the world becomes more and more globalizing, students try to go to other countries for higher education. Ginkel (2008) considers that every person has their own point of view about education and its aim. It is not surprising to find out that different countries have different aims in education. When people are in another country, they can feel the education system of this country has a dissimilar way of teaching from one of their home country. According to Mehdizadeh and Scott (2005) Students may need to adjust to a new educational system, which differs considerably from the methods of study in their own country This adaptation progress can be hard some foreign students due to big differences between education system of their home country and education system of country they have come as foreign students. The research Culture Shock: Causes and Symptoms by Miller (2008) presents 10 general symptoms of culture shock that are irritability, homesickness, social withdrawal, boredom, a need for excessive sleep, depression, over-eating or loss of appetite, mental or relationship stress, loss of ability to study effectively, and feeling sick much of the time. If it is needed to specify more, there are some other symptoms like excessive preoccupation with drinking water, food and dishes, fear of physical contact with servants and great concern over minor pain as Befus (1986) stated. Study abroad programs that sometimes cause culture shock have been in demand much more recent years. As regards YÄ ±ldÄ ±z, ÇakÄ ±r and Kondakà §Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ± (2011), although Turkey is seen among countries sending students, the number of foreign students coming to Turkey on the purpose of study abroad has been increasing consistently. In Turkey, it is hard to set a common rationale for foreign students from different countries and cultures. All students who come to Turkey for study abroad have differential reason for choosing Turkey. Turkey not only has many universities but also historical and natural beauty which anybody wants to see. These features make Turkey attractive for foreign students. According to Gibbs (2011), METU is one of the most prestigious universities in Turkey. Therefore, it hosts over 1000 foreign students who want to take an academic education around the world. METU and these foreign students are inseparable from each other. The purpose of METU is to increase the number of foreign students next years. This study aimed to highlight some causes and symptoms of the culture shock on the social lives of foreign METU students from Europe, Asia and other continents. 3.0 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Questions This research was conducted in order to find answers to the following research questions: Are there any changes on the social lives of foreign METU students from Europe, Asia and other continents? If yes, which changes are resulted from culture shock? What are the causes of culture shock on the social lives of foreign METU students from Europe, Asia and other continents? What are the symptoms of that culture shock on the social lives of foreign METU students from Europe, Asia and other continents? Are there any differences at the rate of causes and symptoms of culture shock among social lives of foreign students from Europe, Asia and other continents at METU? In this study, it was expected to find some significant symptoms and causes of culture shock on the social lives of foreign METU students. It was predicted that foreign students had both same and different symptoms and causes. By taking into consideration these three types of students, the symptoms and causes of culture shock was investigated.

Gifford Pinchot and Environmental Conservation :: essays research papers

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot was one of America's leading advocates of environmental conservation at the turn of the twentieth century. Born into wealth and endowed with imagination and a love of nature, he shared his money, possessions and intellect to further the causes of the common good. It was at Grey Grey Towers that James Pinchot first encouraged his son to explore the profession of forestry. But such training did not yet exist in the United States, so, after graduating from Yale University in 1889, Gifford went abroad to study at L’Ecole Nationale Forestiere in Nancy, France. With equal fervor Pinchot set to work. In the next two decades he raised forestry and conservation of all our natural resources from an unknown experiment to a nationwide movement. He became head of the Division of Forestry in 1898 and under President Theodore Roosevelt was named Chief Forester of the redefined U.S. Forest Service. National forest management was guided by Pinchot’s principle, â€Å"the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run.† His magnetic personal leadership inspired and ignited the new organization. During his government service, the number of national forests increased from 32 in 1898 to 149 in 1910 for a total of 193 million acres. Pinchot and Roosevelt together made conservation public issue and national policy. Roosevelt considered the enactment of a conservation program his greatest contribution to American domestic policy. Gifford Pinchot was born at Simsbury, Connecticut, on August 11, 1865, in a house recently purchased by his grandfather, Amos R. Eno. The home had earlier been owned by Gifford's great grandfather, Elisha Phelps, a distinguished politician who served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 1820's. Gifford grew up spending his early summers with relatives in Connecticut and the rest of his time in New York City. Because of his father's business interests abroad, the family traveled extensively while Gifford was a child. He prepared for college at Phillips Exeter Academy, and in the fall of 1885, entered Yale University. Deciding to pursue forestry, and finding no such beast at Yale, he left for Europe after graduation to pursue his dream. When Roosevelt failed to win the Republican presidential nomination from Taft in 1912, Pinchot took an active role in founding the new Progressive Party, commonly known as the Bull Moose Party.

Mount athos

Mount Athosis a mountain on the peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece, called in Greek Agion Oros transliterated frequently as Hagion Oros, or in English, â€Å" Holy Mountain † . It is a topographic point of 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and is good known for the fact that it is a self-governed cloistered province of the sanctum mountain. The lone manner one can see the mountain is by boat. Merely males are allowed to see and are required to hold a particular entryway license. If one wants to populate in the â€Å" Garden of the Virgin † he should be portion of the Eastern Orthodox Church and must be over 18 old ages old. However, there are non merely Christians that live on saddle horse Athos. There are besides a figure of Albanians who besides work on the Holy mointain. There are guards that keep the order, constabulary and Coast Guard that besides observe the order on the mountain. There presence is really discreet. The 20 monasteries are:Megistis Lavras monasteryVatopediou monasteryIviron monastery – built by GeorgiansHelandariou monastery – SerbianDionysiou monasteryoutloumousiou monasteryPantokratoros monasteryXiropotamou monasteryZografou monastery – BulgarianDochiariou monasteryKarakalou monasteryFilotheou monasterySimonos Petras monasteryAgiou Pavlou monasteryStavronikita monasteryXenophontos monasteryOsiou Grigoriou monasteryEsphigmenou monasteryAgiou Panteleimonos monastery – RussianKonstamonitou monasteryHowever I am traveling to speak about 5 of them. The first 1 is the monastery of Great Lavra.It is the first monastery built on Mount Athos. . It is found by Athanasius in AD 963. Athanasius, began the building of the edifices in 963, harmonizing to the will of his friend and Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas who funded the undertaking. Nikephoros had promised Athanasius that he would shortly became a monastic. However, he died before he could maintain his promise. The emperors gave the monastery many lands of belongings including the island of Saint Eustratius and the Monastery of Saint Andreas in Thessaloniki.. In 1655, the Patriarch Dionysios III, who besides became a monastic, donated all his luck to Great Lavra..Treasures found in Lavre Monastery:The library of the monastery is located behind the chief church. It contains 2,116 Grecian manuscripts and 165 codices. Among them manuscripts of the New Testament: Codex Coislinianus, Codex Athous Lavrensis, Uncial 049, Uncial 0167, and small letters 1073, 1505, 2524, 1519. This aggregation is one of the richest aggregations of Grecian manuscripts in the universe. Some of the most of import artifacts found in the vestry are a manuscript of a Gospel with a aureate screen. This is a gift from Nikephoros II Phokas. Hilandar Monasteryis a Serbian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos in Greece. It was founded in 1198 by the Serbian Saint Sava and his male parent, Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja. It is called â€Å" The Serbian monastery † because its laminitiss are Serbs and first monastics were besides Serbes.. . Hilandar does non hold an archimandrite, but an under-abbot. The Mother of God through her Icon of Three Hands ( Trojerucica ) , is considered as the mother superior. Two mediaeval Bulgarian royal charters, the Virgino Charter and the Oryahov Charter, have been found in Hilandar ‘s library. After the autumn of Serbia and Bulgaria under Ottoman regulation, the inflow of Serbian monastics decreased at the disbursal of Bulgarians. From the 17th to the nineteenth century, Hilandar was preponderantly Bulgarian-populated: in his history of 1745, the Russian pilgrim Vasily Barsky writes that the monastics of Hilandar were all Bulgarians. Ilarion Makariopolski, Sophronius of Vratsa and Matey Preobrazhenski have all lived at that place, and it was in this monastery that Saint Paisius of Hilendar began his radical Slavonic-Bulgarian History. TheSaint George the ZograforZograf Monasteryis a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos ( the â€Å" Holy Mountain † ) in Greece. It was founded in the late 9th or early tenth century by three Bulgarians from Ohrid. It is inhabited by Bulgarian Orthodox monastics. The monastery ‘s name is derived from a 13th or fourteenth century icon of Saint George that is believed to hold non been painted by a human manus ( zograf ( os ) in Grecian agencies â€Å" painter † ( from zoe= † life † and grafos= † Scribe † ) and to possess wonder-working powers. The earliest written grounds of the monastery ‘s being day of the months from 980. Since it was the lone Bulgarian Monastery on Mount Athos the Bulgarian swayers supported it. The Zograf Monastery has besides received land gifts by Byzantine ( the first giver being Leo VI the Wise ) , Serbian, and Rumanian swayers. The Zograf Monastery ‘s library is of a major importance to the Bulgarian civilization. It preserves mediaeval manuscripts such as a fifteenth century transcript of the passional of Saint Naum of Ohrid, the 14th-century passional of Saint Paraskevi, the original unsmooth transcript of Paisius of Hilendar ‘s Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya and the History of Zograf. There can besides be found 388 manuscripts in Slavic and 126 In Greek.. Two medieval Bulgarian royal charters, the Zograf Charter and the Rila Charter, have been discovered in the monastery ‘s library. Stavronika monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the cloistered province of Mount Athos in Greece, dedicated to Saint Nicholas. The monastery keeps a widely known fourteenth century icon of Saint Nicholas, known as â€Å" Streidas † because when it was by chance discovered at the underside of the sea, an oyster had stuck at the brow of St. Nicholas. Harmonizing to the myth, when the monastics of Stavronikita removed the oyster, the saint ‘s brow bled. Stavronikita has a aggregation of many sanctums relics.. The monastery has a aggregation of 171 manuscripts, out of which 58 are written on parchment. Some of the manuscripts bear noteworthy iconography and ornament. St. Panteleimon Monasteryis a Russian Orthodox monastery built on the south-west side of the peninsula of Mt. Athos in Greece. It is the largest of the 20 monasteries on the Holy mountain.. The monastery was founded by several monastics from Kiev Rus in the eleventh century. That ‘s why it is known as ‘Rossikon ‘ , and traditionally it was inhabited by Kiev and subsequently by Russian Orthodox monastics. It was recognized as a separate monastery in 1169. The monastery prospered in the 16th and 17th centuries because it was extravagantly sponsored by the Tsars of Moscovy. It declined dramatically in the eighteenth century to the point that there were merely two Russian and two Bulgarian monastics left by 1730. The library contains 1,320 Grecian manuscripts and another 600 Slavonic 1s, every bit good as 25,000 printed books. In add-on, the library has a few priceless relics, such as the caput of Saint Panteleimon, one of the most popular saints in Russia.

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Is Cruel And Unusual Punishment

Introduction The mandatory sentence of two years’ imprisonment is unconstitutional because it is â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment† which infringes upon the accused’s right not to be subjected to such treatment. Firstly, it is determined that the mandatory minimum sentence in this case is grossly disproportionate to the accused’s circumstances and would be reasonably foreseeable that the provision would have the same overreaching effect on other offenders. Secondly, the provision in question in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act is not saved by section 1 of the Charter as it has failed the prescribed Oakes test. The test gives weight to the law’s objective in comparison to the means of achieving it, which in this case, impaired too heavily on the right of the accused. Mandatory minimum sentencing is â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment† The constitutional right in question reads from section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which states, â€Å"everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment†. In order to begin considering the legality of the mandatory minimum sentence stated in Section 5(3)(a)(ii)(A) of the CDSA, the court must first consider the definition of â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment† and apply the Oakes test to determine if the provision can be saved. The meaning of â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment† as defined in R v Smith, is when it is too severe or excessive for the specific crime or where there are specificShow MoreRelatedThe War On Drugs And Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws1468 Words   |  6 Pagesfree while so many non-violent offenders are locked up? 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