Internationalizing a Corner of the Student Experience : A Case study

How can a university get its students to interact with and learn from students in other cultures, without the expense of leaving their home culture? A cooperative, international literature project will be described showing how such aims can be achieved. Building on Reader Response theory, students from different countries read the same American short story and wrote personal Reader Responses to it. These personal responses were then read by students outside their country, who wrote ‘Discovery Responses’ in which they articulated the similarities and differences to their own personal responses on the same literature text. The experience brought language and culture to life for many students, engaged and motivated them, and gave them confidence in their ability to communicate with peers across borders, providing first-hand perspectives on country, culture, and people. The presenters will discuss the Reader Responses and Discovery Responses and how they managed the project.