Certificate of Global Competencies: Rempe and Rosenkranz Recall International Experiences

Approximately 29 percent of Honors students at Washington State University study abroad and about 80 percent of entering freshmen study a language other than English during their first semester at WSU. These Honors students are eligible to earn a Certificate of Global Competencies before graduating.

Two students presented their UH 430 coursework based on their travels to Europe and Africa on Jan. 27 in the Honors Hall Lounge. The oral presentations offered personal reflections of their educational experiences while earning their certificates.

The certificate is an elective certificate for Honors students to enhance their preparation of the global environment of commerce, creativity, and scholarship. Students who earn this certificate must have achieved an intermediate level of foreign language competency, participated in an education abroad program, completed the UH 430 course with an oral presentation, and presented an Honors thesis that incorporates an international perspective.

Katherine Rempe (’10 Microbiology and Spanish) spoke with faculty and Honors students about her perceptions before and after going to Spain in 2008 to study.

“Before my trip, I thought of the country as a land of sun, beaches, flamenco dancing, and bullfights,” says Rempe, adding she believes many Americans would share her expectations.

Her experiences in Spain were enlightening. For example, she learned that flamenco has three distinct roles: a dancer, singer, and guitarist. To the people of Spain, the guitarist is the most important—not the dancer like Americans believe, she says.

“International travel has helped me to be interested in, and accepting of, different cultures. I have come to the understanding that stereotypes are devices for saving a biased person the trouble of learning,” Rempe concludes.

The second certificate presenter was Leah Rosenkranz, a communications and French culture senior. She described her trip to four archeological sites in Banasa, Biada, Lixus, and Volubilis in Morocco.

“The main issues archeologists face today in protecting and conserving sites include isolating shrines from the sites, gaining access to the sites to dig, and working against nature and the local people,” explains Rosenkranz.

She also reflected on her overall experience while studying in Morocco, such as finding herself in the minority race there.

“When I would go to the beach with other American students, the local Moroccan people would come up to us and ask us to take huge group photos with them,” Rosenkranz says. “It was a very different feeling to say the least.”

She concluded her presentation with how her trip was influential in her education and future as an intercultural communications major. The Moroccan family Rosenkranz was staying with had a stay-at-home maid who did not speak French. Rosenkranz was able to teach the woman a card game without speaking anything to her except for “do you understand?” and the occasional yes or no response in Arabic. By the end of the trip, the two had become best friends.