Teaching America

Over the last five years, the influx of foreign students has grown almost fifty percent. One of America's great economic success stories is its higher education - which exports academic programs abroad by importing over one million students annually from other countries. Unlike other exports, these consumers come to us on our turf and on our terms. The pre-eminence of our universities continues to be one of the major facets of America's global role. These students help finance US institutions and their surrounding communities. Then as graduates they either remain herein professions and industry, or return to their home countries, often in prominent positions and as opinion makers. We have a vested interest in making their time in the United States as robust as possible.

But other than an occasional orientation welcome, we do little to educate and integrate foreign students into American culture and institutions. Perhaps we presume that everyone knows us well already. Along with English as the world's language of commerce and culture, our politics and mass entertainment have spread across the globe. Donald Trump and George Clooney are familiar faces.

This cultural dominance is uneven and likely misleading. While foreign students might know even more contemporary celebrities than their American professors, they are less likely to know much of what we take for granted in our history and culture. We assume they come fully equipped to blend into the mainstream. Too many international students miss the chance to truly get to know America - and for us to benefit by their presence. They often reside with those from their home country, and focus their studies narrowly on professional interests. Universities do surprisingly little to round out their experience - and fail to provide a broad foundation and the tools to learn and experience America.

Formerly as an academic administrator, I observed this missed opportunity over the years. Universities neglect to take full advantage of their much-touted student diversity, by better integrating those from other cultures into campus life. And they fail to fulfill their responsibility to provide an educational experience sensitive to what international students need to know about America to enrich an often brief time in this country.

Now as a new faculty member, I specialized this past year teaching international students about American culture and institutions. I was surprised how uncommon this appears to be. I had to construct this course from scratch by amassing themes, articles, data, assignments, presentations, guest speakers, and structured experiences. I built this course around the premise that America can be explored if not explained - not as an endorsement of all facets of our society, but as a subject of study and experience.

I integrate history, demography, geography, politics, religion, and popular culture systematically to paint a complex, dynamic picture of America - both past and present. My goal is to expose students to the vast richness of the United States, and facilitate their immersion by making them more self-conscious of what they observe during their stay. I use Boston as the backdrop - and have the students walk the Freedom Trail, go to museums and sports events, visit a house of worship, and even write about their restaurant and retail experiences. I build on the theme of America as an ongoing concept - a work in progress - in which peoples from many different backgrounds enlisted over time in this social experiment of aspiration and opportunity. But I don't shy away from the persistent controversies and contradictions that have plagued our history - race, inequality, xenophobia, crime and violence, in particular. I invite students to share their questions and concerns about often sensitive features of American life.

I also exploit current, unfolding events as opportunities to explore their backstory. Quarterback Tom Brady's ordeal with "deflategate" gave me the chance to explain the origins of the "gate" suffix from a 1972 burglary in a Washington DC apartment complex. The current presidential primary process provides the context to delve into the two-party system, the Electoral College, political campaigning, federalism, and the separation of branches of government.

My goal is for students to form their own impressions and conclusions, rather than imposing mine. Students write several research papers, on topics they choose with my guidance. I encourage them to identify subjects that are striking in their uniqueness and contrasts to their own home country. Students this past term wrote about such topics as the death penalty, the history of blue jeans, Halloween, gun violence, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, parental leave policies, black women on television, the Ku Klux Klan, Disneyland, the Prohibition era, and (so-called) Italian restaurants.

International students are in awe of America's consumer choices, multicultural influences, mega-universities, and religious pluralism. Despite our reach abroad, our influence does not portray a complete, accurate picture of this nation. While America might defy simple explanation and characterization, visiting foreign students are struck by the resilience and idealism of this ongoing, often messy experiment in building a free society.

Jay A. Halfond is a professor and former dean at Boston University.

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