By Kendra Stone
BYU International Studies students are helping to build a library of information about foreign countries and cultures while spreading cross-cultural understanding in Utah classrooms.
Students in International Studies 353 develop oral presentations and teaching manuals called ?Culture Guides,? to teach elementary schoolers about the food, folklore and other cultural aspects of a country.
Created in the early 1980s, the International Outreach program seeks to spread culture through Utah.
?The first goal is to help people understand that culture exists,? said Cory Leonard, assistant director of special programs at the Kennedy Center. ?The second is to develop skills to become knowledgeable inter-culturalists and, lastly, to understand inter-cultural relationships?.
Students creating the culture guides must have lived abroad. They incorporate multi-media resources like photos, videos and flags to capture their young audience”s attention.
?I had one student from New Zealand who did a traditional Maori dance with face paint and costuming during his oral presentation, and the kids just loved it?, Leonard said.
