'This I Believe': Expanding students' cultural frameworks 

Youngs, B.

In S19 and M19, 27 CMU-Q students took the course Understanding Cultural Complexities: The French in the Middle East. Encouraging them to link historical conflicts between Christians and Muslims to the effects on their lives today, the final project required a 500-word reflection essay and gallery walk. The essay is based on Edward R. Murrow’s 1950s radio show, now a non-profit for storytelling; the gallery walk borrowed from the non-profit’s educators’ page. In spring, for ‘Meeting of the Minds’, students produced a poster reflecting their essay to engage participants. In summer, students’ images drew classmates and members of the CMU-Q community into discussions. Selected student essays and posters demonstrate the depth of their astounding reflections, to the point of sharing incredible personal insights. Instead of course-level reflections, instructors could ask for story-based ‘reflecting’ narratives of student attitudinal and perspective changes that could be used in multiple modes for multiple audiences. 

Bonnie Youngs, Modern Languages