Kalamazoo Program in Intercultural Communication KPIC

1
Kalamazoo Program in Intercultural
Communication (KPIC)
During the past 42 years, approximately 9500
Kalamazoo College Students have studied abroad
for three to nine months in one of 35 countries.
"How does KPIC differ from the the
current/typical K College study abroad
experience?"   Winter of the Sophomore YearIn
the Winter of the Sophomore year, all students
wishing to study abroad submit an application to
the CIP (Center for International Programs).
Those wishing to participate in KPIC (Kalamazoo
Project for Intercultural Communication) fill out
an additional application in the hopes of being
selected to participate in this program.   Spring
of the Sophomore yearAll study abroad
participants attend a series of orientation
sessions conducted by the Center for
International Programs. Students in the KPIC
program also attend a 10 week pre-departure
seminar, bearing 1/2 unit of K College academic
credit.   Junior YearWhile abroad, most students
on study abroad take classes and do an
Integrative Cultural Research Project (ICRP).
Students in the KPIC program take classes and do
an ICRP. They also write home about their
experiences on a regular basis to a group
selected before departure (a church group, a
school class, a civic organization, etc.), often
writing on topics assigned by the KPIC
coordinator.   In the Junior SpringAll returning
students are invited to a Welcome Home re-entry
luncheon in their honor. Students in the KPIC
program also attend a 10 week re-entry seminar
(bearing 1/2 unit of K College academic credit).
They also fulfill a certain number of speaking
engagements, sharing their experiences abroad
with a variety of audiences, both off-campus and
on.   In the Senior YearDuring the Senior Year,
as their schedules permit, students in the KPIC
program continue to accept speaking engagements,
both in the Kalamazoo community and beyond.

• Goals for Education Abroad at Kalamazoo College
• a broad-based understanding of the world and
  ones place in that world
• specific knowledge of ones own culture as
  well as
•   knowledge of peoples, customs, and cultures in
  one or more regions of the world beyond ones
  home
•   the development of individual skills and
  facilities in
• - interpersonal relations,
• - cross-cultural understanding,
• - leadership, and
• - multi-perspective analysis of information and
  situations from a variety of sources
•   and specialized knowledge in a particular
  discipline.

• Integrative Cultural Research Project (ICRP)
  Description
• Fosters greater cultural integration of study
  abroad participants into the everyday life of
  their host culture.
• All ICRP students, in consultation with the
  Resident Directors of their programs, select an
  activity (often a service or volunteer project, a
  cultural internship or the collecting of life
  histories) that will require them to interact
  closely with local people.
• Through a structured process of observation,
  interaction, research and reflection, students
  ideally undergo a change in perspective from
  they do things this way we do things that way
  to it makes sense to do things this way.
• The ICRP is just one of the important ways in
  which the study abroad experience aims to create
  new generations of leaders endowed with the sort
  of transnational competence that will be
  necessary for functioning effectively in an
  increasingly interconnected world.
• Although most Kalamazoo College students do an
  ICRP, the students in KPIC stay in contact with
  their course instructor during their stay abroad
  via letters home.
• Upon their return to K, they are available to
  speak about their experiences at churches, civic
  organizations, professional organizations,
  schools, etc.

Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo MI
49006 www.kzoo.edu/cip/kpic Jan Solberg,
French, solberg_at_kzoo.edu, 269-337-7120 Joseph
Brockington, International Programs,
brocking_at_kzoo.edu, [phone] Fax
269-337-7400 Funding provided by a generous
grant from the McGregor Fund