Explore Together: EMU Intercultural Learning
EMU's unique experiential intercultural learning opportunities prioritize immersion and mutual engagement with people from different cultural backgrounds. From the Shenandoah Valley to other U.S. sites to international locations, intercultural learning will help you stand out to future employers as you think creatively about complex issues or approach workplace challenges. You will be empowered by knowledge of your own cultural lenses, those of others, and the skills to build understanding across those differences.
Build your Confidence, Curiosity, and Career skills
Employers are clear: in today’s globalized world and diverse local communities, cultural competence is an essential career skill. EMU graduates stand out in the workplace because of their ability to communicate more effectively across cultures and backgrounds—they are problem-solvers, bridge-builders, and communicators, utilizing skills and strengths developed through intercultural learning.
Engage intercultural learning in one of these ways:
- A semester abroad, studying, traveling and learning about places like Guatemala, South Africa or India.
- An on-campus course that offers immersion opportunities in the Harrisonburg community.
- A semester or summer experience at our Washington Semester with an internship in a Washington, D.C. organization.
- One of our three or 6-week summer experiences in North America or abroad.
- A unique alternative program with one of our partner organizations.
No matter what you do, your intercultural program is sure to be life-changing.
Spread your wings on intercultural travel
Intercultural study has been a part of EMU Core curriculum for over 40 years. Faculty have introduced students to cultural learning through educational travel in more than 80 locations around the globe, gaining new insights about the world and their own purpose and potential.
Imagine walking the Jesus Trail or along the Sea of Galilee. Or discussing Eastern European history while honing digital photography skills in Lithuania. Or doing research at the National Institutes of Health in DC. Your program will be led by faculty mentors who have traveled or lived in the region previously. If your travel is outside the U.S., your group will be linked with local partners, live with host families for at least part of the time, and absorb local culture well beyond the usual tourist sites.
Intercultural travel is more than study abroad. Cultural learning and experience expand your knowledge, while developing new skills for problem-solving, communication, empathy, independence, and flexibility in new circumstances. Graduates call the experiences “life-changing,” giving them the foundation they need as life-long learners in a global context.
Questions? Learn more on our FAQ page.
