For Immediate Release:
Harding students get cultural tour
High school group visits Yale to learn languages, dances
FELICIA HUNTER, Correspondent, The Connecticut Post
BRIDGEPORT — Through an ancient language, a traditional dance and the thrill of espionage, a group of Harding High School students recently embarked on a cultural excursion from their home base to points around the globe — just by making a short trip to New Haven.
Along with students from Mercy High School in Middletown, students in Harding's English to Speakers of Other Languages class spent a day at the Yale Center for International and Area Studies for the latest of several cultural exchange sessions this year. The April 26 event, titled "Discover the World," allowed them to glimpse Far Eastern, Middle Eastern and European cultures, as well as role play in an imaginary community with its own rules and regulations.
At one point, simultaneous workshops were given in Arabic dance, Japanese writing, and using an atlas and a series of clues to pursue international criminals bunkered in European hideouts.
"It's very cool. I learned how to pronounce the Japanese language," said Harding student Manuel Espinal, 14, after being taught to say his name in Japanese using Katakana characters. A native of the Dominican Republic, Manuel had never written in Japanese before.
"They say it's easy to learn if you know Spanish, and it's true," the teenager said.
That was the mission of the program: encouraging teens to have an open mind about different cultures.
"One of the main purposes is to expose kids to cultures around the world. It's kind of a one-stop shop," said Jeffrey S. Levick, director of East Asian Studies for Programs in International Educational Resources at Yale.
In addition to the workshops, students heard a panel of foreign graduate students discuss differences between living in their home countries and the United States.
The day of cultural awareness was arranged through LEARN — or Long-term Educational Assistance for Regional Needs — Southeastern Connecticut's Regional Educational Service Center, which has its main office in Old Lyme. Harding is participating in LEARN's state-funded "Pathways to Freedom and Friendship" program, which partners 12 urban and suburban schools for cultural-exchange activities. Through the program, 17 Harding students in Rosanne Neri's ESOL class have participated in common projects with 17 Mercy students. Bridgeport's McKinley School also participates in the "Pathways to Freedom and Friendship" program. It is paired with Old Lyme Center School.
Interacting through events such as the one offered at Yale "gives kids an opportunity to work together and be exposed to different cultures," said Robin Miglarese, interdistrict coordinator for LEARN.
Harding student Juan Palacio, 18, a native of Colombia, reveled in learning about different cultures and enthusiastically executed the series of stomps, dips, crossovers and jumps that comprise Arabic debke line dancing.
Elizabeth Carreon, 17, a Harding student from Mexico, said that each of the graduate students emphasized food distinctions between the United States and their home countries of Brazil, China, Germany and Sri Lanka. In one exercise, students were divided into two groups, each with different practices and customs. On their own, they had to decide how, and whether, to break through cultural barriers that caused outsiders to be shunned and communication to be prohibited.
Dominique Refuse, 17, was determined to get a member of the opposing group to speak to her. After trying several times without success, she observed and learned the cultural nuances of the other group, then approached them the way they approached each other. It worked.
"I was trying to get someone talking," said Refuse, who is from Haiti. "In my own country, I can do what my country does, but when I'm out of my country, I do what that country does."
The presentation was "great," she said, adding that she felt hurt when she was ignored during the exercise.
"When a person treats you that way, you feel sad," she said. "There will be people who want to hold you back. You gotta just fight with it and do what you gotta do."
"It was realistic, exciting," said Carlos Rodriguez, 18, a Harding student from the Dominican Republic, about the workshops. "I learned many things that are important about other countries I didn't know. Communication is important."
###
Contact Information:
Jan Headley
PIER Manager
Yale Center for International and Area Studies
Henry R. Luce Hall
34 Hillhouse Avenue
P.O. Box 208206
New Haven, CT 06520-8206
Phone: 203-432-3429
