Overview

Stanford University has always prided itself as an international campus, with students coming from different parts of the world. In 2004, international students made up 33.3% of the 7,800 matriculated graduate student population at Stanford. In our informal interviews, however, we have found that there exists an invisible wall between international and American students, even within the same department. Socialization is an important contributor to academic success, and there currently there is a missed opportunity for all students to take advantage of the rich cultural landscape here at Stanford.

In response, we have developed a course that brings international and American students together in a single classroom setting for the explicit purpose of exploring the role of culture in each student’s academic and personal experience. The curriculum has two parts. The first 5 sessions take place when the students are still in their home countries or regions. After they arrive at Stanford, the students continue the last 5 sessions in a regular classroom setting.

This course is designed for first year international and American graduate students at Stanford University School of Education (SUSE). SUSE currently has 358 graduate students; about 12% of which are international students. American students at SUSE come from various different regions. Both international and American students have to adjust to a new environment: international students to a new country, American students to a new state, and both to new social roles as students.