The concept of global citizenship has become an encompassing goal for me. At first, it felt like a very daunting task that I would not be able to grasp or achieve. In my time throughout my college career and within the honors program, I have come to realize that global citizenship is as much about the mindset of an individual, as it is about the learning of a new language or traveling across the world, or the appreciation of cultures and viewpoints.  The act of global citizenship is to willingly fling yourself into a situation or area of study that is new to you in order to better understand the world and the various people that surround you.

 

I began to understand the intricacies of the global citizenship competency in a reflective essay that I wrote in Introduction to Honors (Honors 201). Through interpersonal experiences taking courses Spanish language courses and studying forms of dance from other cultures, such as Afro-Cuban, I was able to better comprehend how my knowledge of English and the dance techniques I have personal studied have influenced my very own cultural identity and background as a student. These courses allowed me to see not only how Spanish differs from English in its structure when spoken in conversation, but how Cuban culture views dance not as just a fun pastime, but an essential part of life. Taking Honors 201 and writing this reflective essay allowed me to realize that the first stepping stone of global citizenship is exploring cultures that challenge my perceptions and understanding of the world.       

                                                                                                                                 

 Using my passion of analyzing film, the international cinema course allowed me to view global citizenship through a unique lens. Though I didn’t physically travel, by learning about film history from around the world, I was able to experience many cultures through visual and auditory means. International Cinema made me realize that as an American, I developed a cultural identity of growing up within the Hollywood system of making films, films that featured dialogue and soundtracks primarily in English. I expressed my understanding of these cultural influences through papers I wrote for class, realizing I held the stereotype that international cinema would be difficult for me to understand and emotionally connect with based only on differing cultural locations. This stereotype was abolished when I indeed connected with these films, learning that variety exists in all areas of film from many cultures, in the form of popular genres like comedies, dramas, animated films, and utilizing American music or actors.       

 

Researching false perceptions of dance within cultures in the history of dance in academia, allowed me to comprehend the similarities and differences that exist between dances from various cultures. I learned that these differences can be noted and celebrated, but they cannot in any circumstance be viewed in a degrading way. To see one group of dance from a specific culture as superior based on a construct such as race or from where it comes from in the world culturally, is holding an unfair bias and lacking self-awareness. This new viewpoint, as articulated in my essay, The Progressions of Critical White Studies in Dance, affected my individual values and beliefs on how I view dance from anywhere in the world, learning that I had viewed dances from other cultures with this conflicted bias. This information has allowed me to succeed in now viewing all forms of dance with an open mind and on related planes of historical and societal contexts. 

 

Traveling to Paris provided me an opportunity to become personally aware of how a culture can be perceived first hand. By walking the streets of Paris, eating, and communicating with Parisians, I saw what elements of culture were essential to Parisians, how the value of food, communication and the history all around the city affected their daily lives. Languages may be differing among how individuals communicate in a culture, because power relations among people in a culture are strengthened when the native language (if there is one of a country) can and is used to communicate. I was particularly challenged with my lack of knowledge of the French language, allowing me to make weak communicative connections with Parisians. Besides French, I was able to as a global citizen exemplify a culture and a language non verbally through the study of baroque dance. Language is usually thought of as something to articulate and hear, and though I knew very little French, I was able to communicate Baroque dance clearly due to the shared cognition dancers from around the world hold in their bodies.My ongoing process of acknowledging and understanding unknown cultures lies in pinpointing the differences found in various cultures, but knowing that cultural similarities are even more important, linking all people around the world.

 

In conclusion, my experience in Paris and the rest of artifacts I developed through courses at MSU, allowed me to realize traveling to new cultures is very important to develop one’s sense of global citizenship. I hope in the future to always further expand my knowledge of how language, communication, and awareness can be utilized to mentally and emotionally grasp cultures perspectives around the world. I also desire that research and leadership opportunities will allow me to connect theories, points of view, and groups to investigate and guide new venues of thought and change. In essence, global citizenship is to explore the unknown or misunderstood. Traveling or learning a language is to comprehend how a language is spoken and the complexities, as well as similarities and differences of a culture that is not home to you.  The enlightening aspect of being more culturally aware allows for biases and misconceptions to be dispelled, for further understanding to be not only mentally and emotionally understood, but also physically embodied. Global citizenship is to truly acquire a well-rounded view of the world and the ability to strive to continue to educate yourself and those that you encounter through leading with a global mindset and provide research that opens points of view. I believe that my convictions regarding global citizenship will only be strengthened in time.

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