What does Global Engagement Mean to Me?
Henry Leighton Wesleyan University Class of 2025
What does Global Engagement Mean to Me?
Henry Leighton Wesleyan University Class of 2025
This category includes written pieces and posts where I reflect on aspects of my identity that impact my frame of reference and implicit bias in how I interact with various spaces and institutions.
While touring one of Cuba’s health facilities, I found this poster very fascinating as a physical representation of the Cuban healthcare system and its differences with respect to the American system to which I was accustomed. In the United States I haven’t come across this level of cost transparency, and this representation isn’t intended to …
One day, when walking through Old Havana, my friends and I came across the shop for Clandestina, Cuba’s first private fashion brand. The company references the clandestine operations that characterized the revolution’s resistance to the US-backed Batista dictatorship, but its existence marks the transformation of Cuba’s economy with allowances for more privately-owned businesses. There is …
This billboard features a quote from the Cuban president who succeeded Raúl Castro(pictured left), Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermúdez (pictured right). The translation reads: Of course wedepend on our producers … of course we depend on the cooperative sector and our farmers.Interestingly, although this billboard primarily features farmers, it is located in Havana, Cuba’smetropolitan capital. In this …
Adjusting to the academic culture at the University of Havana was challenging in ways I hadn’t expected. At Wesleyan, even if a class is particularly difficult, I understand the general expectations of the university and feel integrated into that framework as a student. However, when I was studying in Cuba, I had re-learn that framework …
During a visit to one of Cuba’s mental health centers through a study abroad course on the island, I was struck by the cultural differences I experienced. The facility had once been the home of a wealthy landowner before the revolution, after which point its beautiful architecture has served as the workplace for psychologists and …
Before taking SPAN 236: Cervantes with Professor Armstrong-Roche, my view of the Middle Ages was characterized by an understanding of the social repression of organized religion, the restrictions on the rights of women, and the lack of social mobility between the rich and the poor. Before Professor Roche voiced criticism of the term “dark ages” …
As I rode in a cable car in Taipei’s Maokong Gondola route, watching treetops pass by through the glass bottom, my friends decided that we should go around and each say “our type” of person that we find attractive. We ended up talking about dating in high school, touching on a notable cultural difference between …
I hesitated to write about this topic, because I did not want it to be misconstrued or generalized to reflect poorly on Taiwanese culture, or otherwise be understood as anything other than the isolated incident that I perceived it to be. I didn’t encounter anyone in Taiwan who shared the views of my first host …
I was very grateful for the opportunity to study in Taiwan, and the amazing experiences and relationships that I built there. However, I did experience some discomfort surrounding my affiliation with the American State Department through the Critical Language Scholarship program. We were often told that our conduct reflected back on our nation and its …
After having the privilege of studying abroad twice, I’ve come to understand that intercultural learning is a cyclical process. What I learned in Cuba allowed me to better articulate my experience there, but studying a different language and living in a different culture in Taiwan meant that I was frustrated at times by my lack …
