This morning, there was a story in the New York Times that showcased problems with the State Department’s summer work and travel program. That story can be found here.
Cultural exchanges are a great public diplomacy tool, and when successful, individuals come out with a better understanding of the culture in the host country. But on the opposite end, if things go poorly, individuals are left with a negative view of the country. Because of this, it is important that we pay more attention to our cultural exchange programs.
For successful cultural exchanges we need to increase research, monitoring and communication:
Research
Before placing exchange students in jobs or housing situations, we need to determine if the students will be immersed in American culture and able to fully experience the diversity of our country.
At the Hershey plant mentioned in the article, exchange students were isolated from other workers, which limited their chances to socialize with Americans. The supervisor took out unexplained deductions from their paychecks, so the students were unable to afford “tourist wanderings” they were looking forward to.
Monitoring
Throughout an exchange student’s stay, we should be checking in with the student to ensure the experience is positive. At the end of a cultural exchange, the goal should be for the student to return home and speak positively of the experience and the country. Personal experiences and word-of-mouth advertising has the strongest impact on opinions. If exchange students return home with a negative experience, we have failed them and ourselves.
Communication
Tudor Ureche, an exchange student in the article, attempted to contact the State Department to complain about the situation. According to the article, the students did not get the attention of the State Department until they began protesting the working conditions. It sound not take 200 students protesting before they are heard. If we commit to providing a cultural exchange, we should be accessible to the students.
These are my suggestions. Yet, they cannot happen without funding, and currently, cultural exchange programs are being cut from the budget. So our biggest issue is showing the benefit of cultural exchanges. These exchanges can increase understanding with foreign publics and, over time, can improve our foreign image. Once we convince the American public of this and garner more funding we can begin to improve our programs.
With better programs, we can build greater understanding and stronger relationships between nations.
