Immersed in the culture
Short-term opportunities
2025 experiences announced
Most students fulfill their cross-cultural requirement through a May term experience, typically at the end of the sophomore or junior year. While each experience is unique, all provide an opportunity to interact with people in the host community, through formal presentations and in service settings.
Lodging is usually in a group setting (guest house, hotel, conference center, kibbutz or convent), with some opportunities for overnight or weekend home stays with host families.
Long thought to be somewhat culturally backward due to the geographically irrational assignment as “Eastern European,” the Czechs actually provide a very interesting balance between Western ideals and their former Soviet ideologies.
Explore historical, cultural and geological areas including the Equator Museum, the market and an active volcano. Stay with host families and volunteer at the Centro Medico clinic.
Students work with and for local homeowners, building relationships that enrich all involved. Students do a range of work from painting and fixing leaky roofs to assisting with home additions and renovations, all the while getting acquainted with the families whose homes are being repaired.
San Antonio is located along the US/Mexico border. Learn about Tejano and Mexican culture and history; volunteer in service-learning placements. Some familiarity of Spanish is very useful, but not required.
A new cross-cultural experience to Tanzania is planned for May/June 2025.
Contact
Marathana Prothro (fall 2024) or Paul Neufeld Weaver (spring 2025)
Building relationships on campus and abroad
“The discussions we had in classes, the cross-cultural experience and the whole Bluffton package encouraged my passion and drive to be part of something bigger,” said Holly Metzger '05, now an enrollment counselor at Bluffton.