ISANA

Lucy Hobgood-Brown

Abstract: The international students at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) enhance their studies with a range of practice-focused assignments, vibrant multi-cultural activities and collaborative industry links. These can range from work experience at the Sydney Opera House to cheering local footy teams with “cultural interpreters” who are also classmates.

This paper explores some of the ingredients for cross cultural learning used by Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) students, using the two-way symmetrical model taught in the Faculty’s Public Communication program. The HSS Faculty is one of nine at UTS. The university currently has international students from over 110 countries. Examples are given to show how international students utilise this model to engage with community and university stakeholders. Students who are at first unfamiliar with Australian socio-cultural, political and economic contexts can tap into a range of challenging opportunities that lead them out of their comfort zones into dynamic professional and cultural networking exchanges. These exchanges have been found to result in enriched academic outcomes. The boundary spanner role played by the HSS Faculty’s International Student Adviser is also discussed.

Key words: two-way symmetrical communication; boundary spanner

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