Author:
Kelly Neukom’s “Away, Not Abroad” touches upon the issue of how a great deal of students at Oxy, while keenly interested in learning about the diverse cultures of Asia, South America, etc., seem to disregard other primarily English-speaking Commonwealth countries as an “America Jr.”
I’m Canadian but spent a large portion of my childhood in England, and I find this viewpoint short-sighted. If you fail to even understand a country’s culture beyond its popular appearance, how can you assign it value? I can say from experience that these countries have very different cultures and values than the United States, even though they may share things such as television shows and grocery store chains.
Having lived in the United States for a little over three years now, I am always surprised by the misguided opinion of some Americans who believe that their culture proves so irresistible to many countries that they ignore their native culture in order to institute American practices. This is an assumption which seems to be made in particular about English-speaking countries. While I’m sure that some practices do appeal to other countries, not all shared values originated in the United States. This belief overvalues American culture, and totally undermines the native (and often misunderstood) existing cultures within these countries.
Because countries such as England and Canada share a language and certain aspects of their history with the U.S., students may find it tempting to evaluate their cultures superficially, while they may take extra care to understand a culture that looks so obviously different from American culture. For those willing to look beneath the surface, England and other English-speaking countries offer a rich and rewarding study-abroad program.
Lauren Mee (sophomore, History)
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