Intercultural Communication lectures delivered by a professor from the USA

Arriving at Vilnius airport for the second time in less than a year I felt serene, as if I was returning to a second home.  Warmly greeted by Head of International Office at ALYTAUS KOLEGIJA University of Applied Sciences, Rozalija Radlinskaite, we reminisced on the drive to Alytus about the spring of 2014 when, as a Fulbright teaching scholar, I taught at the institution for a full semester.  As we spoke, I scanned the countryside, which brought back fond memories of the time I had spent in Lithuania.  It was delightful to be back, to have yet another opportunity to teach undergraduates, even though it was for a short course of only two weeks duration.

 Earlier in the year, I was urged to apply for a grant through the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and Science, which would allow ALYTAUS KOLEGIJA University of Applied Sciences to receive funding for the course I planned to teach in Intercultural Communication.  There was no hesitancy on my part in light of the Fulbright semester, a personally enriching experience that solidified my desire to establish a strong academic relationship between ALYTAUS KOLEGIJA University of Applied Sciences, the Alytus-Rochester Sister-Cities Committee, and SUNY Geneseo, my home institution.  Developing a bond of international education, particularly with Lithuanian institutions of higher learning, had become an important academic goal for me in recent years; this was a tangible way to complement and extend the Fulbright experience.  The application was accepted, and so I found myself in Alytus the weekend before my first class.

 On Monday, I met with the class, populated mostly by Lithuanian students, a turnaround from what I experienced nearly a year earlier when international students were largely the enrollees.  This time I thought that I might be able to apply my basic Lithuanian language skills during class sessions.  The level of class discussion, I discovered, was far less than I anticipated, even when I strongly encouraged students to speak in their native language realizing how reluctant they were to express themselves in English.  Students were, nonetheless, attentive and apparently appreciative of course lectures. Once more, as occurred during my Fulbright semester, I was simultaneously a teacher and student of culture observing how my preconceived pedagogical notions about interactive discussion, grounded in contemporary trends of American higher education, were not readily applicable at ALYTAUS KOLEGIJA University of Applied Sciences because of subtle cultural differences. 

 On the other hand, the class was noticeably engaged in two field trips, one to the Dzukijos national park (Dzukijos Nacionalinis Parkas) and the other to the “old town” of Vilnius (Vilnius Senamiestis); even native Lithuanian students became aware of their ethnic history, lifestyle and the foods of the Dzukija region, as well as the complex historical impact of diverse cultures in the capital city of Vilnius.  The short-course ended with informative group presentations applying themes covered in the lectures.

 Aside from the daily classes, Director Danute Remeikiene invited me to serve on a review committee to evaluate the final projects of students graduating from the institution.  This, in and of itself, was a novel cultural experience for me because a requirement of this type is not common practice across all disciplines at the baccalaureate level in U.S. higher education.  It gave me another perspective on competency assessment of undergraduates, as well as interaction dynamics between administrators, faculty and students. Lastly, there was time during the two weeks to discuss future academic projects to strengthen the academic relationship between our institutions, which we’ll explore in the coming months.

 The hospitality of my hosts was exceptional.  There is a special quality to the attention and deference many Lithuanians show to their guests, ethnic traits of magnanimity and kindness that belie the outward reserve one may first notice.  It is my fond hope to return to Lithuania to teach again in the role of educator and enthusiastic student of Lithuanian culture.

 Dr Joseph (Algis) Bulsys