Creative Ways of Engaging in the Global Community: Experiential Learning Approach

‘Go big or go home’ is an American expression meant to encourage people to give it their all or stop trying. When used in America it underscores a cultural identity rooted in a competitive landscape. When used by an American in a foreign country, one might decry this statement as lacking sensitivity to the surrounding environment. Even when used by an American in America, the statement may be considered insensitive. Whether a poorly chosen phrase or cultural disconnect, it underscores the importance of being not only culturally intelligent (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004) but geo-culturally intelligent as well. In today’s changing landscape, where within country borders diverse groups live and work together, where organizations are increasing becoming more transnational with multinational workforces and new hires from business colleges are assumed to have studied international business, it is incumbent upon educational institutions to expose students to the broadest curriculum possible. For universities that do not yet have international business programmes the University of Hartford ‘global awareness menu’ example could serve as a model and utilize business school resources. While different options are available in the menu developed at Hartford to build on general and perceptual elements of global awareness, in this chapter we share three options that we have developed: a student consultative project for international companies entering the American market; an international online business plan competition; and a short-term study-abroad course that includes a collaborative social responsibility project with a local youth organization.