GlobThink

What is the value of international experiences?  For me, making good use of international experiences is, in fact, doing something we can live on and, at the same time, is helpful for other people. But what exactly can we do?  This is the topic of this blog.

In order to identify the value of international experiences, a very interesting initiative that took place in Toronto (Canada) in 1989: a workshop called “Coming Back Home: Making the Most of International Experiences”, which explored techniques by which individuals who have had overseas professional development experiences may enhance their institution’s and their community’s understanding of international issues“.

I like very much the idea of this workshop and I really hope to be able to do something similar in Chicago Booth. This is why I have paid especial attention to the agenda of this workshop, which I summarize here:

• Introduction
• Overview about [your home country]‘s role in worldwide economics and key concerns for the world such as equality, the environment, poverty, and peace.
• Brainstorming about the personal, professional, institutional, and community benefits that result from overseas experiences
• Presentation about culture shock and the parallel phenomenon of re-entry shock (shock feelings related to an employee coming back home)
• A role-play exercise about re-entry shock
• Brainstorming about activities or techniques for maximizing the value of an international experience

Image: the images illustrates a workshop in the traditional sense of the term. I took it from wikipedia