America has been accused by many of being insensitive to the importance of cultures.  Eugene Burdick and William Lederer’s1958 book The Ugly American argued that America was losing the struggle against Communism in Southeast Asia in large part due to its inability and /or unwillingness to understand the local cultures there.  There clearly was a disconnect between Burdick’s and Lederer’s thesis at the time and U.S. foreign policy as evidenced by our involvement in Vietnam.  Pockets of the population remain today that reinforce the notion of the “ugly  American” but America’s colleges and universities have responded by increasing the number of study abroad programs available to students.  While culture is a topic that is broader than a blog post or two, I think it’s important to review how we’ve looked at understanding cultures at our institution.

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