Casey White will put to the test the A’s he earned from three semesters of Spanish at the University.

The LSA student is active in the Global Intercultural Experience for Undergraduates (GIEU) program, and his group will travel to Spain June 27-Aug. 3. White, 20, isn’t worried about not speaking fluent Spanish.

“I am sure that I will run into situations where verbal communication breaks down, but I am not dreading these situations,” said White of Commerce Township, Mich. “In fact, this will simply provide an opportunity to practice other non-verbal forms of communication that are universal throughout the world—like a smile.”

Many U-M students and faculty are smiling in anticipation of their GIEU involvement, which is giving them the opportunity to travel to one of eight sites.

The field sites chosen this summer are China, Shanghai; China, Beijing; Dominican Republic; Ghana; Maui, Hawaii; Hungary; Spain; and Viet Nam.

The program, now in its fifth year, sends small groups of undergraduate students and faculty to various locations in the United States and around the world for 3-4 weeks of intercultural academic studies. GIEU also has a service component in which each project seeks to benefit the local site as much as it does the U-M participants.

GIEU is unlike traditional study-abroad programs that can be time consuming and expensive, thus excluding many students who could benefit most, such as students of color and other underrepresented groups, first-generation college students, and students enrolled in intensive or accelerated academic programs, for whom an entire semester off campus would be difficult.

If the international travel had lasted for an entire semester, White—a member of the U-M wrestling team—could not have participated.

“Studying abroad for a semester is simply out of the question with our training schedule, but the four-week program offered by GIEU makes my dreams of travel a reality,” he says. The program seeks to cultivate intercultural learners rather than academic tourists.

Each location is selected based on faculty proposals. When students apply to the program in mid- to late-October, they are not guaranteed their travel preferences. The program’s purpose is matching students with faculty to create diverse teams, with an emphasis on intercultural skills, says program director A.T. Miller, coordinator of multicultural teaching and learning.

All undergraduates with at least a 2.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale), who are returning to campus for the upcoming fall semester, are eligible. More than 250 students applied to the program; about 100 were chosen. The program fee is $1,200, which does not include airfare, but students may apply for financial aid and grants. Students completing the program will earn two credit hours, Miller says. They also receive an internship stipend while on site.

Students and faculty prepare for the trip through group discussions, retreats and cultural events. They also keep journals to reflect on their experiences and to use for discussions, Miller says.

“To see their excitement, wonder and exploration is just thrilling,” said Virginia Rezmierski, an adjunct associate professor in the U-M Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and School of Information.

Rezmierski and Dean Saranillio, a graduate student instructor in American culture, will lead a group of two doctoral students and 12 undergraduates to Maui, where they will build houses for Habitat for Humanity and conduct oral history interviews with Sakadas, the first agricultural workers from the Philippines to settle in Hawaii. The trip is May 22-June 12.

“This is life-changing for students because they’ll go beyond their comfort zone,” she said. For example, Rezmierski’s students will speak Ilocono as they interview elderly Sakadas about their history. The Sakadas can speak English, but using their native language shows respect. Faculty also develop new skills in leading intercultural projects in experiential learning, working closely with undergraduates, and have their own seminar as part of the program.

For Ti-Yanna Clemons, 19, who is also traveling to Spain as a GIEU student scholar, her comfort zone includes friends, cable television and American foods, such as warm Cinnabon cinnamon rolls.

“However, I’m game to try new things in Spain and meet new friends,” said Clemons, a Detroit native. Since the group will walk about 30 kilometers a day, students must follow an eight-week workout schedule before the trip that includes long walks while carrying their backpacks.

“I will probably do some extra work-outs like cycling … to strengthen my legs,” Clemons said.

GIEU began in 2002 after students and faculty wanted a greater understanding of intercultural issues, and a better grasp of intercultural competencies. The first seven projects featured destinations such as Ghana, Senegal, Honduras, and Oaxaca, Mexico.

Some faculty members, such as David R. Smith, have participated in more than one GIEU project. Smith, an academic adviser in LSA and an adjunct assistant professor for the Lloyd Hall Scholars Program, will begin his second year leading a group to Viet Nam from May 22 until June 17 as a GIEU faculty teaching fellow. Smith has taught courses about the Viet Nam War, but students will get a greater appreciation of the values and identity of the country by visiting cultural and historical sites throughout the country. In Da Nang, the group will volunteer at an orphanage for abandoned children—and think about what entry in the global economic system currently means for Viet Nam as a whole.

“It is an amazing way for students to better appreciate the value of a liberal arts education—a broader, more complex understanding of the world we live in and the need for graduates to be informed citizens of that world,” Smith said.