Grad explains integration of Pitt’s foreign students

Becoming acquainted with Pittsburgh’s customs and traditions can be difficult for out-of-state… Becoming acquainted with Pittsburgh’s customs and traditions can be difficult for out-of-state students. But for students from foreign countries, the challenge to adjust on a cultural and social level can be even greater.

It was this issue precisely that Mayumi Terano, a former Pitt grad student, chose to explore.

After conducting a case study on Pitt’s foreign grad students, she shared her findings in a lecture yesterday in Posvar Hall.

Through numerous survey responses and face-to-face interviews, Terano researched how foreign students integrate culturally and socially into the community while studying at Pitt. Her participants were of several different nationalities.

Terano believes that mixing with the arts and culture of American life greatly influences a foreign student’s overall experience. She advocated that foreign students engage in cultural activities to get the most out of their American experiences.

“Some of them had a pure interest in an art or cultural activity,” Terano said.

Other foreign students claimed to be more interested in socialization. Terano used the example of going to see a theater show. Some reported only going if it was with a group of friends, but others went simply to learn more about American culture.

Terano also found that foreign students expressed different mentalities about meeting new people. Some decided to “meet people because [they] wanted to” while others claimed to “meet people because [they] had to.”

Certain factors affect how socially involved a foreign student may become. Language, for example, plays a large role.

“Language is one of the biggest factors that [can] hinder [