When Dan Schults served his mission in Germany in 2002, he had no idea a common gesture of friendship and new acquaintances could be misinterpreted as making the sign of the swastika. As a young elder serving in the Germany Munich/Austria mission, he and his companion would naturally shake hands with those they met. However, he discovered, rather painfully, that if you and another individual reach over across two people shaking hands to also shake hands, you would invoke a symbol of Nazi Germany.

Schults, 24, from Holladay, wouldn't make that mistake again. In fact, he enrolled in a class at BYU where he could share his cultural oops and learn about other cultures as well.

Students at BYU can learn how to avoid such cultural faux pas and publish their international experiences simultaneously in a class offered by the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies.

Intercultural Outreach (IAS 353R) is available through the center fall and winter terms to students who have spent at least three months in another country and are interested in not only learning about cultural etiquette but sharing what they learned in their international experience.

"You could have done a study abroad, a mission, anything as long as you've had experiences outside of this country because we really are focusing on cross-cultural experiences so you can compare one culture to another," said Shannon Ellis, course coordinator and instructor for IAS 353R.

Students develop country-specific lesson plans for ages K-12, focusing on things like cultural etiquette, land and geographical description, food trends and business habits. These culture guides are published and sold to educational institutions to be taught or used as resources around the country.

"The first half of the class is a lecture dedicated to increasing their cultural awareness and we kind of dissect cultures to help them understand and become what we call cultural allies," Ellis said.

The ultimate goal of the course, aside from developing a more culturally aware generation, is to have four culture guides published for each country in the world. The class has a long way to go however, with most of the guides about southern American countries as well as France and Austria, and the least published about countries in the Middle East.

Students in the class, however, are coming away with an appreciation for other cultures and an understanding of the impact they can have on others.

"Meant a lot to me to put that information down and share it with someone else so they can develop that appreciation too," said Schults, a physical and developmental biology major. "It was a really great class, really loved applying my experience in an educational setting."

Students can register for the class on Route Y for fall or winter semesters, assuming they fulfill the necessary three-month-abroad commitment.

Copyright Brigham Young University 1 Aug 2008