This book is about culture shock and the writing process. For a student, the relationship between writing and the challenge of living in a foreign culture may not be obvious. The purpose of Writing Across Culture is to aid the student in documenting and analyzing the connection. If culture can be broadly defined as the unwritten rules of every-day life, one effective method for learning these rules is to write about them as they are discovered. In this way, it is possible to see writing as a tool for cultural inquiry and comprehension, and, hence, an antidote for culture shock. Writing Across Culture encourages its readers to become writers engaged in a dialogue-between the individual and the new society-about everyday cultural differences.
"I would encourage all US study abroad advisors to consider a way to incorporate «Writing Across Culture» into their preparatory programming, and even to put a copy into the hands of every outbound student. The value of the book is that it empowers serious students by providing them with the tools to analyze their adjustment to an unfamiliar cultural setting, thereby helping them to understand "cross-culturally" their experiences at different points in time and in relation to their own personal growth. I believe that students who write their way through their cross-cultural experience are most likely to have the kind of profound encounter with "difference" that will lead to attitudes and acts of tolerance throughout life, and I can think of no more positive impact." -Geoffrey Gee, Assistant Director, International Programs, University of Pennsylvania