This year is my second year at Mount Holyoke College and my third year in the States. Yet even after so much time here, there are still moments when I realize how culturally different Americans are, and I feel like screaming, ?I don?t belong here!?
I contacted my friend Dmitry, who is finishing his third semester as a Fulbright Fellow at Iowa State University, to ask him how was feeling about American academics so far.
We both went to university in the same city in Russia, so I thought it would be fun to compare notes. As it turned out, we didn't always agree on how the American style of education is different from what we'd experienced before, or why.
Here's our conversation on:
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I will never forget when in my first year in the U.S. a girl sat next to me in the front row of a morning class and, as the professor was speaking, put her breakfast on the table and started eating. First, she peeled an egg. Then she spread jam on her toast slowly. I thought to myself: ?Oh my god, I hope the professor won?t notice!?
It felt so awkward to me and all I wanted at that moment was for the professor not to notice her eating. Later I learned that in an American classroom eating and drinking are totally acceptable and it doesn?t upset me anymore when I see Mount Holyoke students eating their breakfast or lunch in class.
In one of my classes at my Russian university I felt thirsty and went to get a drink. I wasn?t even going to drink it in class; I just put it on my table. However, when the professor noticed that, she paused to scold me. Yes, right in the middle of her lesson!
The view that eating in class is impolite to your professor is actually so deeply entrenched in me that here at Mount Holyoke, if I have to skip my breakfast or lunch and sit through two classes in a row, I just can?t make myself eat in class.
The real issue is how Americans and Russians perceive the academic environment. In the United States, this environment is more informal and relaxed, while in Russia it is much more formal.
In my Russian university, there was a clear link between dressing and discipline. Wearing any kind of hat in a classroom was considered a sign of disrespect, so if a professor spotted anyone doing that, he or she would pick on the student. Wearing winter clothes inside the building could also be regarded as a sign of disrespect. It was not unusual to see a sign on the door reading ?You must take off your coat before entering.?
My university authorities actually went beyond that. They created a schedule of student groups to be on duty and make sure no one wore their coats in the building. I know someone who took off her coat but instead of leaving it in the designated place took it with her to the dining hall. She got into a big conflict with university authorities and eventually got expelled. This is how serious Russians are about discipline in the academic environment.
At my U.S. college I recently had a conflict with another student, and even though we resolved it quickly and peacefully, a professor who happened to witness it interfered and . This situation would be unimaginable at my Russian university. In Russia, there is a clear line between students and professors. I have learned that in the U.S., however, professors think it?s their duty to support the welcoming and peaceful environment on campus.
One more thing I was surprised to find out about American professors is that they like talking about their lives in class. For example, one of my professors told the class about her child?s food allergy, another talked about his son?s problems in school, and another talked about squirrels trying to break into his house.
I guess it?s perfectly normal in the U.S., but many of my Russian professors didn?t talk about themselves at all, and those who did didn?t do it that much or with that much ease. Again, I believe the reason is that in Russia the atmosphere in class is more formal.
I disagree. I?ve found my American peers quite open. They do talk about personal things, sometimes even to an extent that I find inappropriate.
That is because Russian students attend all their classes with the same group of around 15 to 30 students for all four or five years of study. Six days a week for four or five years, you see the same 20 faces. Of course you develop bonds!