The Graduate School and International Education at the U of A has received a grant to help create videos to deepen cultural understanding among international students and families in Northwest Arkansas that engage with them.

The International Students and Scholars Office within GSIE received $1,000 from the Fayetteville chapter of the Altrusa International Foundation to film updated Cultural Lenses videos, which are shown during orientations for host families participating in the office's iFriend program. The iFriend program seeks to connect international students and scholars with the Northwest Arkansas community and U of A students. Participants meet once or twice a month, with the goal of cultural exchange and developing cross-cultural friendships.

"Exploring cultural differences during iFriend orientations is essential in helping hosts and students be open to different ways of doing things," said Cynthia Jane Smith, assistant director for outreach programs within ISS. "In our orientation, we present training videos that provide various scenarios about time, relationships, food, pets, communication, culture shock, favorite experiences and advice for new hosts to help our hosts see how students from different cultures respond to the same question. These training videos are nearly 10 years old and need to be updated to provide higher video and sound quality and showcase our current students."

The office would also like to create a library of videos for new student participants, which will be created using funds from the grant.

"We are so incredibly thankful to the Altrusa International Foundation for their generous grant and are thrilled to have the opportunity to film new cultural training videos for our iFriend Program hosts," said Clark Eckels, iFriend coordinator. "These videos will be used to promote cultural competency and sensitivity to hundreds of hosts, who will in turn be able to help better serve countless international students, scholars and their families over the years to come."

Approximately 900 hosts and more than 1,600 international students and scholars have participated in the iFriends program over the past decade. The program offers both yearlong and one-time experiences — such as Thanksgiving dinners in an American home — for students, scholars and the community. More information can be found on the iFriends website.

Altrusa International is an international non-profit organization focused on community service. Founded in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1917, the organization has grown to approximately 8,000 members in more than 300 clubs representing 13 countries.