Tessa Masula

International Experience Country:
England
Cohort Year:
2018
Home Institution:

Waynesburg University

Heinz Programming Area:
Arts and Culture
Bio:
Study Abroad Country: Cohort Year:  Home Institution:  Programming Area: 
International Experience Summary:

Tessa Masula spent 6 weeks in London, England. For her first three weeks, she studied acting at the Globe Theater. Tessa worked with actors, directors, costume designers, musicians, and choreographers at the Globe to refine her performance skills as well as gain a better understanding of how older literature is made relevant within modern English culture. During this course, Tessa participated in acting workshops, actor question and answer sessions, and watched professional performances at the Globe. For her second course, she studied British Fantasy literature. She explored significant literary locations related to stories including The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Alice in Wonderland. Tessa was able to use both of these courses to discover why literature is such an important staple of England. When Tessa was not in the classroom, she attended social and political rallies and protests and engaged in conversations with British citizens about Brexit, feminism, and racism. In her free time, Tessa and her friends would watch shows on the West End of London, discover tea shops, and walk along the Thames. Through these experiences, she was able to gain a better understanding of how to teach literature to her future students, the culture of England, and the political climate of Great Britain.

Community Engagement Experience Summary:

CEE Title: Mythbusters: Cracking the Cultural Code

Our CEE was title “Mythbusters: Cracking the Cultural Code.” The intent of our cEE was to make our local community aware of harmful stereotypes about the countries we studied in over the summer. We wanted to present the stereotypes, dispel them, and then highlight the beautiful aspects of our host countries. The stereotypes that we debuncked are as follows: Muslim women are treated poorly. Africa is poor. Amsterdam is all about drugs and sex. India has a terrible education system. England is all about tea, scones, and royal weddings. We had one station for each country, and attendees spent 15 minutes at each station learning from each member of the cohort. We presented stereotypes and discussed how we learned that they were utnrue during our study abroad experiences. Then, we talked about the beautiful parts of countries to show attendees the positive aspects.