By the end of their fourth year at Loras College, I imagine every student has witnessed

and been impacted by the interconnected witnessed in his/her classes over the years. At least, for
me this is certainly the case. For instance, my introduction to Christian Theology class studied
the writings of Elie Wiesel during my first semester at Loras, and then the same man appears in a
documentary for my Positive Psychology class senior year. But the connections between courses
go much deeper than the odd human rights activist popping up in various classes. Themes,
subject matters and ethics cross disciplinary boundaries in that the lessons learned in a
psychology class can supplement the information gained in an English class and so forth.
However, the interconnectedness of my Loras education was not merely an interesting quirk
about the college. It was life changing. Due to so many courses having overlapping premises, I
ended up accidentally pursuing a third major.
Granted, I realize this is a strange thing to claimhow could someone not know shes
majoring in something? But its true. While the correlations between English and Public
Relations are obvious (both are writing-based majors) it surprised me when an International
Studies professor said I had simultaneously taken classes that counted towards the International
Studies major. During my first year at Loras I suffered a slight panic attack second semester. I
worried I wouldnt be able to find a job with just an English degree so I started shopping for a
second major. Out of curiosity I took two core classes for the International Studies major but
ultimately decided the program wasnt for me and declared PR instead. However, little did I
know that many of the classes at Loras and courses I took abroad in Ireland would fulfill most of
the requirements for the major.
Although, more surprising than that was the fact that all three majors complement each
other despite having markedly different characteristics. For example, an important subject matter
in Public Relations (and one I wished was emphasized more in the program) is intercultural
communicationor more specifically, the communication facets of particular cultures in
comparison to others. I first studied intercultural communication my sophomore year in
Communication Theoryand then later in Organizational Communicationat which time I
learned, for instance, the difference between a collectivist and individualistic culture. An
example of a collectivistic culture is the Latin American countries in which the family is the
locus of Hispanic lifecritical decisions as well as day-to-day living are informed by an
individuals family unit.
These concepts, and this particular culture, resonated with me because the semester prior
to taking Communication Theory, I was in the Intro to Latin American History. Though terms
like collectivist society were never used, the events and people we studied had a highly overt
sense of community. The family worked and thought with such cohesion it might as well have
been one person. This was especially evident when studying the Argentinas Guerra Sucia which
began in the 1970s. During this heinous military dictatorship the core of the Latin American
culture came under attack: the family. Fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters all began to
disappear for reasons known only to the military police and held captive in makeshift
concentration camps. Though this situation would be heartrending in any culture, it was clear
that through watching and reading accounts of this time period, Argentines were losing more
than just family membersthey were losing a way of being, a way of thinkingand being
forced to live outside the once impenetrable family unit.
Thankfully, my years at Loras were not hallmarked too many agonizing topics such as
the Guerra Sucia. What these four years did offer, however, was a chance to observe my
knowledge of intercultural communication in global experiences. An example of this is when I
studied abroad in Ireland my second semester sophomore year. During this time I was receiving
the bulk of the credits for my English major but was still able to connect concepts back to Public
Relations.
Going back to the individualistic versus collectivist societies, I noted Ireland subscribed
more to the former. Walking through the streets of Dublin I would make eye contact every once
in a while with people passing in the opposite direction. Out of habit (and what I considered an
arsenal of good manners) I smiled at the people but the gesture was never returned. And this
bothered me. However, after doing research for Public Relations and International Studies
classes, as well as unpacking the Irish culture through its world-renowned literature, I came to
understand that while Ireland is an individualistic society, it places greater emphasis on sincerity
than the United States. In Ireland, and most other European cultures (I later discovered) will only
smile if they truly like the person, not simply because they are returning a gesture.
My time at Loras taught me how to navigate cultural differences such as this example.
Through the breadth of the classes I took during these four years, and the many international
experiences afforded me, I am able to navigate and learn from cultural encounters. The
interdisciplinary component of the Loras education prepares students for the increasingly
globalized, transnational work force and societies. Transnationalism effects all aspects of life, so
the person better skilled in identifying and exploiting the interconnectedness of cultures will
have a greater chance of succeeding in his/her endeavors.