ABSTRACT
People decide to study abroad and become international students for many reasons—some framed in terms of future economic benefit, others in terms of "becoming" and realizing personal dreams. This chapter examines the prism of stereotype through which international students come to see their immediate world and through which they, in turn, are viewed. Stereotypes also act as prisms: selectively refracting and distorting the real image and providing a differently colored one that is simpler and more striking. The chapter considers the cultural journeys of international students in understanding their new culture, their own cultures, and their self-identities. International students must find and piece together the underlying assumptions, beliefs, and values that moderate the social behavior and national culture that surround them. The chapter argues that there are significant benefits for the community of learning when all students are regarded as valuable, un-differentiated, and un-stigmatized participants, and when international students are viewed simply as students—neither as designated "internationals" or "domestics.".
