Cross-cultural connections
Sama has been involved with UVM's effort over the past several years to create residential learning communities. In addition to the programming in the Honors College residence hall, RLC's at UVM include the new environmentally themed GreenHouse at University Heights and a health and wellness-themed house in planning for next year in Patterson Hall. When it came to a global focus, Sama didn't have to look far from his L/L office to see a fine place to start. "We thought, let's not throw out years of history," Sama says. "Let's use the cultural houses of Living/Learning as the nuclei, then try to facilitate connections and build from there."

Nine language/cultural houses (Africa House, Canada House, Casa Italiana, Chinese House, German House, Japanese House, La Casa Hispanica, La Maison Francaise and Russian House) and 120 students united to form one Global Village with the opening of the fall semester. Mahoney and faculty directors within the individual houses have created new options and helped students find opportunities to fulfill a one-credit, self-paced course in which they attend a variety of internationally themed events — art exhibits, lectures, performances, etc. — and write about them.

Running through a highlight reel from the village's first semester, Mahoney mentions some of the rare opportunities offered to students — a personal meeting with Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, lunch with Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union, and a moving concert of gospel music by Francois Clemmons that came in the dark days following Michelle Gardner Quinn's death.

"He spoke to the idea that gospel music has within it pain, living through pain," Mahoney says. "At a time when so many of us were still hurting very much, that was a wonderful event."

Student-led expansion
Heidi Shimada, a junior from Kapolei, Hawaii, says that on the strength of the Global Village the Japanese House has flourished this year, growing to 14 students from last year's four. Shimada attended more than 20 internationally themed events last semester as part of her Global Village activities and, through her house, is at work on helping to plan at least that many for this winter and spring.

Amanda Hower, a first-year student from Salisbury, Conn., lives in Canada House and is studying both Chinese and Spanish at UVM. Deeply interested in the study of language and culture, she says Global Village has been a perfect fit. Beyond planned events, Hower says that the daily stuff of conversation with fellow Global Villagers in the laundry room or over a cup of tea has greatly enriched her experience. Enthused about the potential such a place offers, Hower offers up an example of the multiplier effect when Global Village residents gather. Say a student of Chinese who grew up in France and lives in Africa House is speaking with another student who studies Spanish and Russian and lives in Canada House. "It's almost like having six people's worth of experience that can be shared and learned from," Hower says.

Sama, Mahoney and the students themselves are in agreement that the future of Global Village rests in the hands of the residents. "I like the sense that the more the students see this as originating from them rather than being imposed from above, the better," says Mahoney. "Who can disagree with that?" Continuing to break down walls between houses to create cross-cultural events will be key to Global Village's future and that scenario appears promising. When Amanda from Canada House promotes the great idea that Heather from La Maison Francaise has for a "No English" dinner, it points to the sort of imagination and cooperation that should make for a harmonious world within a residence hall.

It's all about reaching out and getting involved down at the Global Village, where extracting a discouraging word from Director Mahoney would seemingly require a set of 19th-century dental implements. Yet, early in the semester after perusing a schedule of events and seeing an African dance evening, even he offers a word of warning. It seems that Mahoney shook it a little too vigorously at a previous appearance by the same group and his meniscus paid the price. "My private tip," he counsels, "— if you dance, watch out for your knees."