Academic Ethics Across Cultures

Learn how culture influences understandings of academic ethics, and how to train international and education abroad students, faculty, and staff to prevent crises.

This session examines issues of academic integrity in cross-cultural contexts. Students traveling across cultures may encounter different cultural definitions of cheating and plagiarism—what is considered “sharing” in a collectivist culture may be considered “cheating” in an individualist culture. International students may find themselves grappling not only with new educational systems but also differing perspectives on nuanced issues of academic ethics which often include more grey areas and cultural assumptions than commonly acknowledged. Similar challenges are often encountered by US students who study abroad, and students traveling in both directions can find themselves unwittingly breaching academic codes of conduct or social norms regarding academic ethics.

We will collaboratively explore these complicated challenges through the lens of cultural sensitivity, presenting an overview of the problem through personal stories and research. We will provide guidance to resources and techniques available to help international educators prepare students to succeed in unfamiliar academic systems while acknowledging the real value of both home and host cultures.

Presented by:

• Opal Leeman Bartzis, executive director of MSU Education Abroad
• Anne Hayner, associate director for alumni relations, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame

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