| This signature work project is the combination of a critical literature review and ethnographic fieldwork. I pose how the role of international multicultural university campuses in China affect their student populations in terms of relationship formation. I engaged with interlocutors from Duke Kunshan University and New York University Shanghai to detail how their experiences as members of diverse college campuses have influenced their social development. I conducted one-on-one semi structured interviews where my interlocutors shared how identity, language ability, and cultural awareness defined their cross-cultural experiences. By utilizing Tim Ingold’s meshwork theory, I illustrate how the human factor of social networks are dependent on self-perception, culture, and theories of intercultural communication. The social networks detailed by my interlocutors explain how a lack of cultural and linguistic awareness are detrimental to the cosmopolitan mission of these joint-venture universities. I argue for further research to be done to allow the continuous positive development of these communities. |
