Hi everyone!

Hi everyone. I'm Dr. Joy Arbor. My students call me either Dr. Arbor or Joy. I'm teaching the upper-division humanities/communication course called Listening Across Difference that is the Kettering part of the exchange. I thought I'd give you a tiny bit of background about myself and Kettering (understanding that my students may correct me) -- while trying not to be too long-winded!

I am originally from Los Angeles, California, which I've heard people talk about as one of the most multicultural cities in the world. (I'm not so sure.) I've lived in a handful of other places, including the San Francisco Bay Area, where I worked in the tech industry; Sacramento, California; Austin, Texas; Lincoln, Nebraska, where I did my doctoral work; and Cairo, where I met Doc Hall. I now live in Grand Blanc, Michigan and am enjoying the real weather and easy access to nearby farms (I'm very committed to organic food and farming) a great deal. My family and I imagine that we'll stay in Michigan, because it's just gorgeous!

Kettering University, which historically was the General Motors Institute but is now separate from GM, is predominantly an engineering school with a strong co-op program, so students attend class for 10 or so weeks, then go work for 10 or so weeks, on and off until graduation. We don't have the traditional semester here, though our terms roughly correspond to the quarter system. Kettering is in the city of Flint, Michigan, which has a poor national reputation, partly from the Michael Moore (a Flint native) documentary about GM's relationship with Flint, Michigan entitled Roger and Me. I'm an unlikely spokesperson for Kettering, since I only joined the faculty last summer, but I thought this info might prove interesting and/or helpful; the Listening Across Difference students can correct me or provide additional insight, since most of them have been here longer than I have!

I'm very excited about this dialogue and can't wait to hear what y'all (a very useful slang word I picked up in Texas that means "you all") have to say!

I'm also the tech advisor for the blog, so if you're having problems posting or loading pictures, feel free to email me at jarbor@kettering.edu, and I'll work on it.

greetings!

hi! my name is dr. katherine l. hall, but most of the students around here call me doc hall. you will be meeting my students from english 101, which is primarily a writing class. my students are from all over the place as you will discover. me, i'm from the usa and the state of virginia. i lived there most of my life (near virginia beach), but in 2006, i decided to start teaching abroad full time. first i lived in egypt for almost two years and worked at the american university in cairo, which is where dr. arbor and i met. i have been teaching for almost two years at the american university in dubai--the most diverse university at which i have ever worked. i'm glad to be a part of this project with all of you students.

Introducing myself - Tarek

Hello, I would like to welcome everyone and begin with introducing myself. My name is Tarek Abdulhalim El Baba. I was born in the United States of America in the State of Michigan and I am an American passport holder. I have the Canadian citizenship because I lived there with my family for a couple of years. I lived my childhood in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and that is where I completed my academic years. However, I am originally Lebanese and currently studying in Dubai, United Arab Emirates at the American University in Dubai. As you can notice many countries have been mentioned and they are all in different parts of the world. This clearly gives you, as a reader, a clear idea about my life. I lived among a various number of cultures, which had a great impact on me. This impact changed my personality and perspective. I speak the Arabic language as my first language and English as my second language. However, in the Middle East our Arabic language has different types or styles. For example, there is the Lebanese Arabic, Saudi Arabic, and many other styles of speaking Arabic. In Addition, I was able to speak fluently around 6 types of Arabic and three different types of English (American, British, and Slang). However, I was involved in social interactions with many people from different cultures and I came to the conclusion to claim that I’m culturally mixed. Wherever I end up I can deal with people interact and understand everything they say. This is the most beneficial thing in my life, but not until I got to Dubai, UAE. In Dubai, there are more than 85 different cultures and they all interact and socialize everyday like its one nation. People share their culture differences and accept each others in every aspect. I hope I gave a clear idea about my personal background and I hope we will both benefit and share our cultural similarities and differences.