Third World Transition Program

Colleges & Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I’m an international student from Singapore and I’m not sure whether I should go for the Third World Transition Program because Singaporean students currently in Brown have told us that it’s not exactly relevant to us, and we should just skip it.</p>

<p>Can anybody who has gone for this program give me more advice and details? I’ll like more information and opinions before deciding whether I should go for it, cos it’ll affect my flight bookings and other arrangements.</p>

<p>I’m also curious what exactly is the itinery like, because the website just gives it an overview, and doesn’t really describe the schedule in detail. Is it something like a 3 day overnight camp packed with activities? Or do you get to choose workshops and activities that you like and go for those only.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance! :)</p>

2

<p>I didn't go to TWTP, but from what I know, it's really not focused on Asian students and their perspectives and experiences... well... I have a lot of issues (positive and negative, if that makes sense) with TWTP and the TWC itself, but that's another story from another day.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I know one girl from Singapore who went and had a great time, though... so it really whether you think it'll be interesting to you or not. You might meet some fantastic people and maybe step a little bit out of your comfort zone, which is always a good thing.</p>

3

<p>Isn't there a weekend for Internationals also? I'm pretty sure there is a separate event concurrent to TWTP.</p>

4

<p>The international orientation is a one day thing, and I believe it occurs after TWTP so it shouldn't interfere. </p>

<p>I'd say come to TWTP if you're interested in learning about people and maybe a little bit about yourself along the way. Yeah, the program does get a lot of PC flack for its overuse of "-isms" but it really just ends up being just a lot of conversations, one-on-one and small groups, about people's background and how it has affected them. The workshops are setup so it is mainly participation driven with just a little commentary and facilitation from the speaker. Although some the questions are US based (like those on race stereotypes), most of the questions and discussions were universal enough for anyone to participate. Even the ones that don’t specially pertain to you might still be interesting in the context of looking at American culture.</p>

<p>For the most part, it is a 3-day packed itinerary, and while you are technically supposed to go to the workshops at least, no one will hunt you down if you don’t show up. So it’s pretty much up to you what you want or don’t want to attend. Besides the main workshops on sexism, racism, classism, heterosexism, homophobia, and imperialism, which take up the majority of the day, there are a lot of little events like alumni panels, meet and greet with faculty, and information sessions on different campus services. There’s one afternoon that people break up into teams and do recreational activities, a night for bowling, an outing to a pow wow, and a dance on the last day. You have several nice dinners and luncheons in various buildings around campus and one at the president’s house which is really nice.</p>

<p>If you have any other questions about the program, please post back or PM me. I attended last year and am among the volunteers running it this year.</p>

5

<p>i <3 imperialism</p>

6

<p>out of curiosity, about how many people are expected to attend something like this?</p>

7

<p>If your from singapore the TWTP isnt really for you... Its more for people who have absolutely no idea about the US (From what Ive heard, they take you bowling, etc)</p>

<p>The International Mentoring Program (IMP) is more relevant.. Its for all the international students, and they have a 3 or 4 day schedule lined up.. Check up online about that..</p>

8

<p>No, it's not for people who have no idea about the US -- a lot of participants are under-represented racial minority students from the US.</p>

9

<p>i see watercannon did not read anything past TWTP's title "third world transition program" I too at first thought that it was for people from third world countries who would need help with the transition from the way they've been living to the way the average college student in the US lives. However, it is actually for american minority students to discuss minority issues in the us/brown</p>

10

<p>I'm an american minority student, first year. Will I get some kind of application or whatnot to come to TWTP and move in early (on the brown site it says those part of it can come the 25th)?</p>

11

<p>You will get an application in the mail, but they tend to send it out a little on the late side as I knew some people had already booked their flights by the time they received information about the program and could not attend. However, you can register right now if you want to: <a href="http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/TWC/TWTP/registration_form2006.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/TWC/TWTP/registration_form2006.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Yes, you will be able to move in the 25th but not any earlier.</p>

12

<p>"How do you self identify?"</p>

<p>Could that be anymore vague?</p>

13

<p>Can transfers attend this too?</p>