Albion College Honors Thesis

October 2015 - April 2017

As an Honors student at Albion College, I had the opportunity to complete a senior capstone/research project with some of my favorite faculty members about something I was truly passionate about: intercultural communication. In this case, I specifically looked at the relationships between French and American cultures in context of the international partnership, known as a jumelage in French, which literally means "twinning", between the two small towns located in the suburbs of Paris, Noisy-le-Roi and Bailly, France and Albion, Michigan. As a French minor at Albion College, I had the opportunity to travel to these towns three different times throughout my education there, where each time I experienced intercultural communication differently. Though the predominant amount of research occurred during my last year at Albion, this thesis truly started from the moment I took my first French course at Albion, first traveled to our French sister cities, and first experienced my own development of intercultural relationships.

My research project focused specifically on the many lasting intercultural relationships between Albion and its Sister Cities. I began the process of writing by reflecting on my own travels to France and the interactions I had there, to shape m y interview questions in both English and in French. I then conducted qualitative interviews in-person and via web chat along with surveys to determine approximately 20 participants' cultural attitudes towards their French or American counterparts. 

After contextual inquiry and thorough analysis of the interview data, I examined the context surrounding the Noisy-le-Roi/Bailly and Albion partnership including the history of the partnership and intercultural relationships in general. I evaluated the Noisy/Bailly and Albion sisterhood in terms of the Communication Accommodation Theory, Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, and a thorough synthesis of other intercultural communication research. This experienced allowed me to reflect on my own travels to France while learning from and connecting with community members from around the globe. 

The presentation of my thesis, titled "Albion and its Sister Cities: Communication Accommodation Theory and The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity and portrayed through an International Partnership",  from the 2016 Elkin R. Isaac Student Research Symposium (see page 15) at Albion College, is shown below.