Students in Penn State Schuylkill\u2019s MGMT 345: Cultural Intelligence in Leadership and Management recently expanded their learning beyond the classroom, traveling to Denmark and Sweden as part of the course\u2019s international embedded travel component.<\/p>\n
The course, taught by Gina C. Whalen, associate teaching professor of business, brought together students from Penn State Schuylkill, University Park and World Campus for a weeklong experience focused on cultural exploration and global leadership.<\/p>\n
Ron Kelly, associate professor and program coordinator of criminal justice, played a key role in planning and leading the trip. Whalen noted that Kelly\u2019s contributions were instrumental to the trip\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis support was essential in making the trip such a positive experience for the students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Whalen said Copenhagen was selected as the destination because of its unique combination of history, sustainability and innovation.<\/p>\n
\u201cCopenhagen is a great place for this course because it blends history, sustainability, innovation and strong cultural identity,\u201d she said. \u201cStudents can see how cultural values influence everything from city design to environmental policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the week, students engaged in faculty-led tours and experiential learning opportunities designed to connect course concepts with real-world environments. In Copenhagen, students explored the city\u2019s history, architecture and sustainability efforts, visiting neighborhoods such as Christianshavn and Freetown Christiania. The visit to Christiania, known for its alternative social structure, prompted discussions about culture, identity and governance.<\/p>\n
Whalen said moments like the visit to Freetown Christiania demonstrated how students were able to connect academic concepts with real-world observations.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could see them making connections between what they studied in the course and what they were observing around them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Students also visited notable landmarks including the Little Mermaid statue, Kastellet, a preserved 17th-century fortress, and the Black Diamond library, gaining insight into the city\u2019s blend of historic tradition and modern design.<\/p>\n
Additional experiences included a visit to CopenHill, an innovative waste-to-energy plant that doubles as a recreational space, a guided canal cruise through the city\u2019s harbor and a trip to Roskilde to explore the Viking Ship Museum. The group also toured royal landmarks such as Christiansborg Palace and Rosenborg Castle.<\/p>\n
The trip extended beyond Denmark with a visit to Malm\u00f6, where students explored Malm\u00f6hus Castle and experienced Swedish culture firsthand.<\/p>\n
For many students, the experience provided a deeper understanding of cultural intelligence that could not be replicated in a traditional classroom setting.<\/p>\n
Aidan Stellfox, a first-year accounting major at Penn State Schuylkill, said the trip helped him better understand course concepts by seeing them in action.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helped take off the \u2018lenses,\u2019\u201d Stellfox said. \u201cInstead of just reading about different cultures, we were able to experience them firsthand.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted that observing Denmark\u2019s high-trust society stood out as a key learning moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Denmark, bikes are often parked without locks, and everything was very clean,\u201d Stellfox said. \u201cIt showed how trust and shared responsibility shape how people interact in public spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whalen said she hopes students left the experience with a broader understanding of how culture influences leadership, communication and decision-making.<\/p>\n
\u201cCultural intelligence is such an important skill in today\u2019s workplace,\u201d she said. \u201cExperiences like this help students become more thoughtful and adaptable leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
As organizations continue to operate across cultures and borders, Whalen emphasized the importance of preparing students for a global workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen students see how people live, work and communicate in another culture, it helps them become more aware and confident navigating different environments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For students like Stellfox, the experience was both educational and transformative.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fun trip,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t limit yourself \u2014 it\u2019s an opportunity you don\u2019t want to miss.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Students in Penn State Schuylkill\u2019s MGMT 345: Cultural Intelligence in Leadership and Management recently expanded their learning beyond…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[438,27,26,440,2578,38,21125,30443],"class_list":["post-54855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denmark","tag-business","tag-danmark","tag-denmark","tag-education","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-schuylkill-county"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116341773821905737","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}