The photographs we choose to share can reveal our level of global competency. Are we trying to see and understand cultural differences? Or are we merely capturing a picturesque or exotic background? Taking pictures involves making choices:

[IMAGE: Natasha Watts, Indonesia 2008. The image above was captured in Yogyakarta, which is a city in Java, Indonesia. The image was shot out of a bus window. The image shows a bajak driver sitting on his cart watching motorcycles pass by. ]

To understand places and people outside our home culture and develop true global competency, we must become more intentional about looking and making images.

Learning is shaped by the limits of attention, memory, and patterns of neural activity in our ever-adapting brain. We can't think about everything all the time. Our minds wander. Too much work, or cognitive load, can prompt our brain to take shortcuts. Using stereotypes is one (risky) shortcut.

Another favorite shortcut is it to notice only information familiar to us. This is like driving a daily commuter route: you don't have to think about it. That's where schema and scripts come in. Both terms describe shortcuts of perception and action. Becoming more globally competent means developing critical awareness of what's new in a different cultural context.

Activity: [Listen to Natasha talk about the photograph of a man gesturing "hungry" in Indonesia, 2008.]

We "see" and understand what's happening when we go abroad relative to what we expect. Here's a concrete example of a schema and a script that most of us have experienced while taking pictures abroad. You arrive in a new city and find the town center, perhaps navigating by train or taxi from an airport. Entering the public square, you encounter an imposing monument and recognize other tourists posing in front of it. Schema: you recognize a memorable and picturesquely foreign background. Script: without thinking much about it, you take out your phone, turn 180 degrees, and snap five or six selfies against this picturesque background.

Or imagine arriving in the airport in Hanoi, Vietnam. Sensory perceptions of heat, humidity, noise, and new odors feel direct and immediate. New impressions connect to a mental picture of memories and associations, "Vietnam." The schema is the underlying way that our brain tends to connect dots; the script is the typical behavior resulting from the schema or picture we form. Schemas and scripts do not rely on conscious ideas. Vague notions, like heat lightning on the horizon of the brain, are enough. "Asia," "rainy season," "the Vietnam War," "LBJ," "coast," and "jungle," might be part of one person's schema for Vietnam.

Our brains connect the dots rapidly and bring coherence out of chaotic new experiences. In that way, scripts and schemas have costs and benefits for developing intercultural knowledge. When we go outside our home culture, they help us make sense of the world by simplifying complex experiences. But sometimes relying on an existing script makes us miss important features of a new environment.

[IMAGE: Natasha Watts, Indonesia 2008. The image above was captured in Yogyakarta, which is a city in Java, Indonesia. The image was shot the day we landed in the city. The image shows a broom-maker carrying his brooms to market. In the photo he uses his hands to motion towards his mouth. This symbolizes hunger and he is seeking to get my attention as the photographer. ]

This module invites you to practice reflecting on photographs to develop awareness of the schemas and scripts that shape intercultural experiences. Photographs document more than we can process in the fleeting moment. The ethical value of a photograph outlasts the moment it was taken. By learning to look closely at the pictures we take, we can gain insight into our preconceived notions, maybe especially when we don't compose a "pretty" picture.

Choosing carefully which images we share with whom is part of developing a more critical appreciation of cultural differences. The images we post online can record our skill at navigating across cultures.

[IMAGE: Natasha Watts, Indonesia 2008. The image above was captured in Yogyakarta, which is a city in Java, Indonesia. The image was shot the last day in the Indonesia. The image was shot from the van window as we drove by. The image shows a boy on the streets playing music for money. He is using his hand to motion toward his mouth. This symbolizes hunger and he is seeking to get my attention as the photographer. ]