Presentations by Jeannette Belliveau

Jeannette Belliveau's presentations on cultural insights are engaging, informative and relevant to today's world. She treats you as family and encourages you to reconsider previous perspectives and stereotypes.

--Stephanie Alt Lamm,
Duke University International House

Presentations available for:
The college campus

Becoming a Cultural Explorer
Succeeding in Europe
Succeeding in the United States

Groups and libraries

Sex, Love, Romance and Travel
Discover Adventure Travel
A Woman's Guide to Global Adventure
Exploring Hidden Borneo
Exploring Brazil

Travel writers and travel book readers

Travel Writing Mini-Seminar
Cultural Insights from Travel Writers

Testimonials

Biography for Jeannette Belliveau

The college campus

Becoming a Cultural Explorer
Real on-the-road encounters in Brazil, Japan, Greece, England and China to illuminate:

Ways to be accepted and understood.
How to learn from inevitable missteps.
4 tools for success for foreign students in the United States
7 tools for Study Abroad students.
The simple word that almost invariably creates problems between Americans and most other people.

Your group will be prepared for a smoother adjustment to life in a new land, and a creative reading list will enable additional country-specific learning.

Succeeding in Europe

The problem? The centuries-old -- and widening -- gulf between acceptable American and European behavior. The solution? Former expatriate Jeannette Belliveau will unlock many of the mysteries of why Europeans might like some Americans and not others.

Why are Americans so different to Europeans?
What special skills does the American need to navigate socially in Britain, France, Ireland and the Netherlands?
Special module on request: Specific issues for U.S. minority students in Europe.

Succeeding in the United States

Confused about how to behave in the United States?

So are many Americans!

We'll try to make sense of our heterogenous society for participants, looking at three real-world foreign students, Joseph, Barbara and Justin, who varied enormously in their experiences while studying in the United States. Wait until you hear how easy some of their tips are!

Groups and libraries

Love, Sex, Romance and Travel

Tens of thousands of women take foreign lovers when they travel. In Italy, in Jamaica, in Greece, in Kenya, in Thailand, today's female traveler does not hesitate to include romance as part of her vacation. We'll discuss what's going on, why women indulge in hedonism and exotic romance, and the advantages and disadvantages of various destinations for the adventurous woman.

A Woman's Guide to Global Adventure
China, Bali and Java, Hawaii, Greece, Madagascar

Visit the world through the eyes of some of the best (and worst!) women travelers! Diane's visit to Bali will touch you, and Sadie's China train trip will have you exasperated -- while many admire how Stephany, Genevieve and Melissa approach the exotic world.

Discover Adventure Travel
The Yucatan, Madagascar, China, East Africa

What's it like to travel in Madagascar or China? How can you find companions, time and money? What are safe destinations for women and solo travelers? What's a great starter destination? What are three things you do not have to worry about? What about language and food? Interactive, multimedia mini-seminar appropriate for both beginners and advanced travelers, travel agency staff, geography students and (with its images of exotic places) home-schooled children.

Exploring Hidden Borneo
Borneo (Kalimantan)

What happens when a woman from Maryland goes to Borneo's most remote region? Enthralling tales of hiking with children in the rainforest, impassable rapids, longhouse ceremonies and dancing, luscious pineapples, hungry leeches and risky airfields carved out of mountainsides for the brave pilots of the Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Exploring Brazil
The Amazon, Pantanal and Northeast

Panorama of the spectacular bird life, Amazon Indian culture, a deserted Hundred Years of Solitude seaside town, and Salvador, the African heart of the Americas.

Travel writers and travel book readers

Travel Writing Mini-Seminar

Learn tips on how to write and market travel articles. Belliveau will describe:

Seven ways to improve your travel writing
Seven ways to recall your adventures
The importance of photographs
Resource books
Ways to find markets
Ethics.

Participants will receive a handout including names and addresses of contacts. We can discuss participants' specific interests, including literary writing, destination pieces or guidebooks; travel writing as a sideline or full-time profession; and markets including newspapers, magazines, books and self-publishing.

Cultural Insights from Travel Writers

You've probably been inspired to take -- or avoid! -- trips described by the big talents of the modern era, Paul Theroux and Bruce Chatwin, or laughed out loud at Dave Barry and Redmond O'Hanlon's misadventures in Japan and Borneo.

Learn how travel writers provide cultural clues as well as inspiration. The great female travel writers -- Mary Kingsley, Dervla Murphy and Martha Gellhorn -- can help us see past the tourist experience to the heart of a country. You'll learn how literature -- particularly the works of James Michener -- can help you prepare for trips and relive your adventures after you return home.