Talks testimonials

Jillian Knowles
Doctoral candidate, Lesley College, Cambridge, Mass.

I have done quite a bit of “cultural exploring” myself and find the predominant approach of some travelers to very different cultures to be ignorant, disrespectful and exploitative.

I was very impressed with your perspective on other cultures that are so different from Western European ones ( and thus your modeling to us of how to be a Cultural Explorer and avoid the “ugly American” approach)–respectful, open, fascinated, and willing to have what you learned from them inform and change your own ways of seeing and doing things, rather than merely seeing them as “museum pieces.

I was also impressed with the insights you had gained that helped you reevaluate your American definitions of things. The one that hit me most was your insights on the RELATIVITY of the definition of poverty, realizing after seeing absolute poverty in some of the countries to which you traveled, how much more materially the poor of the US have.

Maureen Gardner
Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Education

Your trips didn’t stop when you came home — you set to work answering questions and making connections, and you teach that your overseas experience becomes a vivid part of you forever.

Will Van Dorp
Bradford College, Mass.

In the post-Cold War era of globalization, which is changing higher education as well as business of all kinds and making previously distant places potentially local, Belliveau’s insights are criticial for students of all ages but especially for young people. Her firsthand experiences both on and off the beaten path in six continents promote new ways of looking at the planet.

Professor Kendra Kopelke
University of Baltimore

Your presentation was terrific — a veritable tour de force. I was struck by the warmth with which you speak of your activities. We appreciated the handouts and learned a lot from you.

Ruth Amernick
San Francisco Public Library

Your talk was just magical!

Brooke Cobbs, UNC-Chapel Hill
Belliveau is a pleasure to listen to. Her talks are informative and packed with practical tips.

Lynn Margaret Simmons
Traveler’s Century Club, NYC

You really know your subject!

Pat Bates
President
Maryland Center for the Book

Your program was a huge success. You did a great job!

Cathy Layne
Roland Park Women’s Club,
Baltimore

Ever since dipping into her potpourri of travel, I have been anxious to meet the woman who captained a sailboat in a fierce storm, endured heat in Burma and worked on the semantics of a half-dozen languages

It was obvious she sought out all variety of travel modes with rare determination to learn about people and their culture.

We look forward to her next book, which will be about romance by chance encounters by traveling.