Interview with Jonathan Zimmerman, April 9, 2021

Interview Summary

Jonathan Zimmerman served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a TEFL (Teaching English as a foreign language) program in Nepal from 1983-1985. He talks about his childhood experiences with Peace Corps Volunteers in India and Iran, where his father served as Peace Corps director. He praises his language, practice teaching, and cultural training near Kathmandu, but disparages his group’s interpersonal training at the CAST boot camp in West Virginia and the trainee deselection process. He tells stories about living with a family, teaching English at multiple levels, and training teachers in the use of interactive methods. He discusses his friendships and travels, and his return to the village 20 years later with his daughter. He discusses an article he wrote based on interviews he conducted with African American Peace Corps Volunteers who served in the 1960s, and several of his other books reflecting on the role of Peace Corps in the context of our changing conceptions of the complexities of cultures and cross-cultural understanding. Zimmerman’s interviews with African American PCVs are archived in the JFK Library Peace Corps oral history collection.

Interview Keyword

Nepal (Country of service) Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) 1983-1985 (Date of service) Selection process De-selection process Kathmandu (Nepal) Terai (Nepal) Pyuthan (Nepal) Bijuli (Nepal) Innocents Abroad (Book) Bangalore (India) Teheran (Iran) Beyond Double Consciousness (Article) CAST Training Center in West Virginia Pokhara (Nepal) Peace Corps directors Children of Peace Corps Volunteers

Interview LC Subject

Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Nepal Nepal Acculturation Communication and culture Culture Culture shock Intercultural communication Interpersonal communication and culture Interpersonal relations Interpersonal relations and culture Language and culture Language and languages Lifestyles Manners and customs Voluntarism Volunteers

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Interview Usage

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.