Welcome

Reflection Questions

1. What are four of your own personal Worldviews? How do they manifest in your life? In other words, what are one or two examples of each Worldview you identify? Try to be as specific as possible in your examples.
2. Similar to your own personal Worldviews, can you identify four Values that you strongly feel are important for you? Do you hold others to the same degree of adherence to those Values? Do any of your Worldviews and Values coincide? How might your communication differ once you realize others hold different Worldviews and Values?
3. In the same way you reflected on Worldviews and Values, identify four Norms you adhere to in your own life. Do you know others who do not abide by those same Norms? Are any of your personal Norms connected to the Worldviews and Values you most identify to be true for you?
4. Do you recognize how Worldviews, Values, and Norms are connected to communication? What are some ways that you recognize their influence on your own communication with others? Do you feel more open-minded about differences you encounter in others now that you realize each of us operates with unique ways of viewing the world based on these cultural communication influences?
5. Are the Worldviews, Values, and Norms you most identify in yourself “fixed” or do they depend to some extent upon context?

Online Enrichment Activity

Develop your own personal montage of Worldviews, Values, and Norms using your photo collection of people, places and things that you have experienced. Arrange the photos in a PowerPoint or other type of photo computer program that you could share with others. Note where your opinions or attitudes have changed over time or depending upon the context in which you find yourself. Do you think your Worldviews, Values, and Norms will continue to change over time? Or have they been established since child hood and will remain the same throughout your lifetime?

Additional Reading

Hall, E. & Hall, M. (1990). Understanding Cultural Differences (Part One). Yarmouth,
ME: Intercultural Press.

These chapters in the International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication, ed. Y. Y. Kim (Hobeken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication Series, 2017)
B. ‘J’ Hall, “Cultural Communication Norms,” https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783665.ieicc0116
C. Dodd, “Worldviews in Intercultural Communication,”   https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118783665.ieicc0077

Reflection Questions

1. What cultural rituals have been important in your life? What did you learn from them? Is there anything you would like to change about them?
2. If you could create a ritual that would become part of your community’s practices, what would it be? Explain the components of the ritual and the particular values you would want it to contain and convey to cultural outsiders.
3. What stories or narratives that you grew up with would you like to pass on to your children, friends, or coworkers? What stories or narrative would you not like to pass on? Why or why not?
4. What social dramas have you witnessed or engaged? What did you learn about culture and the way people create, challenge, affirm, challenge, or change culture via public discussions of events that affect the citizenry?
5. What motivates you to learn? What are some examples of when you have effectively learned something?

Online Enrichment Activity

Using on-line news sources, find and select articles pertaining to the controversy regarding then 49-year-old President Bill Clinton and a 22-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Using the material in the text, analyze how this situation is a social drama. Alternative topics to explore social drama include a variety of environmental concerns such as climate change, coal mining, or the spotted owl controversy in the US Pacific Northwest between local loggers and environmentalists. Identify the key cultural beliefs, values, and norms that are at stake? How do you think that public discussion affect people’s understandings of social dramas? How do these public discussions reinforce and/or challenge cultural ideals?

Additional Readings

Carbaugh, D., Berry, M., & Nurmikari-Berry, M. (2006). Coding personhood through cultural terms and practices: Silence and Quietude as a Finnish “natural way of being.” Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 25, 3, 1-18.

Covarrubias, P. (2017). Respeto [respect] in disrespect: Clashing cultural themes within the context of immigration. In D. Carbaugh (Ed.) The Handbook of Communication in Cross-cultural Perspective. International Communication Association Series. (pp. 208-221). London, Routledge.

Bell, E. (2006). Social dramas and cultural performances: All the president’s women. Liminalities: A journal of Performance Studies, 2, 1, http://liminalities.net/2-1/sdcp/sdcp1.htm  

Reflection Questions

1. The authors argue that all identities are based on similarities and differences. Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?
2. What examples have you seen where people are challenged in regards to their avowed identity? Have you ever challenged anyone's identity (directly or indirectly)? What makes an identity authentic? Some of the examples used in this chapter indicate that others discount another person's identity based on their communication. Do you think this is valid? Why?  
3. Which idea seems more accurate based on your own experiences, that communication constitutes our identities or that it reflects our identities? What examples can you think of to back up your opinion?
4. Are there other options than those described in the Social Identity Theory for dealing with an unsatisfactory identity, such as being part of certain minority groups? What are they? What are your impressions of a White identity? How does it relate to minority identities?
5. Do the intersections of your own social identities create a sense advantages or disadvantages for you? How can you use this knowledge to help your own life and lives of others improve?

Online Enrichment

Select a Ted talk on the concept of identity. Possible examples include: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxssL3yo0E4 Cultural Identity by Ali Al Saloomv or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1dFU4ktNfg The Modern Maze of Cultural Identity by Mashaal Hijazi. Examine it in light of the concepts discussed in the chapter. Does the speaker adopt a constitutive or reflective perspective on identity and communication? What expectations for communication are associated with the identities discussed? What identity is the speaker avowing? What identities is the speaker ascribing to others?  How do their experiences with cultural identities fit with your experiences

Additional Readings

Yep, G and Chivers, N. (2017) “Intersectionality,” in International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication, ed. Y. Y. Kim (Hobeken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication Series)

Johnston, J. (2001). The Battle for Local Identity: An Ethnographic Description of Local/Global Tensions in a New Zealand Advertisement. Journal of Popular Culture, 35, 2, 193–205.

Kim, Y. Y., Lujan, P. & Dixon, L. D. (1998). “I Can Walk Both Ways” Identity Integration of American Indians in Oklahoma. Human Communication Research, 25, 2, 252-274.

Reflection Questions

1. Can you think of any conflicts you have had with another person that turned out to be a consequence of each of you framing the situation differently?
2. Can you think of an instance where using an inappropriate term of address resulted in a difficult or tense intercultural encounter?
3. If you are a speaker of multiple languages, reflect on a time when it was difficult for you to translate what you wanted to say into another language. What was difficult? How did you work out the difficulty?
4. How do you think code-switching may impact an intercultural interaction?
5. How has the context of a situation changed the meaning of the words you have spoken?
6. How do you react to people who violate the maxims of cooperation discussed in the chapter?

Online Enrichment Activity

Using You Tube look up Liz Lochhead perform her poem, “Men Talk,” and see how many concepts from the text you can identify and explain.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKkZ-nbj3kg
Or look up the Ted talk by Riccardi Pellegrino on Cross Cultural Communication and see how many concepts from the text you can identify and explain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMyofREc5Jk

Additional Readings

Covarrubias, P. (2005). Homemade talk: Language, identity, and other Mexican legacies for a son’s intercultural competence. In Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz (Ed.), From generation to generation: Maintaining cultural identity over time (pp. 29-47). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.   

Kvam. D. (2017). Supporting Mexican immigrants’ resettlement in the United States: An ethnography of communication approach to building allies’ communication competence. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 45, 1, 1-20.
Hall, B. ‘J’ (2017). Cultural Communication: Advancing understanding in a multi-cultural world. In L. Chen (Ed.), Handbook of Intercultural Communication (volume 9 in the series Handbooks of Communication Science pp. 119-137). Mouton de Gruyter. 

 

Reflection Questions

1. How universal do you feel that emotions are? Does every smile convey the same emotion? Have you ever misinterpreted a smile? Misinterpreted another facial expression or gesture? Are there ways that you can minimize misinterpretation for you and/or for others when it comes to nonverbal communication?
2. Substitution and Accentuation are two ways that nonverbal communication are commonly used. What are two examples of each that you commonly use to convey meaning without use of words? Have you been misunderstood?
3. Use of emojis are a type of nonverbal communication. Which do you most commonly use? Any misinterpretations that you cleared up with words, or questioned if your message was received as you intended?
4. Emblems are commonly used in daily life, but not universally understood the same way. What emblem do you use most frequently? Recall an instance when an emblem you used was misunderstood. Describe how you might have clarified your intent or improved your nonverbal communication.
5. Do you know anyone who does not adhere to your use of Regulators in conversation? Anyone you are acquainted with who speaks over you or always seems to interrupt in conversations? In what way could you exaggerate your personal use of Regulators to be an example or help that person (or multiple people) learn how to participate in conversations more equally?
6. What are your feelings about when and how much silence is appropriate? How is silence used in your own community?

Online Enrichment Activity

Watch a video clip of at least 10 minutes in duration that has human interaction among a minimum of three people. While you watch the video look for uses of nonverbal communication: Repetition, Contradiction, Substitution, Accentuation, Complementary, and Regulation. Note which were easiest for you to identify. Are there specific uses of nonverbal communication that you realize you use? Do you use some nonverbal messages more frequently than others? Did any nonverbal messages in the video clip seem more effective than others? Are there others that seemed very ineffective? Do these observations alter how you might view your own nonverbal communication in the future?

Additional Reading

Covarrubias, P. O., & Windchief, S. R. (2009). Silences in Stewardship: Some American Indian College Students Examples. Howard Journal of Communications, 20, 4, 333-352.

Stivers, T.,Enfield, N. J., Brown, P., Englert, C., Hayashi, M., etc. (2009). Universals and
Cultural variation in turn-taking in conversation. Proceedings of the National Academy of
 Sciences (PNAS). 106: 10587-10592.

Reflection Questions

1. Why are so many stereotypes negative? Are these stereotypes harmless or dangerous? Explain your answer. What impact do stereotypes have in your life?
2. Ethnocentrism is sometimes linked to patriotism. Is it possible to be patriotic without being ethnocentric? Explain your answer.
3. Prejudice is grounded in an emotional reaction and cannot just be gotten rid of by simply being told that it is not a good idea. What are some ways you would suggest that a person could get rid of prejudice in their own life?
4. What examples of the different forms and functions of prejudice can you identify in your community? What negative consequences are suffered by the specific individuals and the community as a whole as a result of the manifestations of prejudice?
5. Which of the rationalizing narratives do you recognize in your own life and in the lives of those around you? How could you change these narratives so as to avoid the negative impacts of prejudice in your own life?
   

Online Enrichment Activity

Often our biases or prejudices are at an unconscious level. Researchers at Harvard have developed an online test that is intended to measure these often unconscious thoughts. These tests are free to take and can allow you to do a self-test for your own reflection and information. Remember as you take the test to move along quickly as the idea is to get at your initial reactions. You can find the tests at: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html. Just click on the “I wish to proceed” link and then select any of the tests. We suggest you start with the one on race and then any of the others that appear interesting to you.

Additional Reading

Zhu, L. (2016). A comparative look at Chinese and American stereotypes: A focus group study. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 42,November online 1-17: (http://www.immi.se/intercultural/nr42/zhu.html)

Bell, G. C., & Harris, T. M. (2017). Exploring representations of Black masculinity and emasculation on NBC’s Parenthood. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 10, 2, 135-152.

Hall, B. ‘J,’ (1998).  "Narratives of Prejudice," Howard Journal of Communication, 9, 137-156.

 

Reflection Questions

1. What are the most recognizable differences for you among the three types of intercultural conflicts: Object conflicts, relationship conflicts, and priority conflicts? Give an example of each as it occurs in your life today. If you do not currently have one of these conflicts in your life, did you experience one in the recent or distant past? How was it resolved?
2. Which approach to conflict do you most typically use? Is that your consistent approach, or is it contextually driven? In other words are there situations where you use avoidance? Situations where you use accommodation? What factors determine your approach to conflict?
3. Describe the differences between intercultural and intergroup conflicts. Give an example of each that you have experienced and/or observed. How was the conflict managed? Would awareness of the “other(s)” have minimized the conflict?
4. Is the concept of forgiveness a practical one? Why or why not? Does it depend on the situation? If so, how? Does a person have to be religious for this concept to have any value?
5. What is the “trigger” that you notice most frequently leads to intergroup conflict. Is there a way to minimize the impact of the trigger? Is there a way to move toward less “othering?” What strategies are you willing to try in your life to minimize being influenced by triggers that could lead to intergroup conflicts?

Online Enrichment Activity

Watch a video clip of at least 10 minutes in duration that has human interaction among a minimum of three people. While you watch the video look for instances of conflict. Is it intercultural, intergroup, or another type of conflict? What “triggered” the conflict? Was an attempt made to deal with the conflict? Did you recognize avoidance, accommodation, competition, collaboration, or compromise? Did you agree with the reasons for the conflict? How about the outcome? Do these observations alter how you might approach conflict in your life?

Additional Reading

Hall, B. ‘J’ (1994).  "Understanding Intercultural Conflict through an Analysis of Kernel Images and Rhetorical Visions:  The Case of Treaty Rights," International Journal of Conflict Management, 5, 63-87.

Fisher-Yoshida, B. (2005) “Reframing Conflict: Intercultural Conflict as Potential Transformation,” Journal of Intercultural Communication, 8, 1-16

Reflection Questions

1. Reflect on a time in your life when you had to acculturate to a new environment (e.g., a new neighborhood, new school, or new country). How did Maslow’s hierarchy of needs play out (or not) in your personal experience?
2. How do you think reverse culture shock might be experienced by people who served abroad in the military? a religious organization? a student exchange program?
3. Which (if any) of the different acculturation models in the text reflect your personal experience? Why? Why not?
4. In detail and using concepts from the text, discuss your experiences with culture shock and/or reverse culture shock. How did you manage things? What was the outcome?
5. What attitudes do you see in the press and among your associates toward immigration? Immigration has been and will continue to be a fact of life, what ideas do you have for making it mutually beneficial for all those involved?
6. Consider and describe a time in your life when your transition to a new culture in your own country felt like you had moved across the world.

Online Enrichment Activity

Look up the Global Nomads Group online and explore how you might become a global nomad. Their posted vision statement says: “We believe in a generation of global citizens who are empathetic, aware, and taking action to solve some of the world's most pressing issues during these transformative times.”  How might you contribute to this type of mission either with this or another organization of your choice?

Additional Readings

Pitts, M. J., (2017). “Acculturation Strategies,” in the International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication, ed. Y. Y. Kim (Hobeken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication Series) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118783665.ieicc0006

Chaplin, M. (2015). Returning Well: Your Guide to Thriving Back "Home" After Serving Cross-Culturally. Newton Publishers.

Spatariu, A., Peach, A., & Bell, S. H. (2012). Enculturation of young children and technology. In S. Blake, D. Winsor, & L. Allen (Eds.), Technology and Young Children: Bridging the Communication-Generation Gap, (Chapter Two). Hershey, NY: Information Science Reference: IGI Global.

Reflection Questions

1. What are the benefits or weaknesses of the six golden ethical approaches? Which do you feel is the best approach for intercultural interactions? Why?
2. In the text it is argued that ethics both constrain and empower an individual's communication.  Do you agree with this? What examples in your own life support both the constraining and empowering functions of ethics?
3. What should be our attitude toward people who act and think differently from ourselves? Does it make any difference whether they are living in our cultural community or we are living in theirs? Should we try to blend in with their way of doing things, demand they conform to ours, or just do our own thing and tolerate them doing theirs?
4. The United States and other governments often put political pressure on outer communities to adhere to what most Americans feel is ethical behavior in areas of human rights and so on (such as the economic boycotts of South Africa). Is this kind of pressure appropriate? On what sorts of factors does your answer depend?
5. The three ethical principles that are discussed at the end of this chapter sound good to many people, but are often difficult to put into practice. Why? Is it worth even thinking about these sorts of things if we don't seem to be able to really put them into practice? How could one better put these principles into practice?

Online Enrichment Activity

There are many international conflicts that can be found on the internet. We suggest going to a news site such as, http://abcnews.go.com/international or any other news source with a focus on international news. Select one of the current stories that you find interesting, after reading it lay out all the possible ethical considerations you can think of relevant to this conflict. Then explore other news sources (hopefully ones originating from different countries). What new perspectives can you discover from these other news sources and how does this change your ethical considerations? Taking the six golden approaches to ethics discussed in chapter twelve, what different recommendations would you make for how to resolve this conflict and why?  

Additional Reading

Ucok-Sayrak, O. (2016). Attending to the “face of the other” in intercultural communication: Thinking and talking about difference, identity, and ethics. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 9, 2, 122-139.

Mutua, E. M. (2015). Deconstructing the Refugee Body: Toward an Intercultural Understanding of Refugee and Host Communities. In Our Voices: Essays in Culture, Ethnicity, and Communication edited by A. Gonzalez and Y. Chen (6th edition). New York: Oxford University Press.

Reflection Questions

1. Which of the three perspectives makes the most sense to you? Do you tend to think quantitatively? Do you gravitate toward power struggles and forms of injustice? Are you more interested understanding others and recognizing why people do what they do?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of the major perspectives on culture reviewed in this chapter? On what different types of problems does each perspective focus our attention? Which do you feel is most important? Why?
3. All three perspectives have positive things to contribute. Can you come up with a way to explore another culture in a way that allows the strengths of all three to come out?

Online Enrichment Activity

Watch a video one of your favorite television shows that has human interaction that involves at least two distinct cultures. Apply each of the three perspectives to the show and record what you learn. Then compare your findings and look for how each perspective changes what you notice.

Additional Reading

Hall, B. (2017). 6. Cultural communication: Advancing understanding in a multi-cultural world. In L. Chen (Ed.), Intercultural Communication (pp. 119-138). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501500060-006

Hall, B.  'J.' (1992). "Theories of Culture and Communication," Communication Theory, 2, 120-140. 

Reflection Questions

1. The objective of this activity is for students to recognize how they all have lived rich intercultural lives, even though they might have thought so. After carefully reading Alexandra’s narrative in chapter 12, students should create separate lists noting the particular beliefs, values, practices, and priorities of their parents or caregivers (e.g., educational expectations, health practices, or whose religion or language will be taught). In a group, students can then share those beliefs and values with others noting similarities or differences in worldviews. Students also are invited to share how culture clashes at home have affected their upbringing and their own beliefs, values, and practices.
2. Design a game by which students will teach their cultural values to a younger generation. Note what values and practices are privileged. Explain why.
3. Reflect and discuss your understandings of the concepts interracial family, interethnic family, and intercultural family. Does one concept necessarily implicate the others? Explain your thoughts by giving specific examples.
4. Reflect and discuss your strategies and expectations for expressing and managing disagreement in an intercultural family.
5. Let’s say you are involved in intercultural dating. What would you warn your date about with regard to your family culture?  Why would you consider it a warning?

Enrichment Activity

Using the YouTube TEDx Talk, “Why Intercultural Families May Be a Path to Peace” by Lenice Smith https://www.ted.com/talks/lenice_smith_why_intercultural_families_may_be_a_path_to_peace, as inspiration and using at least 5 specific concepts from the textbook, prepare a talk about the same theme that you might present as your own TEDx talk.

Additional Readings

Cheryl Crippen and Leah Brew, Intercultural Parenting and the Transcultural Family: A Literature Review, The Family Journal, DOI: 10.1177/1066480706297783, 2007; 15; 107  
http://tfj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/15/2/10

Reflection Questions

1. Has it ever been suggested that you drink hot tea when you’re sick? What about chicken soup for a cold? These are two examples of “alternative” medical treatments. What are other “alternatives” you or a family member has used to enhance healing?
2. What is your impression of Traditional Chinese Medicine approaches such as Gua Sha discussed in this chapter? What about Curanderismo? Can you see benefits to exploring other cultures’ approaches to healing?
3. Mental health is a large concern in today’s world. What are barriers you encounter when attempting to maintain your mental health? Are there things you can do help make a positive contribution to your mental health?
4. Have you ever been in a medical or dental situation where the healthcare provider tried to explain things to you, but you didn’t understand what was said? How did you feel? How did you manage the situation? Even if it was the same language, is there a chance that “translation” could have helped?

Online Enrichment Activity

1. Search for websites that discuss public health concerns surrounding COVID 19 or any Mental Health issues. Was it easy to navigate the sites? If you could design a site with pertinent information that is easy to navigate, what would you include? How would you design the site? Would you include multiple languages or translations? What about images? Anything interactive you would incorporate into the site?
2. An alternative to a website is an app you design. Same questions: what would you include? Design? Interactive elements?

Additional Readings

Basu, A., & Dutta, M. J. (2009). Sex Workers and HIV/AIDS: Analyzing Participatory Culture-Centered Health Communication Strategies. Human Communication Research, 35, 1, 86-114.

Fadiman, A. (1997). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American
doctors, and the collision of two cultures. NY, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Skloot, R. (2010). The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York, NY: Crown Publishers.

Reflection Questions

1. Looking into the future and assuming your profession calls for you step into a managerial role, what kind of leadership approach(es) would you exercise? Would you draw on different approaches based on the particular situation(s)? Explain.
2. Six dimension of leadership are identified most important for multi-cultural leadership: charismatic/value-based, team-oriented, participative, humane-oriented, autonomous, and self-protective. As described in the chapter which of these would be the most important to you? Why?
3. What intercultural groups have you belonged to? Was the leadership role in these groups handled well? What specifics leadership traits in these groups either worked or could have been improved?

Online Enrichment Activity

Do an informal (in person or online through a social media outlet) survey of your classmates or other fellow students from various backgrounds in regards to what attributes they most appreciate in leader. Consider the similarities and differences. How does this fit with what you read in chapter fourteen.

Additional Readings

House, R. J., Dorfman, P. W., Mansour, J., Hanges, P. J., and de Lugue, M. S. (2013).
Strategic Leadership Across Cultures: The GLOBE Study of CEO Leadership Behavior and Effectiveness in 24 Countries. 
Lindsey, S. L. and Braithwaite, C.A. (2003). U.S. Americans and Mexicans Working together: Five Core Mexican Concepts for Enhancing Effectiveness. In Samovar L. A., and Porter, R. E. (Eds.) Intercultural Communication: A Reader (10th Edition). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth

Reflection Questions

1. Reflect on the words you use to describe a park or an environmentally protected area near where you live. How might the way you talk about nature (your choice of communication choices) connect and/or disconnect you from others?
2. How do terms such as “endangered species,” “global warming” or “nuclear fallout” shape how we interact with nature and with each other?
3. Do you tend more toward “Mastering” the environment or are you more likely to adapt to the environment? What are some examples?
4. Consider the focus on protecting the planet from further climate change. Use of alternative energy sources, electric cars, planting trees, etc. Are there ways you envision you would like to participate in the change toward environmental protections? How would you use communication to advocate for change?

Online Enrichment Activity

Consult several websites, blogs, or apps pertaining to the environment and/or Ecotourism. How easy was it to navigate the sites? If you could design your own “portal,” what would you change? What would you keep? What about language choices? Images? Would you seek to persuade or present information?

Additional Readings

Hendry, J. (2010). Communication and the natural world. State College, PA. Strata Publishing, Inc.                                                 

Wohleben, P. (2016) The hidden life of trees: What they feel, how they communicate. Vancouver, Canada:  Greystone Books.

Zeppel, H. (2006). Indigenous ecotourism: Sustainable development and management. United Kingdom: CABI.

Reflection Questions

1. Have you ever had a classroom experience where you did not understand the material because you did not know the language, even if the class was taught in a language you speak (e.g., a math, music, or science class). Explain how you felt in that situation. Does this experience help you understand how an international student might feel in a class taught in a language that is foreign to them? How might this realization affect your future behavior?
2. If you were to witness a student use discriminatory language to another student in one of your classes, how would you respond? Explain your answer.
3. If you had a learning disability, would you let your instructors know so that they could make appropriate accommodations or would you not disclose because you would find it embarrassing? How would not telling affect your classroom experience and performance?
4. How likely is it that you would go to an instructor to discuss personal constraints to explain why you are not doing well in class (e.g., you cannot afford the textbook or your parents will not allow you to join study groups that meet in the evening).
5. Based on your own experiences as a student, design an activity to teach intercultural awareness at the: a) elementary school level (b) high school level, or (c) college level.

Enrichment Activity

Using the YouTube TEDx Talk, “Unlocking the potential of diversity in education” by Sagithjan Surendra as inspiration, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii2biHlThF8 or “My philosophy for a happy life” by Sam Berns, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36m1o-tM05g,  prepare a talk about the value of diversity (cultural, intellectual, economic, occupational, age-related, etc.) in educational contexts that you might present as a TEDx Talk.    

Additional Readings

Powell, R. and Powell, D. L., (2016) Classroom Communication and Diversity Enhancing Instructional Practice (3rd edition). New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor Francis Group

Reflection Questions

1. What examples of globalization do you see in the world? What evidence do you find of one country influencing another country in terms of daily life?
2. What role does social media play in your relationships? Are any of these tied to the five characteristics of new media?
3. In what ways have you been influenced by new media and popular culture? Is it possible for someone living in today’s media saturated world to not be influenced by popular culture? What impact do you think popular culture is having in your own community and around the world? Is there something that can or should be done about this?
4. What are four items that you use in your daily life that were purchased because of influence from popular culture? What was most influenced from pop culture: need for the item or brand? With realization of the influence of pop culture and media, do you feel differently about those items? Why or why not?
5. What influence does the media have on your own culture? Is it a positive influence? Does media help different cultures get along better or does media create more strife and/or division? Give specific examples and make suggestions for changes that you envision would be more positive.

Enrichment Activity

In the book Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey A.J. Jacobs tries to thank all those involved in producing his morning coffee. This journey spread across national boundaries. In a similar way pick a product or idea and try to track how it has spread across traditional national boundaries and is tied to many other cultural communities. The internet can make much of this process possible. Or try to track down three ways that popular culture in your home country has influenced popular culture in another country or has been influenced by popular culture from another country.

Additional Reading

Any of the chapters from:
Rohlinger, D. A., (2019) New Media and Society. New York, NY: New York University Press.