Intercultural
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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION ASSISGNMENT
RICHELLE LANCASTER
APRIL 26, 2005
CJ-9
CHARLES RICKS
SESSION ONE TAKE HOME QUIZ
cultural relativism-theory that the differences in peoples are the results of historical, social, and geographic conditions and that all population have complete and equally developed cultures.
ethnocentrism- negatively judging aspects of another culture by the standards of ones own culture
ethnography-the direct observation and reporting of customary behavior of a culture
cultural sensitivity-making no value judgments based on ones own cultural values about other cultures practices or artifacts (right or wrong)
profiling-law enforcement practice of scrutinizing certain individuals based on characteristics though to indicate the likelihood of criminal behavior
stereotype-judgment made about another solely on the basis of ethnic or other group membership
chronemics-study of our use of time
nonverbal communication-actions and attributes with a socially shared meaning with a socially shared meaning intentionally sent and received
proxemics-use of fixed space, territoriality, and personal space
back translation-translation from one language into another and then translating back into the original to compare the result to avoid errors in translation.
cultural invasion-refers to one group penetrating the culture of another group to impose its own view of the world.
idiom-expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its words
sapir-whorf hypothesis- useful way of thinking about the relationship between language and culture (a.k.a. Whorfian thesis)
SESSION TWO TAKE HOME QUIZ
collectivism-dimension of culture that refers to interdependence and social cohesion
individualism-dimension of culture that refers to the rights and independent action of the individual
long-term orientation-fostering of virtures, particularly perseverance and thrift, oriented toward future rewards
short-term orientation-dimension of cultures standing for the fostering of virtues related to the past and present, in particular respect for tradition preservation of face, and fulfilling social obligations
uncertainty avoidance-dimension of culture that refers to the extent to which people are made nervous by unstructured or unpredictable situations
hyperindividualism-excesses of individualism, disregard for others, and withdrawing into individual private shells
opinion leadership- individuals who are able to influence others attitudes and behaviors
SESSION ONE REACTION PAPER
Of what culture are you a part? What are the top 3 values of your culture? Do you subscribe to these values? I was born into the African-American culture. Both of my parents are black, or the politically correct term in African-American, which is of African descent. Our skin tones are deep brown and our background is said to have come from Africa. The top 3 values in my culture would be God, or your faith, your family, and then your career or whatever you hold close to you. I do subscribe to the first two, family and faith, and career is important but as far as my third, it would be my well being.
Describe a time when you saw a cultural conflict in the workplace ( or other organization)? What values do you think led to the conflict and how could it have been avoided? The most recent cultural conflict I experienced at work was when a caucasian inmate was irate and wanted to talk with a caucasian Sgt. We couldnt get a caucasian Sgt. so a black Sgt. stepped in the situation. This made matters worse and the situation turned into a big incident that ended up in inmated being peppersprayed. The incident couldve been avoided if the proper staff was available.
SESSION TWO REACTION PAPER
How are you ethnocentric? I believe I am ethnocentric in certain circumstances. For instance, I think black people are superior when it comes to most major sports and music. In sports, take a look at basketball, football, baseball, golf and tennis. These sports are dominated by African-Americans. Blacks dominating basketball isnt anything new but in golf and tennis is coming as a surprise. In tennis, Venus and Serena Williams are both African American women who have taken tennis by storm. In golf, one of the best players is a African/Asian American who is also pretty young. Even in football, most quarterbacks have been young all american caucasian men but now you are seeing young black men take this postion. Also in music, hip hop is slowly but surely taking over. It is being played everywhere more frequently then the traditional adult comtemporary music. People can dance more to hip hop music and they are accepting more than they have in the past. It has even traveled to foreign countries, like Cuba, Puerto Rico and even Iraq.
How have you seen communication breakdown due to misread non-verbal communication? How could this situation have been avoided? I think the biggest breakdown in non-verbal communication is in gangs. Whether Asian, Hispanic, Black or white, throwing up the wrong gang signs can lead to a young gang member being beat up or even killed. I think that gangs will always be around despite efforts to get rid of them. But if communities come together and build more programs for young people then they can maybe avoid so many incidents. If they do this, gang fights and shootings will at least be reduced.
CULTURAL EVENT PAPER BASED ON INDIA CULTURE
The cultural event I chose was more of an observant event. I chose to go to the India Palace restaurant located on the Westside