Students will need to conduct three different interviews/interactions with persons from cultures different from that of the student. Each of these will have a journal or report that will be submitted through Blackboard. The journals will focus on three different topics:

1.Cultural Characteristics

2.Communication Style

3.Views of America

In the past, it has not proven difficult for students to locate and talk with people from other cultures. Sometimes these are fellow students; sometimes they are people from the student’s home town. Some students have most of their interactions with one person; sometimes the interactions are with two or three people.

Conversation Assignment 1

Consider the cultural quality of collectivism. Do your conversation partners come from collectivistic or individualistic cultures? Why do you say so? What did the partners say (not say) or do (not do) that leads you to your conclusion? Perhaps it is the information that they supplied, or perhaps it is also what they did, too.

You might start with “How close are you to your family? Why do you say this?” This may lead to you finding out about them choosing a field of study (or having it chosen for you) or that they can marry or date outside the ingroup or even a person of their choice. Do they live with their grandparents, etc.? How about tribal loyalties (as far as Arab students, for example?) Would they disobey an elder or a member of their ingroup? How about friends? Do they have many “sort of” friends like we do, or do they focus on just a few strong friendships. Do they intend to live their lives near their home/family/ingroup? Does their performance in school affect their family’s standing in the neighborhood? Generally how connected/loyal/obedient/supportive are they when it come to their ingroup?

Overall, in the world, some cultures find connection to the group, family, or clan as the single most important principle in guiding one’s life. Other cultures feel that it is important for individual to break away from the group or family, to be a true individual who is not restricted by the expectations of others. How about your conversation partner? What about his or her culture.

In this interaction, however, students will need to use appropriate and effective interaction and interviewing strategies. Please be respectful. Don’t just dump a bunch of disconnected questions on the person. Get to know the person, if you have not already been acquainted. Follow the conversation as it flows as opposed to stopping things abruptly and changing topics; you can ease your way from one topic to another. Use good interview techniques like open questions, follow-up questions to get clarity, gentle probing for further information. Sometimes, you might have to use a hypothetical scenario to get things rolling because people don’t necessarily know how to talk about their own culture. From the scenario, you could find out what is normal and what might not be allowed, which will help you understand communication in that person’s culture. Again, whatever you do, please be as respectful as you know how. If the person just doesn’t seem to be able to inform you about his or her culture, you may have to find someone else.

After the interaction, you are to write a 600-word reflection (journal) on the conversation. Start with a brief synopsis of the interaction and then report on the information you discovered in line with the specific topic you were to examine.

Week 5:  “This I Believe”
The objective of this week’s journal is to become more self-aware of your values and how they impact your daily behaviors.  The idea comes from National Public Radio when they revived Edward R. Murrow’s idea from the 1950s.  Though the original idea involved making an audio recording of the essay, you will post a written essay only.
The original This I Believe instructions from Edward R. Murrow are the following: 
This I Believe invites you to make a very great contribution: nothing less than a statement of your personal beliefs, of the values which rule your thought and action.  Your essay should be… written in a style as you yourself speak, and total no more than 500 words.
We know this is a tough job.  What we want is so intimate that no one can write it for you.  You must write it yourself, in the language most natural to you.  We ask you to write in your own words….  You may even find that it takes a request like this for you to reveal some of your own beliefs to yourself.  If you set them down they may become of untold meaning to others.
We would like you to tell not only what you believe, but how you reached your beliefs, and if they have grown, what made them grow.  This necessarily must be highly personal.  That is what we anticipate and want.
It may help you in formulating your credo if we tell you also what we do not want.  We do not want a sermon, religious or lay; we do not want editorializing or sectarianism or “finger-pointing.”  We do not even want your views on the American way of life, or democracy or free enterprise.  These are important but for another occasion.  We want to know what you live by.  And we want it in terms of “I,” not the editorial “We.”
Although this program is designed to express beliefs, it is not a religious program and is not concerned with any religious form whatever.  Most of our guests express belief in a Supreme Being, and set forth the importance to them of that belief.  However, that is your decision, since it is your belief which we solicit.
But we do ask you to confine yourself to affirmatives:  This means refraining from saying what you do not believe.  Your beliefs may well have grown in clarity to you by a process of elimination and rejection, but for our part, we must avoid negative statements lest we become a medium for the criticism of beliefs, which is the very opposite of our purpose.
We are sure the statement we ask from you can have wide and lasting influence.  Never has the need for personal philosophies of this kind been so urgent.  Your belief, simply and sincerely spoken, is sure to stimulate and help those who hear it.
Instructions
Since we are following the guidelines set forth by This I Believe, we offer their suggestions below for writing and preparing your essay (http://thisibelieve.org/guidelines/):
Tell a story:  Be specific.  Take your belief out of the ether and ground it in the events of your life.  Consider moments when this belief was formed or tested or changed.  Think of your own experience, work, and family, and tell of the things you know that no one else does.  Your story need not be heart-warming or gut-wrenching—it can even be funny—but it should be real.  Make sure your story ties to the essence of your daily life philosophy and the shaping of your beliefs.
Be brief:  Your statement should be between 350 and 500 words.
Name your belief:  If you can’t name it in a sentence or two, your essay might not be about belief.  Also, rather than writing a list, focus on one core belief.
Be positive:  Please avoid preaching or editorializing.  Tell us what you do believe, not what you don’t believe.  Avoid speaking in the editorial “we.” Make your essay about you; speak in the first person.
Be personal:  Write in your own voice, as if you were speaking out loud.