Students will be required to submit a 10-12-page d(please note, the cover page and list of references do not count towards your 10-12 pages). The aims of this assignment are:
To encourage you to become familiar with a specific culture as you summarize its unique customs, traditions, values, and lifestyles.
To help you develop sensitivity toward the people of the culture you choose to study, enabling you to communicate better with people from that culture.
The assignment requires that you prepare a résumé of culture, following the instructions below. This is a semester-long project. You should choose any country that you would like to research except the U.S. and Canada. Also, if you are not from North America, you cannot choose a country that is in the continent where you are from.
1. There are three main sections that you must cover in your Cultural Résumé:
a) Introduction
• Explain to the reader why you selected this country e.g. Is this a country you have traveled to before? Do you have friends, church members, coworkers, in-laws, etc. from this country?
b) Country Profile
Where is this country located? (e.g., What continent is it on? What are the neighboring countries?)
Describe the climate of this country (e.g., average temperatures throughout the year, seasons, etc.)
What is the population of this country?
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of this country?
What are the main holidays in this country? Who celebrates these holidays and where do they take place?
What are the main points of interest in this country e.g., specific lakes, monuments, historical landmarks, etc.?
What are some popular foods in this country?
What languages are spoken in this country?
What are some customs and courtesies of this particular country e.g., greetings?
Discuss the communication styles of this country.
Describe the political system of this country (be sure to include information such as the percentage of women in government).
Describe the educational system of this country.
Discuss the history of this country e.g., Are there wars or important events that took place in this country?
What are some contemporary challenges that this country is facing e.g., conflict, limited access to education, child trafficking?
c) Challenging My Biases and Assumptions
What biases and assumptions did you have about this country before you conducted
this research?
Have the stereotypes that you had about this country changed after carrying out this research?
Have you developed sensitivity toward the people of the culture you chose to study?
What similarities or differences did you see between this country and your country?
What can you learn from this country e.g., their respect for elders?
In what ways will you make efforts to communicate better with people from this particular culture?
The paper should contain a minimum of 10 sources. Students are encouraged to diversify their research to include not only books but also magazine and/or journal articles, updated research, and Internet material. A word of caution, the use of the internet as a source should be limited and must be cited correctly to qualify as the source. Wikipedia is NOT a reliable source and should not be used in your research. You may also include primary sources such as interviews with reliable people who have lived in that country. The final paper should follow the APA 7th edition format. It must be written to acceptable standard grammar and spelling must be at the college level and minimum format standards must be met, as outlined in APA 7th edition manual
