Hispanic Cultural Identity

Instructions for the Cultural Identity Profile

This assignment is designed to allow students the opportunity to:

* Consider the many cultural traditions, rituals, practices, and perspectives that they themselves possess or their family may possess.

* explore and discover aspects of their family’s race, cultural identities, ethnicities, and practices that they may have not been aware of or had never discussed before this assignment.

* Reflect on aspects of their lives that they would not have considered to be identified as culture.

* Value the cultural experiences that they have experienced in their families and/or communities.

* Gain a greater appreciation for differences and diversities found in communities, the work-place, and society at large.

* Broaden and strengthen intercultural communication and relationship building.

 

Ask yourself the following questions.

What cultural groups am I a part of? (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, age, sexual orientation, disability, etc.)

What are the significant characteristics, traditions, practices, and values of those particular cultural groups?

Which cultural group would I feel most comfortable writing about for the purposes of this assignment?

What stereotypes regarding my cultural group can I dispel by providing insight and information in this paper?

 

Guidelines for the Paper

Your essay must be a minimum of four (4) to six (6) double-spaced pages. It must be saved in as a PDF or Microsoft Word format. Submit your paper as an attachment, using the drop box on the D2L Learning platform.  Also copy and paste your paper in the message box when submitting.

 

Content of the Paper

Please identify which cultural group you are discussing for the paper. Provide the reader with a description of the cultural group. Discuss the various traditions, rituals, perspectives, cuisine, and values of this particular culture. Discuss some of the common stereotypes that are often thought of regarding this culture. Discuss how being a part of this cultural group has impacted your self concept and how you interact with others.

Please be advised that you are not allowed to write about American culture, unless you are comparing American culture to a cultural experience you had in another country.

 

**Before you write me and tell me that you're not a member of any cultural group, read the chapter on cultural diversity first. Also read the helpful tips listed below.**

Important Tips for the Cultural Identity Profile

I’d like to share with you some pointers you should consider when writing your cultural identity profile.

1. Please select one cultural group that you belong to in order to write this paper. I don’t want you to discuss six different cultural groups in this paper. If you do that, I will know you didn’t read the directions closely or perhaps you just didn’t care about following the directions. Either way, that’s not a good look. With that being said, it’s wonderful if you want to open your paper with a brief description of each of the cultural groups you identify with. However, for the bulk of your paper, I would like you to focus on only one.

1. Before writing your paper, you should absolutely read Chapter 4. If you write a paper, telling me how culture is not real and that you refuse to categorize yourself, you will get a failing grade. Culture is indeed real, whether we want to admit it or not. Get a good understanding of what culture is before declaring how cultural identity is wrong or inexistent.

1. Yes, everyone has a culture. Please don’t write me and tell me you are not a member of any cultural group. Yes, you are! Again, read the chapter on culture. Go to the internet and read articles on culture and diversity. You’re in college. So, explore ideas and concepts that may be a bit foreign to you in order to grasp ideas and perspectives presented in your classes. Culture is not color coded! Culture actually has nothing to do with color. You’re actually a member of a number of cultural groups that you perhaps hadn’t considered. Here’s an example… I’m an African American woman, who is in her late 30’s, southern bred, influenced by religious ideas, city born and raised, disabled, and college educated. I can write about any of these cultural identities, because each of them has influenced me in one way or another.

1. Please don’t assume I know anything about your cultural group. Write this paper as if you’re providing the first introduction of this culture to someone.

1. Please refrain from using derogatory language to describe yourself and the cultural group you identify with. If you are of mixed race, do not call yourself a mutt. If you want to discuss how people called you a mutt and how that made you feel, that’s fine. But proudly using a derogatory term to describe yourself is off limits in this course. Other examples, in case I didn’t make myself clear… (Poor white trash, wetback, nigga, trailer trash, and so on.)

1. It’s probably a good idea to research some of the cultural groups you are a part of. For example, I’m a member of the Generation X group. When I researched X-ers, I was astounded by the description of members in this group. I better understood some of my values, perspectives, and actions. I thought it was just me, not an entire group of individuals born at a certain time in history.

1. Do not plagiarize!!!!!!!! If you’re going to go to the internet to learn more about your cultural group for the purposes of this paper, a good copy and paste job will get you an F. Paraphrase!!!!!!!!! And if you choose to quote a source, please site where the information came from. I have caught a few students red-handed in their slick copy and paste jobs. So, don’t try it. Cheating will get you an F for this assignment.

1. If you’re going to write about religious culture, please do not describe your beliefs as being so matter of fact and/or absolute. Here’s an example of what I don’t want to see. :God created the universe.” Here’s what I would like to see. “I believe that God created the universe.” See the difference?

Good luck! Looking forward to reading your papers!!!!!!!!