EXAM # 1

Intercultural Communication Exam 1

Spring/Summer 2019, Barthé

Deadline: June 24, 2019, 8PM

Directions:

Create a file in MS Word and name it with the following convention:

LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_EXAM1.docx

Answer each question FULLY, and in paragraph form. Each paragraph MUST HAVE a thesis/topic sentence. That thesis/topic sentence must have EVIDENCE to back it up. You must give an EXPLANATION of your evidence, no matter how obvious that explanation may be. This is NOT NEGOTIABLE and a REQUIREMENT for every question.

Under no circumstances should you leave any question blank. Even if you are uncertain of your answer, giving any answer at all is better than not answering a question. Essay questions allow you to show what you know: so, show what you know, even if you are unsure of your answer. Any answer is better than no answer at all.

Each answer will be graded based on the following criteria:

-is the form of the answer correct/does the answer include evidence? I don’t have to agree with your arguments, but you have to articulate your answers as ARGUMENTS, and arguments include evidence (-4).

-is the answer logically consistent (-2)?

-does the answer make any non-factual assertions (-2)?

-is the grammar and language of the answer clear and correct (-2)

The final deadline for submission of this exam is 8PM, June 24, 2019. You must submit your finished exam, to me via email by then. If for any reason, you are unable to meet this deadline, you must contact me as soon as you realize that your submission will be late.

EXAM 1:

What is the difference between “standard objectivity” and Sandra Harding’s concept of “Strong Objectivity? Give evidence from her essay to make your case.

What is the conceptual difference, if any, between Harding’s “Standpoint Theory” and “relativism?” REFER TO THE HARDING TEXT for evidence for your answer.

Give examples of some components of “social location” and explain how these “locators” can impact a person’s access to knowledge.

How might a person from a marginalized social location experience the “problem” of multiculturalism differently from a person from a dominant social location?

What is meant by “gendered knowledge” and “gendered culture” and why do these things exist?

In his essay, “The Gulf War Did Not Happen,” does Jean Baudrillard’s use of the word “war” conform more to a “formative” use of language or a “figurative” use of language? Explain your position.

Words are the “means with which we create meaning” through a process that is symbolic, interpretive and transactional, and dependent on context. Explain these components, and how they interact with one another, in the process of knowledge production.

The Indian “caste system,” the British “class system” (as observed by Marx), and the European system of “race science” are all distinct from one another, but share underlying similarities, too. What distinguishes these institutions from one another, and what do they share in common?

How are the concepts of “race,” “nation,” and “ethnicity” related to one another, and what does it mean to say that these concepts are “historical artifacts” that have been “socially constructed?”

“Globalization” has been described as “Americanization writ large” and has been identified as a socio-cultural challenge unique to the Information Age. However, “globalization/Americanization” and “multiculturalism” are not equivalent concepts. What is the difference between the contemporary phenomenon of “globalization/Americanization,” and the historical reality of “multiculturalism” in places like the Mediterranean World, the Indian Subcontinent, Persia, Africa, and the (pre-colonial) Caribbean? Are there similarities between, and among, these contexts that are relevant to the contemporary reality of “globalization?”