Writing Assignment

You will write two 2-page field experience report throughout course. Field Experiences ask you to step outside of your normal routines and have an experience that is new to you. All of the field experience options are outlined below.  Choose only 1 option to discuss. 

This report asks you to integrate ideas from your chosen experience with concepts discussed in the course. As you write, be specific in referring to the ideas and reference the materials you discuss. When you refer to an idea in the text, you need to define it (so that I know you know what it means), and then explain why the experience is an example of that.

For example: If you choose to talk about identity you must first explain how identity is defined in our course materials. Then, try to connect the themes in your Field Experience to the concepts discussed in class.

Finally, as you go through your experience, consider the Scale of Intercultural Sensitivity (from Module 1) and reflect on it in relation to your experience. Where do you find yourself on the Scale?

Option 1:

Compare the coverage of one news story as covered in three different newspapers from a variety of places around the world. For example, you might read about the President Trump's inauguration day as described in The New York Times, Der Spiegel, and Moscow Times. Then compare the coverage by thinking about the following questions: What, if anything, is different about the way the story is represented in the different sources? How does the "spin" on the story change across sources? What is the focus of the story as depicted in each source? 

Option 2:

 Visit an area where you live that is a gathering place for people different from your own cultural group, i.e. restaurant, place of worship, community center, etc.  How do you feel as a “foreigner” there?  Do you speak the language? What differences in communication (verbal and nonverbal) do you observe? What other differences do you notice? 

Option3:

 Watch a film that depicts another culture.** You could watch a documentary that explores a sub-culture in the United States or another culture in the world. You could also watch a foreign film from another culture. Think about the culture you are learning about. What themes from the film relate to what we've covered in class?

**International students – choose a film from a culture than your own or one that depicts a sub-culture within your own culture 

Option4:

 Similar to the film analysis, read a piece of literature from another culture or a sub-culture within your own culture.  What does it teach you about that cultures’ communication? What other aspects of the text connect to the themes presented in our class?