Intercultural Reflection

The Mayflower Compact, marked by 41 English settlers on the ship Mayflower on November 11, 1620, was the primary composed system of government built up in what is currently the United States. The smaller was drafted to forestall contradict among Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims who had arrived at Plymouth a couple of days

I have to agree with you Kesha this course did shed light on and let us explore different worldviews than our own Christian worldview. It placed emphasis on how important it is for us to understand other worldviews in order to be able to get along with non-Christians. Our world has become a society of multi cultures, and in order to be able to understand and be able to communicate with these other cultures we need to understand where they are coming from. No matter what type of worldview a person has, each person has the capability of knowing right from wrong, and good from evil, and each person has value within themselves. As we go onto our future careers as Administrators we will need to fall back on what we learned in this class. It

Due to my extreme interest in dentistry, I decided to join the Pre-Dental Organization. The club does not really have set meeting dates, but instead emails us when there is an upcoming meeting. These meetings vary greatly from learning how to prepare for the DAT to having guest speakers. All of this information is insanely helpful, as a solid DAT score is required to get into the dental school and guest speakers allow all of us to learn more about the field. The Pre-Dental Organization also lets us know of events that prepare us for being strong applicants to get into dental school.

My HUN 180 Intercultural communication class conducted a field trip to the Jamaica Islamic Center, Queens, on November 22, 2016. I did some research about the Jamaica Islamic Center and, according to JIC “Jamaica Islamic Center, INC is an initiative of Muslims in America dedicated to promoting Islamic awareness and facilitating socio-economic welfare of the common people in Jamaica, Queens, New York”. (http://jamaicamuslimcenter.org/)

My experience interacting with minorities and medically underserved individuals has taught me cultural competence by gradually learning the capacity to understand other people’s experiences and sufferings in a way I never had before. By working in family and free health clinics, and volunteering as an EMT and a hospice aide, I have personally seen some of the health disparities found in our world. I have witnessed how a lack of insurance, monetary income, or health education affects one’s decision to attain primary health care. Furthermore, my experiences with emergency medicine teams serving culturally diverse communities have helped me to be able to see how healthcare professionals handle crises while not losing the ability to think logically and rationally when striving to treat people’s illnesses, instead of focusing on their

The motivation of this study is to see how efficient and cost effective the influenza vaccine is for the aging population.

Regardless of my town’s homogeneous population, I grew up accepting diversity and was taught about different cultures even amid the same racial group. One of the first experiences of diversity I can recall as a child was the various religious beliefs within the Black community. My parents believed “exposure to the world around you” was one of the primary factors to raising a well-rounded individual. Therefore, we often visited different churches of various faiths.

Within the past couple of weeks, I had the opportunity to engage in a religious minority event. I attended the Hillel Jewish Center here on Purdue’s campus. Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, and I found it very fascinating that I got to take part in this new learning experience. I am from a small town where everyone knows everyone, and there is very little diversity in race or ethnic groups. I was raised in a Christian family and I attended church every Sunday. I have never been around such diversity until I came to Purdue. Through my education classes, and the events that I have attended on campus my cultural knowledge has grown so much since I first started attending Purdue. I had very little knowledge of the

Cultural immersion is an essential part of the education experience. It has been used throughout time to allow people to understand those whose ideas and beliefs differ from their own. The experiences gained through immersing in an unfamiliar culture allow the mind to grow in ways that are beyond comprehension. Because our nation is advancing, and merging ides from other cultures, this process is more important than ever. Cynthia Kratzke and Melissa Bertolo (2013) state that if we only teach concepts and language from other cultures we are limiting the ability of future generations to be able to work with other cultures (p.1). Cultural immersion is a way for one to reach a new insight they may not have otherwise gained. Jesus Nieto (2006) says there are main goals to these experiences: 1) to interact with people of a different culture 2) to gain insight into aspects of others 3) to be of a minority group in a setting 4) to gain a new perspective on one’s own beliefs and values (p. 77).

Before coming into this class, I viewed it as another as another religion class that I would pay no attention to and then forget. I assumed this because I come from a Christian household and grew up going to church and private school. However, it was never boring and much more interesting and informative than I thought it would be. Because of my background, I did not know anything about the other traditions, with the exception of a little understanding about Judaism, all I knew were stereotypes. The five most important and interesting things to me that we learned were how similar all of the traditions are to one another, the idea of syncretism, Thich Naht Hanh’s teachings of emptiness, interconnected, and the way of understanding, the

After a full semester of learning from you and attending your class has absolutely improved my understanding and views of religion, including the ideology behind them and the people who follow them. This class has taught me to use bracketing and eidetic vision to put my previous knowledge to the side, and to keep an open mind, all while asking the question why. I never truly understood Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, and as a matter of fact any religions as well as I do now thanks to you. I admit that I am much more opened minded about religion. I preferred to write about the three religions that interested me the most, and those three religions were Daoism, Hinduism, and Christianity. These were the

Since I started this class, I have a learned a great deal about cultural diversity in the classroom and abroad. My perspective has changed slightly but my knowledge of this subject has improved. In my family, my father taught me about the civil rights movement and the evils of segregation in the U.S. My parents taught me to be tolerant of all humans, no matter what they look like, how they dress, or their sexual orientation. My family has always been liberal thinkers who taught me the dark history of racism and bigotry in this country. As an educator I would be accepting to all race, creeds, and religious peoples.

My first two years of college, I didn’t take seriously. I would put my family first and I encountered culture shock. My parents didn't reach a higher education, so they don’t understand the dedication and hours of work school requires. I would put them first, I would be the leader of the house, I would take my brother to school and attend his school activities.

The cultural assignment allowed me to gain a new perspective on the differences of others. I have grown up in a household of dissimilar belief systems. My mom is a dedicated Christian while my dad is unassociated with any religious beliefs. Though, he grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness. There differing belief systems have been the cause of various conflicts within their relationship. I often wondered if people with contradicting beliefs could effectively and peacefully discuss their belief systems. This cultural experience showed me that a peaceful discussion is possible between individuals of dissimilar beliefs.

Humans have been communicating since four million years. On the other hand, the birth of culture is estimated to have taken place about 35,000 years ago. Today, both culture and communication have evolved considerably and have become interdependent of one another, to the point that communication is considered to be a product of culture. Thus, our own culture has a deep impact on our thoughts and behaviors. Since each culture has its distinct aspects, intercultural communication can be the cause of conflict and disorder. There are three main issues which are at the root of the problem of intercultural miscommunication : language as a barrier, cultural diversity and ethnocentrism. I will analyze