ATA 5

For this assignment, we were to read a peer-reviewed journal article in regards to another country, summarize the purpose and findings of the article, and compare it to North American Culture. I am sure that I could use the skills learned in this assignment in future classes. Unfortunately, I choose to skip Assignment 5.

ATA4

In this assignment we learned about gender and advertising across cultures. I learned that the portrayal of men and women in advertisements in North America and Europe are vastly different. This gave better insights about why we have differences in views of the human body. This assignment was a perfect addition to the chapter on culture and gender that we covered. It gave it a more hands on approach to the topic. The information was relevant to me because it allowed me to better understand some of the content that we are covering in this course.

ATA3

During this assignment, we had the opportunity to view a Temple University student’s blog from their time studying abroad. I chose to view Jordan Allison’s blog from his time in Rome, Italy. Jordan went a different route with his posts, he chose to do video posts. In my opinion, this was a great way to not only get the subject of the post across but also give us fantastic visuals. While viewing his posts, I specifically focused on language and communication. This showed me how important communication and the use of speech illustrators are in the Italian culture. This information will be important for me to know when I do my own study abroad experience in Rome during the spring.

The information that learned about the importance of language communication helped me to better understand some of the concepts I learned while taking French years ago. When I took these classes, I did not understand how important context and the use of speech illustrators were in other cultures. Looking back on it, I could have gotten more use out of the language had I paid more attention to these things.

ATA2

For this assignment we read and reviewed the 13 Values That Americans Live By, by L. Robert Kohls. We were to choose one of the values and reflect how it applied to our life by providing examples. We were to then discuss how this value could be perceived from a non-American’s point of view. I was able to apply the concepts learned in this assignment as a follow up to a discussion that I had with a friend. She previously worked in the international center at Virginia Tech and the conversation was based around how some of her students failed to understand some of the aspects of American culture. This assignment helped me be more engaged in the conversation. By learning this information, I will better be able to engage with those from another cultures by being able to be more aware of how my views differ from others.

ATA1

During this first assignment I had the opportunity to find out what stage of Bennett’s Developmental Model of Cultural Sensitivity I am in. The stage that I am in is the Adaptation to Difference stage. Meaning, I have the ability to perform cognitive frame-shifts and behavioral code-shifts. By learning about this, I was better able to apply it to another one of my classes. We were covering some information relevant to cultures. I was able to apply this information to better understand the topic and the work associated to it.

I found this assignment to be relevant to my because I always like to learn something new about myself. By learning this about myself, I could apply it to how I work with others. I work with individuals from many different backgrounds and by learning this I have the ability to make a more conscious effort to understand them. Prior to this assignment, I had not been exposed to this model. It was very interesting to learn something new.