Midterm Projects
Intercultural Communication
(HUN/SSN 180)

For your midterm project you may choose either item (1) or (2):

1. Select a novel, novel excerpt, or short story by an author from a culture other than your own. Preferably, the action of the novel or short story should be set in that culture as well. Study the communication that occurs between the characters in the novel and identify the effects of cultural patterns, perception, verbal codes, nonverbal codes, social episodes, and roles on interpersonal communication. In other words, you are to come up with a short description of the communication that occurs within the culture, but from the vantage point of your own cultural point of view. Some questions you might want to ask yourself are:
   
• What does the writer indicate about the cultural patterns of this culture?
• How do the cultural patterns affect interpersonal communication?
• What clues and descriptions are presented in the stories that describe appropriate nonverbal communication in the culture?
• Do the characters use any special verbal codes?
• Are there any distinct social episodes that seem to be governed by specific cultural rules?
• What differences do you notice between the interpersonal communication portrayed in this piece of fiction and what you might find in a similar setting in your culture?
  
  Be sure to select a work with a fair amount of interaction between the characters. Some sample authors: Nagib Mahfouz, Alice Walker, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Margaret Atwood, Reinaldo Arenas, Mario Varga Llosa, Nadine Gordimer, Milovan Djilas, Terry McMillan, Linda Hogan, Amy Tan, Maya Angelou.

2. Same as above, but select a feature‑length film about a culture other than your own, preferably set in the United States. The requirements focus and questions are the same as for the novel, short story. Some film suggestions: Mississippi Masala, Come See the Paradise, El Norte, China Girt, The Wedding Banquet, Nueba Yol, Witness, Green Card, My Family, Someone Else's America, I like It Like That.

In either case, please present your findings in the form of a paper, typewritten, double spaced, 5‑7 pages, and your own work. You will be asked to discuss your work in front of the class using examples of the novel or film chosen. Good luck. Print Midterm proj or top

Final Projects
Intercultural Communication
(HUN/SSN 180)  

New York City, the self‑styled Capital of the World, is home to people from approximately 185 different cultures. Each of these cultures contributes in some way, large or small, to the vitality of the city. For your final project, you are asked to do a cultural survey of one of these communities.

 Requirements

You must choose a cultural community that has made and continues to make a sizeable contribution to various aspects (language, music, food, politics etc.) of life in the city. Please try to choose a community with which you are basically unfamiliar. As part of a group, you will choose your own area of concentration from the considerations below. Please present your findings in the form of a paper, 7‑10 pages, typewritten, double spaced, using a style guide, and your own work. You will be asked to deliver an oral presentation of your research to the class. You are encouraged to use video and any other media that will enhance your presentation.

 Considerations

Following are the most important considerations that need to be addressed in the contents of your project:

1. Historical time line ‑ the history of the first and any subsequent waves of immigration to New York; migration within the region.
2. Reasons ‑ past and present, for coming to this area.
3. Demographics ‑ past and present statistics on the number of people and their descendants plus current and projected trends.
4. Major contributions to the city and to the state and nation.
5. Socioeconomic status ‑ past, present, and outlook for the future.
6. Institutions ‑ churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, social clubs, and social welfare agencies.
7. Political involvement ‑ attitudes, activities, power and influence, past and present, in the city and in the state and nation.
8. Traditions ‑ past and preserved, customs, music, food, clothing, moral attitudes, degree of assimilation, influence on life in the city, state, nation.
9. Education ‑ importance placed on education, types of schooling preferred, literacy rates, languages spoken.
10. Employment ‑jobs preferred, past and present, skills and trades, niches occupied
11. Communication ‑ cultural patterns, observations on communication, verbal and nonverbal, as it occurs within the culture.

    This project requires extensive field work. The Internet is not your best source but you are allowed to use one Internet reference in your "Works Cited" list. Additional sources include school and public libraries, the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, ethnic clubs on campus, your classmates, books, articles, stories, pictures, friends, community resources, religious institutions, interviews and oral histories, visiting the community and its people, restaurants and shops, museums, movies, and government agencies. Essential items include notepads, tape recorder, video camera, college ID, and comfortable shoes.
    Print Final Project or top

GOOD LUCK