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Assessment 2 Instructions: Comparative Analysis and Reflection

Analyze the differences and similarities between two cultures using your selected cultural artifacts. Choose from two lens with which to examine these cultures: how these cultures approach decision making and/or problem solving or their customs and traditions.

Introduction

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.

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Have you ever had a problem, such as a leaky faucet, an issue with a family member, or a school assignment, that you just couldn’t solve? You might have tried and tried to come up with an answer, growing more frustrated as time went on. Perhaps, you then asked someone else for help, and they immediately came up with the perfect solution. Baffled, you may have thought to yourself, “How did they do that?” The answer is often that the other person simply looked at the problem differently. And many times, a different point of view is exactly what you need to find a solution.

In this assessment, you will further develop your problem-solving skills by exploring how different people and cultures approach making decisions and resolving conflicts. By looking at a single problem from multiple perspectives, you will find more creative solutions to complex issues at home, school, and work. You will also continue to improve your self- and social-awareness skills as you explore how your perspective may be biased and how that bias affects the way you process information.

Most of my important lessons about life have come from recognizing how others from a different culture view things.

– Edgar H. Schein, organizational psychologist

If you’ve ever wondered why people from different cultures think and do things differently than you, here’s your chance to satisfy your curiosity about customs, traditions, religious beliefs, and more. In this assessment, you’ll strengthen your problem-solving and self- and social-awareness skills by exploring cultural similarities and differences, which will allow you to really get where other people are coming from. Exploring and thinking critically about how friends, peers, colleagues, and even strangers from different backgrounds view the world can make you more empathetic and understanding. And applying this empathy and understanding will ultimately help you build the successful, collaborative relationships that are critical to your personal and professional success. you’ll continue to cultivate your problem-solving skills as you compare and contrast cultures around the world and develop critical thinking strategies to understand the perspectives and behaviors of others. You’ll also strengthen your self- and social-awareness skills by exploring how your personal and cultural experiences influence your opinions and choices.

The universe is made of stories, not atoms.

– Muriel Rukeyser, poet

Storytelling transcends all cultures, time periods, and geographic regions. That’s why the ancient Greeks built huge amphitheaters and why you find yourself saying “just one more episode!” as you devour the new season of your favorite TV show. So it’s not surprising that understanding the stories we tell is a critical part of the study of humanities.

In this assessment, you will further develop your problem-solving skills by exploring stories from different cultures. By learning about common storytelling themes and values (and their differences and similarities), you will discover more ways to think critically about your own biases and consider how different perspectives can help you approach and solve problems in the real world.

References

BrainyQuote. (n.d.). Dalai Lama quotes. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/dalai_lama_4467…

Goodreads. (n.d.). Edgar H. Schein quotes. https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/43958.Edga…

Wikiquote. (n.d.). Muriel Rukeyser. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Muriel_Rukeyser

Overview

As you navigate environments in your personal and professional life, you will engage with people and artifacts from different cultures. In these interactions, you will naturally compare the similarities and differences of other cultures to your own and to other cultures you have been exposed to. This analysis will help you make meaning of information and be more effective in your interactions at work, home, and school.

In this assessment, you will analyze the differences and similarities between the two cultures using the cultural artifacts you have selected. You will then relate your analysis to explain certain aspects of that culture.

Preparation

You will choose one topic from the options listed below to conduct your comparative culture analysis. After you select your topic, you will then select two artifacts (from the list given below) related to your topic to use as the subjects of your analysis. You will also support your analysis with relevant resources from this course.

• Topic Option 1: Cultural Views on Making Decisions. Analyze the cultural artifacts from Chapter 4 of Exploring Cultures. Make sure you identify the cultural artifacts selected for this analysis. Your analysis of the artifacts should inform us of how you perceive the cultures from these aspects:
  • Making decisions and/or resolving conflicts. Discuss two similarities and two differences in approaches used by these cultures.
  • Cultural values and beliefs. Explain what your analysis suggests to you about the cultural values and beliefs of each culture and how they approach decision making and/or problem solving.
• Topic Option 2: Cultural Views on Customs and Traditions. Analyze the cultural artifacts from Chapter 5 of Exploring Cultures. Make sure you identify the cultural artifacts selected for this analysis. Your analysis of the artifacts should inform us of how you perceive the cultures from these aspects:
  • Customs and traditions. Discuss two similarities and two differences around the customs and traditions of these cultures.
  • Cultural values and beliefs. Explain what your analysis suggests to you about the cultural values and beliefs of each culture related to customs and traditions.

If you chose option 1, select two of the artifacts to use in this assessment:

• Exploring Cultures.
  • Chapter 4: Beating Bias.
    • This chapter discusses ways to recognize cultural bias and how to counteract bias for better decision-making outcomes. Before you read the chapter, read or listen to these stories. Chapter 4 will refer to these artifacts.
      • Read.gov. (n.d.). The lion and the mouse. http://read.gov/aesop/007.html
      • Fables of Aesop. (2020). Belling the cat. https://fablesofaesop.com/belling-the-cat.html
      • Silko, L. M. (1967). The man to send rain clouds. Genius. https://genius.com/Leslie-marmon-silko-the-man-to-…
      • Adichie, C. N. (2015). Olikoye. Medium. https://medium.com/matter/olikoye-b027d7c0a680
      • Zhou, S. (2019). On my mind [Video]. YouTube.

If you chose option 2, select two of the artifacts to use in this assessment:

• Exploring Cultures.
  • Chapter 5: Culture, Customs, and Traditions.
    • This chapter focuses on how the way we look at the world is connected with our traditions, customs, and beliefs. Before you read the chapter, view or listen to the following artifacts. Chapter 5 will refer to these artifacts.
      • Sihab Nye, N. (2008). Gate A-4. Poets.org. https://poets.org/poem/gate-4
      • Grandmas Project. (2018, February 21). Kneidler [Video]. YouTube.
      • Tan, A. (1987). Fish cheeks. CommonLit. https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/fish-cheeks

Instructions

After you have chosen your topic and the relevant artifacts, use the Comparative Analysis and Reflection Assessment Template [DOCX] to complete this assessment.

• Step 1: Compare and contrast the cultures represented in your chosen artifacts.
  • Describe the artifacts you selected on which you will conduct your cultural analysis. Be sure to identify the cultures.
  • Identify the similarities and differences between the cultures as they relate to how your chosen topic is depicted in the cultural artifacts.
• Step 2: Analyze the artifacts to inform how the depicted cultures approach the cultural views of your selected topic.
  • If you selected Topic 1: Cultural Views on Making Decisions:
    • Discuss two similarities and two differences in approaches used by these cultures.
    • Explain what your analysis suggests to you about the cultural values and beliefs of each culture and how they approach decision making and/or problem solving.
  • If you selected Topic 2: Cultural Views on Customs and Traditions:
    • Discuss two similarities and two differences around the customs and traditions of these cultures.
    • Explain what your analysis suggests to you about the cultural values and beliefs of each culture related to customs and traditions.
• Step 3: Summarize two main takeaways about the cultures reflected and insights you gained.
  • Describe what you learned about the cultures reflected.
  • Explain how the insights you gained from these two cultures can be used to widen your perspective.
• Step 4: Explain how understanding the cultural similarities and differences that exist between your own culture and these cultures can benefit you in your personal, academic, and professional life.
  • Describe at least two similarities and/or differences between your own cultural values and ideals and that of one of the cultures you chose for this assessment.
  • Explain how these insights can be used to support your professional, academic, and personal endeavors.

Save your assessment with this title: Your Name_HUM-FPX1100_Assessment_2_Comparative_Analysis_and_Reflection.

Additional Requirements

Your submission should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Write in complete sentences free from errors that detract from the overall message.
• Font and font size: Arial, 12 point.
• Citations: Include complete citations of your sources. Review Evidence and APA section of the Writing Center for more information on how to cite your sources.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Analyze personal cultural bias.
  • Explain how understanding the cultural similarities and differences that exist between one’s own culture and these cultures can benefit one’s personal, academic, and professional life.
• Competency 3: Analyze cultural differences and similarities of people globally.
  • Compare and contrast the cultures represented in the chosen artifacts.
  • Summarize two main takeaways about the cultures reflected and insights gained.
• Competency 4: Analyze the role of culture and artistic expression in human thought and behavior.
  • Analyze the artifacts to inform how the depicted cultures approach the cultural views of the selected topic.
• Competency 5: Address assessment purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.
  • Write in a well-organized and concise manner that adheres to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics.

  Resources: Beating Bias

• Our Global Workplace

  In Italy, it is common for businesspeople to be outgoing and talkative. In Japan, businesspeople are more likely to be quiet and reserved. So it’s easy to imagine a meeting where an Italian executive perceives her Japanese counterpart as uninterested, while the Japanese executive feels that the Italian businesswoman is being rude (Schalkx, 2018).In our global workplace, situations like this often arise due to something called cultural bias. Cultural bias is how people interpret and judge what they see, based on standards from their own culture. In the imaginary scenario above, the cultural bias of both professionals affects the way they interpret the behavior of their counterpart. Our biases also affect the way we interpret other types of information and how we solve problems.By understanding our own biases and the biases of others, we can look at a problem from all angles. That leads us to solutions that work best for everyone because we’re better able to understand how our decisions affect different people.

  Reflecting on Your Biases

  You will continue to strengthen your self- and social-awareness skills with techniques that will help you objectively look at biases you may have. While most people don’t consider themselves biased, we all have biases—they are a product of our cultural backgrounds. The important thing is to be aware of these biases and understand how they affect the way we think.Reflecting on your biases will also advance your problem-solving skills because understanding how you look at the world will help you incorporate other perspectives into the way you approach conflicts and make difficult decisions. By first looking inward and thinking about how your biases affect the way you solve problems, you’ll be in a better position to look outward and incorporate new ideas into your approach.Let’s return to the example of the Italian and Japanese executives to see these skills in action.Imagine that both executives work for Bello, a company based in Italy. Bello sells men’s grooming products, and the company is trying to market its products in Japan for the first time. While their ad campaign has worked very well in Italy, it hasn’t been connecting with the Japanese market. Giulia, the Italian executive, has been tasked with trying to figure out why that is. After her unproductive meeting with Botan, her Japanese counterpart, Giulia decides she can solve the problem on her own.Later that day, she reviews the marketing campaign again, but she remains unsure why it isn’t performing well in Japan. She decides that to solve this problem, she needs to look at it from a Japanese perspective, and she can’t do it alone. She calls another meeting with Botan.When they meet again, they acknowledge their cultural bias and how it affected their first interaction. Giulia says that she felt Botan’s quiet demeanor meant he wasn’t interested in working with her. Botan says that he felt Giulia’s outspoken nature meant she didn’t value his opinion. They both apologize and agree to start over.Botan explains that the ads Bello has been showing in Japan, which feature a man shaving while a woman is taking a bath, are considered disrespectful in Japanese culture. He believes that ads focused on a man shaving by himself will have a greater impact. Giulia agrees to try Botan’s idea. Once the new campaign is released in Japan, there’s no mistaking the results: Bello is a hit!By using their self- and social-awareness skills, Giulia and Botan were able to recognize their biases and work through them. Then, they were able to use their problem-solving skills to think critically about what was causing the issue with their ad campaign and how they could solve it.You can use these same skills as you study different cultures in this course; interact with others at home, work, and school; and approach difficult decisions in your life and career.

  • Exploring Cultures.
    • Chapter 4: Beating Bias.
      • This chapter discusses ways to recognize cultural bias and how to counteract bias for better decision-making outcomes. Before you read the chapter, read or listen to these stories. Chapter 4 will refer to these artifacts.
        • Read.gov. (n.d.). The lion and the mouse. http://read.gov/aesop/007.html
        • Fables of Aesop. (2020). Belling the cat. https://fablesofaesop.com/belling-the-cat.html
        • Silko, L. M. (1967). The man to send rain clouds. Genius. https://genius.com/Leslie-marmon-silko-the-man-to-…
        • Adichie, C. N. (2015). Olikoye. Medium. https://medium.com/matter/olikoye-b027d7c0a680
        • Zhou, S. (2019). On my mind [Video]. YouTube.
  • Ross, H. J. (2020). Everyday bias: Identifying and navigating unconscious judgments in our daily lives. Rowman & Littlefield.
    • Chapter 1, “If You Are Human, You Are Biased,” pages 1–6.
      • Ross provides a discussion on bias and provides insights on why humans have bias without us realizing it.
  • Ten Tips for Becoming More Self Aware [PDF].
    • Learn 10 simple techniques you can use to beat your biases, grow your self-awareness, and better understand yourself. Beating bias starts with understanding where that bias comes from and working toward having a more objective (or unbiased) point of view. Discover 10 ways to grow your self- and social-awareness skills to better understand and breakthrough your biases. You may be surprised how a little self-reflection can create big changes in both how you see the world, and how others see you.

  Reference

  Schalkx, E. (2018). How to overcome cultural biases while collaborating? Collabwith. https://knowco.net/2018/09/how-to-overcome-cultura…

Resources: Bridging Divides and Building Understanding

• Capella Stories: Breaking Bread, Building Bridges.
  • Today, United States is consumed by division. Can people with different perspectives ever find common ground? Justine Lee set out to answer this question by starting the organization Make American Dinner Again, which gets people with disparate perspectives together and puts the hardest conversations front and center. In this media, you’ll see strangers with vastly different perspectives use the power of dialogue to bridge divides and build understanding.