Flora Mondi- Reflection #4: Popular Culture

Flora Mondi

Getachew Godana

Comm 211

02/ 10/ 2015

Chapter 9: Popular Culture

            Popular Culture is a name for low culture, referring to those cultural products that most people share and know about; including television, music, videos and popular magazines. In our society today, you see that everyone is influenced by popular culture. To narrow it even smaller, you see that in our university, a trend usually starts every year. Last year, it seemed like it was the fanny pack. Almost every girl on campus had one. It is one of the most convenient ways to carry your personal belongings with you anywhere you went without having to hold a purse. This shows us how popular culture spreads quickly throughout an environment.

            Another trend that is popular because of popular culture is the “eyebrow” game. The “eyebrow” game is where women or men fix their eyebrows to look so perfect by cutting it and shaping it to look like a masterpiece of art. They first start by cutting it, then filling it in with a pencil, and finally they outline it by using concealer. Many try to be a part of the trending popular culture but they do not always seem to be the right fit. This shows us that popular culture can be good but in many cases, it does not. 

Erika Beedle Reflection #7

Erika Beedle

Reflection #7

Chapter 11

            I really enjoyed learning about culture, communication, and conflict as it relates to intercultural communication.  One of the main ideas I took away from class was that conflict is not necessarily a bad thing.  I learned that through conflict, progress could be made.  This idea is called productive conflict, meaning that a successful conflict management or resolution occurred.  All groups of people will have conflict, even if they share similar cultural backgrounds.  When you have a problem with your friend, you try to make it up, and talk to that person about what is wrong.  This sort of communication is lacking in intercultural conflict.  Conflicts between different cultural groups are usually harder to resolve because people simply don't try very hard.  I believe that you are in involved in a conflict that you should use this experience to create growth and cooperation. 

            You can have a productive conflict if you try to achieve these seven things:

·      Stay centered and do not polarize.

·      Maintain contact.

·      Recognize the existence of different styles.

·      Identity your preferred style.

·      Be creative and expand your style repertoire.

·      Recognize the importance of conflict context.

·      Be willing to forgive.

The next time you are in an intercultural conflict, don’t brush it under the rug.  Face the problem, use communication to try to find a compromise, and use this time to break boundaries that was once there before. 

Sydney Svoboda

Professor Getachew

Reflection #7

April 2, 15

“An Idiot Tourist”

            I found this documentary very interesting and funny. The tourist is very incompetent about other cultures and different countries, as he has not traveled much before this trip. While he is faced with the challenges from his day-to-day travel experiences it shows how people can form stereotypes or certain ideas in their head about countries without truly experiencing culture first. For example, as he walked around China he wasn’t expecting it to be the way he was viewing it, but rather said, “I thought this was where they made the IPod?” I think sometimes we forget that one culture doesn’t define a certain country. There are thousands of different cultures in China that vary from the one he is experiencing, and often times we try to generalize a country as a whole rather than the communities it makes up.

            This documentary was very eye opening in both an inspiring and educational way.  Inspiring because it motivates me to travel and limit stereotypes of different countries in my head, that I have compiled over the years whether it be from TV, movies, the Internet, or the News. It was also very educational in the sense that it shows how incompetent some may be of other countries due to not traveling. It also showed me a culture of China that was very different and something that I have never seen before.

Sydney Svoboda

Professor Getachew

Reflection #7

April 2, 15

“An Idiot Tourist”

            I found this documentary very interesting and funny. The tourist is very incompetent about other cultures and different countries, as he has not traveled much before this trip. While he is faced with the challenges from his day-to-day travel experiences it shows how people can form stereotypes or certain ideas in their head about countries without truly experiencing culture first. For example, as he walked around China he wasn’t expecting it to be the way he was viewing it, but rather said, “I thought this was where they made the IPod?” I think sometimes we forget that one culture doesn’t define a certain country. There are thousands of different cultures in China that vary from the one he is experiencing, and often times we try to generalize a country as a whole rather than the communities it makes up.

            This documentary was very eye opening in both an inspiring and educational way.  Inspiring because it motivates me to travel and limit stereotypes of different countries in my head, that I have compiled over the years whether it be from TV, movies, the Internet, or the News. It was also very educational in the sense that it shows how incompetent some may be of other countries due to not traveling. It also showed me a culture of China that was very different and something that I have never seen before.

Perception of self and others

I Shan Yeh
Comm 211
Reflection 7

Perception of self and others

     Perception is the process where a person select, organize, and interpret external and internal stimuli to build their view of the world. Yes, it is always interested to hear different people´s opinion on different things. We can also see how each of social science approach in perception among different cultural groups try to understand how different cultures experienced in many things.
     There are different types of perception, including prototypes, stereotypes, scripts, dispositional, and situational. Different people have different pattern for each of these perception, which is also an interesting things when we ask people their opinion.
     Taking everything into consideration, there will definitely have conflict for people from different countries, when they are argue. However, take a pause, and think there are many perception pattern in different culture, conflict is inevitable. Thus, we should be open minded and try to understand their perception so that will lower the rate of conflict between people from different countries.
     There are so many ways for people to communicate with each other in the world. However, there is no any accurate way for communicate, as different culture has its own aspect.
     

Reflection 7

Audrey Beedle

COMM 211 – Reflection 7

Perception of Self and Others

            I thought that Alex’s discussion on perception of self and others was very interesting and extremely relevant in intercultural communication.  He discussed the notion that culture is not objective, because it is a social construct.  It is not the same for any two people, as it all depends on the way you perceive it which can be affected by many factors such as your family, ethnicity, education level, and so on.  I thought it was very interesting how he used a psychological approach to study and discuss this aspect of communication.  It was especially helpful and interesting for me since I have a slight background in studying psychology and one of the main things we learned about was schemas or mental frameworks that create meaningful patterns from stimuli.  Our self-concept has a lot to do with our schemas of things and how we perceive them.  Self-concept too, is a social construct, which was created and continues to be influenced by society and the ideas and opinions of others.  Without other ideas to compare yourself and opinions with, you would have a hard time really understanding a standard for “good,” “correct,” or even have preferences about certain things.  The most interesting aspect of this subject and the way it ties with intercultural communication the best is that these social construct vary from society to society, culture to culture, and person to person.  One culture may value openness and honesty as core to communication, while others remain more reserved, or closed off.  It is in situations that challenge your schemas of standards that make you more interculturally competent and tolerant.

Reflection 7 Kelli Green

The difference between direct and indirect language is an interesting part of intercultural communication. Ethnicity, gender, ambiguity, and differences in values and beliefs influence the language and conflict styles that people use. While some people may directly discuss a conflict with someone, others may use indirect tactics like passive language or talking behind backs. The level of relationship of the people conversing will also affect the direct and indirect communication differences. For example, if I were to address a conflict with a friend, I would directly talk about what that conflict is. Whereas if I needed to address a conflict with someone I don’t know as well, I would likely feel uncomfortable and just try to avoid direct interaction.

            Facework is the term for communication strategies that we use to save our own or someone else’s face or public image. Facework strategies are used every day. In our society, public image is strongly valued, and people work to improve or maintain their status. Conflict may cause questions in one’s public image or reputation, and facework allows that person or others to support them in a positive light. Facework is good when it is honest, but when people lie to maintain a public image, facework is a barrier in intercultural communication.

            Conflict can be destructive if it is not managed properly. When people deny the opposing side of a conflict and shut their minds, conflict will likely lead to more conflict. However, conflict can also be constructive. Conflict brings important issues to the surface. Without conflict, we would not be challenged to think in different ways and try to see life from others’ points of views. My favorite tactics described in the book to manage conflict are to recognize the existence of different styles, stay centered and do not polarize, and recognize the importance of conflict context. Without seeking understanding about why the opposing side supports their side, a person will likely not be able to tolerate the conflict. However, by opening up the mind and staying centered in the search for understanding, both sides can mediate and respect each other’s opinions without necessarily changing theirs. Conflict is very difficult, but it can be beneficial in intercultural communication.