increasing the cultural dynamic in SLIS programs

I profoundly agree with what Brian said about internships. There is no better teacher than the learner teaching after his or her experiences. Especially in terms of travel and intercultural learning. I would say that perhaps the best two organizations to work with in terms of internships for international literacy that I have come across are Book Bus and Room to Read, there are plenty more that focus just on the United States literacy problem like Reading Partners and many others.    

LIS programs need to structure themselves to be more proactive about intercultural issues. How about requiring books on other cultures to be read in the materials classes or cultural sensitivity issues to be brought up in the required classes. How about not requiring leadership as a required course, since some cultures have different values for leaders than we do in the United States.  How about requiring this class instead of one of the others or in addition to the other required courses?

But most of all we need to allow and promote internships with Literacy organizations around the world!!! Or else we might keep our LIS bubbles intact for years to come!  

lack of Diversity in YA LIT

This article discusses a little about the studies of the unjust and nearly complete lack of adequate diversity in youth and children’s literature. Given the demographics of the United States in which according to the article that describes how today more than 1/5 children in in the United States are immigrants or children of immigrants. A recent study showed that 8.8 percent of the 3,400 plus books that the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin were multicultural (contained non-white protagonists).  The article goes on to describe ways in which to resolve this and reasons for the importance of further research as well as how Counter-storytelling (counter stereotype/ anti-single storytelling) works. This article will help me with my research for my final paper!!

Reference: 

Hughes-Hassell, S. (2013). Multicultural Young Adult Literature as a Form of Counter-Storytelling. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 83(3), 212-228.

bringing it all back home!

I used this CNN article about reverse culture shock to remind me of the reverse culture shocks I have felt in my life of which I am still living with the aftershocks. 
on my travels I remember it was not so much the shock of going to the developing world that was a shock, (with years of prep I think intercultural travel and paradigm shifts are somewhat easier) it was returning to our affluenza, the degree of materialism in the United States, and the (by comparison to most central and south American cultures) rude and brash individualism.
This CNN article explains the difficulties of returning home after living aboard for long periods of time. Not just in terms of what the cross culture traveler has missed with current events, but also integrating to the pervading changes and differences all around. When the travel to the other culture has been long enough the travel, and living in the other cultures area will usually change the traveler which again increases the challenge of adapting to living life as it is lived in the home culture.
The idea of the language barrier can be a tricky one also going both ways. The article I chose also describes some tools and techniques to integrate with the home country and deal with reverse culture shock after long trips abroad. The conclusion bares repeating, long term travel changes you. Cultures change each other, and people adapt sometimes it just takes longer for healthy changes to process themselves out for each cultural traveler.

According to Chen and Starosta, the W pattern curve is too U shaped curves together usually represents the process of reentry or reverse culture shock, as Chen and Starcosta explain that: this double u pattern is the “pattern (that shows) sojourners readjustment to their own culture. The W- curve pattern suggests that when we return home, we must proceed through the four stages of the U Curve pattern once again. (honeymoon, crisis, adjustment, biculturalism)  ” Although we may experience less trauma and adopt faster when we readjust to our own culture, culture shock is again inevitable.” (p. 174) Chen and Starcosta go on to explain Kohls steps oh how to help “sojourners” reenter or reintegrate with their home cultures.
Arasaratnan in his text: Perceptions and communication in Intercultural spaces (2011) writes that the sojourner returning from a host country “discovers that time has elapsed in his (or her) absence his (or her) friends have had new shared experiences that did not include him (or her), and possibly they are neither interested in nor capable of understanding the new insights he (or she) has had from being exposed to a different cultural environment.”  (p. 69)
It is important that we don’t forget to prepare ourselves for what awaits us when we travel no matter where from or to in our diverse and uniquely cultural world! Even if what we are doing is just coming home.

References:

Arasaratnam, L. (2011). Perceptions and communication in intercultural spaces. Lantham, Maryland: University Press of America.


Anjarwalla, T. (2010, August 26). Dealing with reverse culture shock. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/08/24/cultural.reentry/index.html

Chen, G., & Starosta, W. (2005). Foundations of intercultural communication. Lantham, Maryland: University Press of America.

just deal with it!!! or not.... the importance of Simpatia

Mexican Americans, according to my research especially according to Sotomayor-Peterson et all in their 2012 article “Couples' cultural values, shared parenting, and family emotional climate within Mexican American families” Mexican Americans strongly believe in the ideal of Simpatia. This means to be selflessly kind and extra sensitive to being other oriented to the point of avoiding conflict at nearly any cost. There are many reasons for this that I discuss in my paper. The traditional belief that they are victims, and weaker, and of lower status than the person they are talking to. Then there is the face saving, self preservation part as well as the sustaining of the relationship between people in the conversation/interaction.

It is interesting to note that even with Machismo, masculinity, strength and independence (at least for the men) as a traditional cultural value that Simpatia still thrives and even precludes Machismo, according to my research.  

I think that cultural sensitivity training and especially a workshop on understanding cultural perception would be most helpful. Especially in terms of how to respect a cultural norm that you have trouble accepting. I am far too United States of American for my own good.   I can’t understand unnecessary shyness or submissive timidity, much less conflict avoidance. I am far too competitive and perhaps brashly confident. I really need to incorporate the harmonizing quality of active listening (like the video says) and not insisting on my own worldview, my own opinions. 

 references:

Sotomayor-Peterson, M. , Figueredo, A. , Christensen, D. , & Taylor, A. (2012). Couples' cultural values, shared parenting, and family emotional climate within mexican american families. Family Process,51(2), 218-233.

doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2012.01396.x