InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence: Intercultural Training - Part 2 (W13-Activity) Fa16

Some well-known intercultural training activities include "The Parable" and "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes".

"The Parable"

The study of intercultural communication has a rich and interesting history.  That's one of the reasons that I study it. There is a long history of government organizations training people to be better intercultural communicators (e.g., diplomats).  Out of this training comes some helpful and long-lasting intercultural training exercises.  "The Parable" is one of those exercises.  Below is the parable as it appeared in a 1973 Unesco document (pdf).  Read the story and then rank in order that characters that you most approve of.  The person that you approve of at the top and the bottom would be the person that you least approve of.

If you are curious, see also Dr. Ting-Toomey's version of The Parable.

Dr. Hart's classroom instructions:

• Write down on a piece of paper, in rank order, the characters whose behaviors you most approve.
• Break into groups of 4 to discuss your results.  Create a rank list for the group.
• What have you learned as a result of this activity?
• Can anyone point to something in your past that shaped the values you used in this activity?  Who/what programmed you?
• Value: “A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable” (TheFreeDictionary.com).

If you are curious: More related activities from CSU Fullerton faculty (pdf).



"Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes"

Another famous intercultural training activity was created by Jane Elliot.  What are the steps in Jane Elliot's Blue Eyes / Brown Eyes Experiment?



This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to methods of using intercultural training to reduce prejudice. 

How effective do you think this method is?
Any ethical concerns?

Additional intercultural training activities may be covered in future posts.


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Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence: Intercultural Training - Part 1 (W13-Activity) Fa16

Research on the best methods of teaching and training in intercultural communication has a long history beginning with the work of anthropologist around the time of World War II. By the 1970s anthropologist lost interest in intercultural interactions and communication scholars carried on the study of intercultural communication. Two of these communication scholars (Gudykunst and Hammer) are among the top prolific authors and most cited authors in the field of intercultural communication (Hammer was my advisor at American University). In one of the articles written by Gudykunst and Hammer they outlined the overall goals of intercultural education or intercultural training (ICT).

• "...most ICT involves some form of change in three areas: cognition, affect, and behavior. Cognitively, ICT generally is aimed at helping trainees understand how their culture, stereotypes, and attitudes influence their interactions with members of other cultures. Cognitive ICT goals, therefore, focus on knowledge and/or awareness. Affectively, ICT generally is aimed at helping trainees effectively manage their emotional reactions (e.g., anxiety) when interacting with members of other cultures. Behaviorally, ICT generally is designed to help trainees develop the skills they need to interact effectively with members of other cultures" (Gudykunst, Guzley and Hammer, 1996, p. 65).

In this course we will work on these three goals: cognition, affect and behavior.


Let's explore some types of intercultural training and well-known intercultural training activities.

First, film may be used in intercultural training.  A fictional film which shows intercultural interaction may teach a viewer some facts about another culture and, depending on how well the viewer identifies with the characters in the film, it may also have an emotional or affective effect.



This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to the difficulties of intercultural communication.

In the clip Jackie's fiancé has just arrived in the U.S.

Is there intercultural miscommunication? What is the problem exactly? Whose fault is it? Is it right to blame somebody?


Some additional types of intercultural training and well-known intercultural training activities will be explored in future posts.

Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

Intercultural Communication: Culture Shock: Outsourced (film) (U11 - Activity) [VID]

The process of cultural adaptation makes for a good story, a good movie. One of the more recent films to address culture shock is the award winning comedy Outsourced.

Do you see in the film, the stages of cultural adaptation mentioned in previous posts?



Outsourced trailer

Outsourced info: Wikipedia and IMDB
Outsourced is available for viewing on Netflix or Amazon.

If you are interested, there was also a 2010/11 U.S. TV series based on the film (Wikipedia | IMDB)
If you are interested, see the full first season free on Hulu.com.


Mr. Baseball is another film that I sometimes use to illustrate the stages of culture shock.  Just comparing the two trailers, notice any similarities between the two films?  See the stages of cultural adaptation?







Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence: Intercultural Training - Part 2 (Activity) Fa14

Some well-known intercultural training activities include "The Parable" and "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes".

"The Parable"

The study of intercultural communication has a rich and interesting history.  That's one of the reasons that I study it. There is a long history of government organizations training people to be better intercultural communicators (e.g., diplomats).  Out of this training comes some helpful and long-lasting intercultural training exercises.  "The Parable" is one of those exercises.  Below is the parable as it appeared in a 1973 Unesco document (pdf).  Read the story and then rank in order that characters that you most approve of.  The person that you approve of at the top and the bottom would be the person that you least approve of.

If you are curious, see also Dr. Ting-Toomey's version of The Parable.

Dr. Hart's classroom instructions:

• Write down on a piece of paper, in rank order, the characters whose behaviors you most approve.
• Break into groups of 4 to discuss your results.  Create a rank list for the group.
• What have you learned as a result of this activity?
• Can anyone point to something in your past that shaped the values you used in this activity?  Who/what programmed you?
• Value: “A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable” (TheFreeDictionary.com).

If you are curious: More related activities from CSU Fullerton faculty (pdf).



"Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes"

Another famous intercultural training activity was created by Jane Elliot.  What are the steps in Jane Elliot's Blue Eyes / Brown Eyes Experiment?



This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to methods of using intercultural training to reduce prejudice. 

How effective do you think this method is?
Any ethical concerns?

Additional intercultural training activities may be covered in future posts.




Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence: Intercultural Training - Part 1 (Activity) Fa14

Research on the best methods of teaching and training in intercultural communication has a long history beginning with the work of anthropologist around the time of World War II. By the 1970s anthropologist lost interest in intercultural interactions and communication scholars carried on the study of intercultural communication. Two of these communication scholars (Gudykunst and Hammer) are among the top prolific authors and most cited authors in the field of intercultural communication (Hammer was my advisor at American University). In one of the articles written by Gudykunst and Hammer they outlined the overall goals of intercultural education or intercultural training (ICT).

• "...most ICT involves some form of change in three areas: cognition, affect, and behavior. Cognitively, ICT generally is aimed at helping trainees understand how their culture, stereotypes, and attitudes influence their interactions with members of other cultures. Cognitive ICT goals, therefore, focus on knowledge and/or awareness. Affectively, ICT generally is aimed at helping trainees effectively manage their emotional reactions (e.g., anxiety) when interacting with members of other cultures. Behaviorally, ICT generally is designed to help trainees develop the skills they need to interact effectively with members of other cultures" (Gudykunst, Guzley and Hammer, 1996, p. 65).

In this course we will work on these three goals: cognition, affect and behavior.


Let's explore some types of intercultural training and well-known intercultural training activities.

First, film may be used in intercultural training.  A fictional film which shows intercultural interaction may teach a viewer some facts about another culture and, depending on how well the viewer identifies with the characters in the film, it may also have an emotional or affective effect.



This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to the difficulties of intercultural communication.

In the clip Jackie's fiancé has just arrived in the U.S.

Is there intercultural miscommunication? What is the problem exactly? Whose fault is it? Is it right to blame somebody?


Some additional types of intercultural training and well-known intercultural training activities will be explored in future posts.



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MediaTech: The Invention of Radio - Ken Burns' "Empire of the Air" (U2-Activity) Fa14

Now, a great way of using the previously discussed media tech theories is to apply them to the development of a past media technology, for example radio.  Filmmaker, Ken Burns, told the story of radio in his documentary "Empire of the Air."  Notice the story is not as much about the technology as it is about the people (the innovators).  Media tech is people too.

The documentary is available...
on Amazon (Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio) and on Netflix (instant streaming).

The companion book to the film is also available (Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio)

Did you watch it?

How did the theories previously discussed help to understand the development of radio?

In the documentary, Burns highlights the story of Lee de Forest, for example. How does his story compare to modern-day media tech innovators like Steve Jobs?  Is there a common story for media tech innovators?

Here is a short YouTube video on de Forest's audion.




Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

Intercultural Communication: Culture Shock: Outsourced (film) (U11 - Activity) [VID]

The process of cultural adaptation makes for good story, a good movie. One of the more recent films to address culture shock is the award winning comedy Outsourced.

Do you see in the film the stages of cultural adaptation mentioned in previous posts?



Outsourced trailer

Outsourced info: Wikipedia and IMDB
Outsourced is available for viewing on Netflix or Amazon.

There was also a 2010/11 U.S. TV series based on the film (Wikipedia | IMDB)
If you are interested, see the full first season free on Hulu.com.


Mr. Baseball is another film that I sometimes use to illustrate the stages of culture shock.  Just comparing the two trailers, notice any similarities between the two films?  See the stages of cultural adaptation?





Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MediaTech: DigPhotog: Composition and the Moving Image [VID] (U11 Activity)

Besides using your smart phone camera to take photographs (still images), you can also use your smart phone camera to take video (moving images).

Your smart phone or tablet apps are now taking advantage of this.  On Instagram, for example, you can now post 15 second videos along with your photographs.




Do note that when shooting video on your smart phone or tablet, the rules of composition still apply.  And now that you are adding more time and movement to the shooting of a subject, you can do some interesting things with the still photography rules of composition.

Note the for rule of composition discussed below.



Note also the techniques of getting a good hand-held video shot below.  The video below is about using a professional video camera, but the same techniques apply to you using your smart phone or tablet camera.




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Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MediaTech: DigPhotog: From Tech to Art: Composition [VID] (U11 Activity)

You don't take a photo, you make a photo.

What could that sentence mean?

One of the best online sources for an introduction to photo composition can be found at
Photoinf.com

Let's take a look.

Of course, there is more to composition than the above, but the above are the basics.


To go beyond the above basics about composition, I'd recommend The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

I'd especially recommend the section in the book Itten's contrasts.

For an online exercise using Itten's contrasts, see The 12 Days of Itten’s Contrasts from the Wild Beat blog.




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Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

InterculturalCom: Effective InterculturalCom: Blue Eyes - Jane Elliot - Prejudice Reduction Training (U9 Activity) [VID] Fa13

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to methods of using intercultural training to reduce prejudice. 

How effective do you think this method is?
Any ethical concerns?


Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

InterculturalCom: Mr. Nice Guy Re-Do: (U9 Activity) [VID] Fa13

Using the ICC model (the brick wall model) how would you analyze the Mr. Nice Guy situation again? Is there a problem? What's the problem?

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to the difficulties of intercultural communication.

In the clip Jackie's fiancé has just arrived in the U.S.

Is there intercultural miscommunication? What is the problem exactly? Whose fault is it? Is it right to blame somebody?

Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

InterculturalCom: Cultural Values: Activity: The Parable (Fa13)

The study of intercultural communication has a rich and interesting history.  That's one of the reasons that I study it. There is a long history of government organizations training people to be better intercultural communicators (e.g., diplomats).  Out of this training comes some helpful and long-lasting intercultural training exercises.  "The Parable" is one of those exercises.  Below is the parable as it appeared in a 1973 Unesco document (pdf).  Read the story and then rank in order that characters that you most approve of.  The person that you approve of at the top and the bottom would be the person that you least approve of.

See also Dr. Ting-Toomey's version of The Parable.

Dr. Hart's classroom instructions:

• Write down on a piece of paper, in rank order, the characters whose behaviors you most approve.
• Break into groups of 4 to discuss your results.  Create a rank list for the group.
• What have you learned as a result of this activity?
• Can anyone point to something in your past that shaped the values you used in this activity?  Who/what programmed you?
• Value: “A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable” (TheFreeDictionary.com).

More related activities from CSU Fullerton faculty (pdf).



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MediaTech: The Invention of Radio - Ken Burns' "Empire of the Air" (U2-Activity) Fa13

Now, a great way of using the previously discussed media tech theories is to apply them to the development of a past media technology, for example radio.  Filmmaker, Ken Burns, told the story of radio in his documentary "Empire of the Air."  Notice the story is not as much about the technology as it is about the people (the innovators).  Media tech is people too.

The documentary is available...
on Amazon (Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio) and on Netflix (instant streaming).

The companion book to the film is also available (Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio)

Did you watch it?

How did the theories previously discussed help to understand the development of radio?

In the documentary, Burns highlights the story of Lee de Forest, for example. How does his story compare to modern-day media tech innovators like Steve Jobs?  Is there a common story for media tech innovators?

Below is the first minute or so of the documentary on Hulu.  If you have Hulu Plus you may want to see the complete documentary.  If not the complete documentary, then at least the first 30 minutes on Lee de Forest to get a sense of the inventors life.  Note: Hulu Plus has a  7 day free trial,



Here is a short YouTube video on de Forest's audion.




Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.