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Celia, the feedback I am providing here is based on the section in the grading policy about Reading Response Posts & Commonplace Book as well as Discussion & Participation. Refer to the document for further explanation.

Overall, you have done a pretty good job keeping up with the reading responses. You have chosen to use the word, reflections, as part of the section title. Do you think the word, responses, may have given you a different orientation toward the learning materials? The word, response, to me, seems to carry a connotation of proactivity in personal meaning-making.

With the exception of the responses to prompts that specifically ask you to give personal examples, most of your posts seem to stay at the level of summarizing the key points, which has its value, of course. I think, however, one way to promote the learning that takes place in this space is to see more horizontal (literally) connections both between posts across categories and between the materials and your own lived experiences related to the topics in the materials. Perhaps as a response to this feedback, you can try to experiment or explore some potential connections and explicitly name them.

One more piece of feedback: You have a number of thought-provoking questions/comments from your peers. Maybe explore how to foster some communication/interactions with those who took the time to read and comment on some posts.

That said, I appreciate some of the visuals you have included. Think about the meaning they add (or take away or complicate, etc.) when considering the text?

Finally, as you have finished your digital gallery presentation, you should also be able to already return to the ten questions on here and fill in the missing spaces with your current thinking about the project.

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Hammer's categories of intercultural conflict styles go hand in hand with Hofstede's cultural dimensions, especially when analyzing the interactions between the US Americans and Chinese in the documentary American Factory.
The American workers in the documentary showed quite outward, loud expressions of discontentment. In one scene a worker goes up to the people making the documentary and yells at them, asking why they don't show all the negative aspects of the job. This is both reflective of the emotionally expressive dynamic as well as the direct style of confrontation (engagement style). It fits in very well with Hofstede's individualist dynamic and small power distance, as it emphasizes your own personal need and the ability to confront people (whether or not they are higher up in the work hierarchy than you).

On the other hand, we have the Chinese management which doesn't go straight to the workers regarding the issues but speaks with their management teams for a long time before, for example, hiring an anti-unionist consultant to slowly persuade people. This method reflects a more indirect and emotionally restrained conflict style (accommodation style). On Hofstede's dynamic, it fits in well with the more collectivist and big power distance characteristics. As conflicts are less intense, they try to "save face" of the greater collective and respect the subtle ways of communicating between positions in the workplace.

The consequences of these two culturally polar opposites, in regards to conflict, working together should have been addressed even before Fuyao opened the factory. It is not necessary that there would be a culture clash just because they are opposites (my roommate and I represent these two groups, but we get along perfectly well) but without proper acknowledgement of this difference or an attempt to analyze the situation, Fuyao was bound for disaster.

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Conflict as perceived incompatibilty of two or more interdependent parties. Interdependent means that they cannot acheive their goals without the other party.
5 styles (American Context):
- dominating style: no concern for the other party's needs
- Obliging style: opposite of dominating and often "give in" to the other party's wishes (associated to low self-esteem)
- Avoidant style: little effort to attain any goal
- Compromising style: both goals

Intercultural Context, 4 factors:
- direct style: face to face, explicit, problem solving, solution oriented, okay to express difference
- indirect style: much more non-verbal, analyzing, relies on third party to buffer conversation, saving face for others for the greater harmony of the group

-Emotional expression: external emotional expression, showing trust and credibility
- emotional restrained: no display of emotion, creates credibility

Final categories according to Hammer:
- discussion style (direct & emotionally restrained)
- engagement style (direct & emotionally expressive)
- accomodation style (indirect & emotionally restrained)
- dynamic style (indirect & emotionally expressive)

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Power Distance and Meaning: China vs USA in "American Factory"

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Power Distance and Meaning: China vs USA in "American Factory"

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One of Hofstede's dimensions which becomes really clear in the documentary "American Factory" is Power Distance. China has a high score of 80 and the US a medium-low score of 40, and in a work setting, this dynamic is a key component. While in China the culture believes in the strength of hierarchies, and the amount of respect given depending on that hierarchy, the US goes the other way. A big contrast in respect depending on your position in the hierarchy is less expected in the US and relationships tend to be more casual and laid back. This is displayed in the way the Chinese workers were portrayed: following orders like in the military, not going against the chairman's (most meticulous) wishes, and not questioning authority. On the other hand, many American workers wanted to be part of the worker's union and demand better working conditions and salaries.

Another dynamic that wasn't created by Hofstede by I think is worth mentioning is the Value of meaning, studied by Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1961), which could be a branch of Hofstede's fem/masc dynamic. The three ranges are: doing, being-in-becoming and being. The American culture of the workers expressed itself as more of a being culture in comparison to the strong doing culture of the Chinese managers. For example, the owner of Fuyao says towards the end of the documentary "The point of living is work". There are also more indirect examples, where the Americans show that they value talking to their coworkers, taking time off and doing things slowly, but safely. They don't identify only as workers, but as people with interests and personal relationships and wanted that to be taken into their workspace too. The chairman on the other hand saw value in productivity and efficiency, wanting people to work quickly even if the conditions weren't favourable. As a personal reflection I find this interesting because I come from a much more being culture than the US and perceive US American culture as quite focused on achievement and productivity, but seeing what a really high doing culture looks like opened up my eyes to the spectrum and relativity of this dynamic. I would rank my culture (Swedish) lowest, than the US and then China highest on the doing-as-meaning dynamic. Knowing that makes me very grateful for the background I come from; I know that when I work in Sweden I will be valued mostly as my person and not only as my output. I am more than what I produce.

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After reading, testing my own values, and listening to the class I feel like I have a better grasp of Hofstede's intentions and the usefulness of the model. The dimensions are helpful for understanding the general cultural values, and with time, more dimensions are being added to create more accuracy. As many of my classmates pointed out, there seem to be some misunderstandings of the masculine/feminine dimension, but when properly researched they do become clear in showing the fluidity of gender roles and which behaviours are acceptable (generally) within a culture. What I saw from the class discussion was that many students wanted to relate the dimensions back to the individual, but that wasn't Hofstede's intention. I also wanted to highlight what a model is: a simplified version of reality, showing chosen aspects to represent, or at least, this is the mantra the professor Davis Taylor repeats when looking at economic models. Hofstede's model can never be 100% accurate, and that is the point of it. If models were too close to reality, it would make them too complex and thus no longer useful. That does not dismiss the importance of trying to be correct, use unbiased samples, etc, but it is important to keep in mind.

Apart from analyzing how useful a model is, I was thinking about recognizing our values and putting names to them. I was looking at the dimension which looked at time, the value of being/doing and our relationship to nature. Having the terms which differentiate creates a nuance I didn't even know I needed in my life. I have seen, (and myself practice it) using very large generalizations of Western/Eastern, South/North, Rich/Poor, but this model showed how much variation we have within those sweeping generalizations, and how we can use these more specific terms to analyze the behaviours, conflicts and history as well.

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Explore one of them and discuss how it can be used to develop intercultural competence. Specifically, which aspects/elements of intercultural competence does this project emphasize?

The Story Corps project is essentially an oral history non-profit which allows people to interview each other and upload it to a vast network. Its goal is to make everyone feel heard, to create a  general understanding of the goodness of humanity and also to be able to store this information for generations to come. The aspect of intercultural communication it focuses on is the intercultural mindset.  Showing curiosity, respect, and openness since the interviewers need to deeply listen to their interviewees and the people listening to the audio. There are also more skills practiced in listening to the audio, which I've taken from Byram's model. These are skills of interpreting and relating, discovery and interaction, and critical cultural awareness. The building of the skills happens in the listeners jumping into someone else's life story, thus stepping into their shoes. They're forced to hear their perspective without influencing it in any way.

What potential transformations of intercultural competence can the participants in the project experience?

Both the participants of the interview and the listeners are slowly forced to move away from their ethnocentrism, being exposed to hearing their loved ones or just strangers' intimate stories. Hopefully, it challenges them to reflect and look at the interaction in relation to them and create a greater acceptance and adaptation to difference.

With which audience can it be used? In what context can it be implemented (school, workplace, community, etc.)?

The listening activity can be used complimentary in schools, for example, to understand people from different contexts, build listening and analyzing skills, learn about human connection, etc. It would also be helpful to highlight certain voices which are not heard in specific communities. A story of a gay person coming out, for example, might be beneficial to air on the radio in a conservative society. How to implement that is another question...
For the interviewing activity, it is quite good to do in schools or even workplaces to create strong bonds between past intercultural differences.

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Everyone has a story to tell, what’s yours? | Brent Drever | TEDxVail

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Celia's Cultural Competence Model (CCCM)

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Celia's Cultural Competence Model (CCCM)

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This model is composed of puzzle pieces of other models taken from Jackson (2014) article.

The main component comes from the DMIS model: the process from enthnocentrism to enthnorelativism. This process is one which every interculturally competent person can relate to, and one one which is quite easy to assess the level of in others. The first stage is being defensive of one's own culture being "right" and minimizing "others". Through exposure and interaction, a process of self awareness, reconstruction of identity and acceptance of other cultures, one results in erasing those strong barriers of "us versus "them". By then, one has acquired an ethnorelative perspective and is interculturally competent.
For example: my Turkish friend who was shocked to hear that I did not know the founder of the Turkish Republic and continued to explain the who history of Turkey to me, a Swedish person. After meeting more foreigners, he came to understand that Ataturk (the founder) is not a relevant topic in school history lessons in other countries not close to Turkey.

The second elements which is important in the CCCM is taken from the Process Model. One needs to start with open values to then acquire skills, knowledge and practice that will result in desired intercultural competent interactions. This model is important because it emphasises the process between values and desired outcomes.

These two elements from the Process Model and DMIS model make up Celia's Cultural Competency Model's core aspects.

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Engagements Plan for project "Multicultural Visions"

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Engagements Plan for project "Multicultural Visions"

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Two group conversations, one with friends with multicultural backgrounds (probably over zoom due to covid) and one with selected participants with transnational backgrounds (hopefully face-to-face). Both will be recorded, to then be able to make a short podcast. The first one will work as a pilot version, to test the questions, conversation flow and conclusions. If needed I will make adjustments for the second and more official one.

Questions will be shared beforehand, risks will be shared and participants won't have to answer every question if they don't want to.

Final (inshallah) interview questions:

1. Can you introduce your nationality and the countries you've lived in?
2. What does multiculturalism mean to you?
3. How did your host country/ies approach multiculturalism?
3. What does it mean to be successful at multiculturalism in a country? Do you have any examples of nations?

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The recipe to adaptation: embracing both sides 

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The recipe to adaptation: embracing both sides 

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Did the learning materials inform you of the question, problem, or issue you are trying to address via your personal intercultural project? If so, how?

Acculturation (2015) by Berry brought clarity that I desperately needed for my project. It distinguished between the terms integration, assimilation, melting pot and multiculturalism, all nuanced words I had previously not differentiated enough. It also offered scientific evidence that there is a "successful" recipe for acculturation and deculturation (which I was wondering about last week), and it seems to be a 50/50 ratio. Those who practiced their heritage cultures but also integrated to the host culture in their daily life had a successful psychological & sociocultural adaptation. If the best adaptation is a full embrace of both, then it might be hinting that a successful multicultural nation would also be one which does that. There is still a big question left unanswered though; how does a it look like on a community based level to embrace that golden ratio?

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For analyzing the adaptive strategies of the documentary of the Farwan family's journey in Alberta I decided to follow the father, Khalil. What I noticed is that he initially seemed to have an assimilation response, going so far as to say that he would "forget" his own memories of the past to be successful in Canada. He is determined for the whole family to be fluent in English within a year.

However, In the second episode, we see Khalil helping a new Syrian family in the area, bringing bread and supporting them, which points towards integration rather than assimilation as he actively practices his heritage as well. In the second episode, we also see that he has a harder time socializing with other non-Syrians, so he might be moving diagonally towards the separation strategy. This I feel is normal in the adaptation process, that after initial enthusiasm, integration becomes exhausting and it's more comfortable staying within the known community. The strategies seem to be dynamic, although the intentions can stay the same.

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Did the learning materials inform you of the question, problem, or issue you are trying to address via your personal intercultural project? If so, how?

The article "Adapting to a New Culture" brings up an interesting concept that I haven't had the name for previously, deculturation .

The tension between acculturation and deculturation is one that I would consider significant in the aspect of creating a successful multicultural nation. There's a balance each transnational individual has to decide between taking in the new culture and giving up some of their old culture, but how do they know how much of each? What is the ultimate ratio? I've wondered about this in Stockholm, where I spent my teenage years. There are pockets of cultural groups that keep their traditions and languages alive by forming a strong but small community. This often happens when refugees are accepted into the country but allocated to the same place, creating a bubble that doesn't integrate to the rest of Stockholm.

From my perspective, I think it's beautiful and important that the traditions are kept alive, but is there a way of keeping that as well as creating a broader integration? This, I see is the tension between acculturation and deculturation. We have a word in Swedish, "mellanförskap", which directly translated means "the in between-ness". It's term used for people who are not 100% part of one culture; they feel in between two or more. For my project, I wonder how embracing mellanförskap can become a way for a successful multicultural nation.

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Adapting to new cultures: Syria to Canada

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Adapting to new cultures: Syria to Canada

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Here are a few factors the Syrian family coming to Alberta, Canada as refugees have influenced their adaptation process:

When comparing the environments there is little compatibility between them. The host country, although a big recipient of refugees, also has a large population who are racist against Middle Eastern foreigners (especially in more rural places like Alberta). The cultural practices are contrasting, making the adaptation a bigger task than for example a British person. The perceived status of Syria isn't usually positive, and it doesn't have a high economic status either. These environmental factors increase the difficulty of their adaptation to Canada.

In the general aspect of communication, there's the language barrier, which is difficult for some of the younger family members more than the other older ones. On the other hand, all family members have a high level of participation in society by going to school and social events, which is a strong factor in their favour of adaptation as they practice their social communication skills. As students, they practice their interpersonal skills, and at the hockey games, they can practice their affective competence, as games are highly emotional and camaraderie building.

Looking at the role of predisposition, the factors depend on which family you analyze. The parents are really enthusiastic and open, while the teenage sons are more reserved and hesitant about their new foreign environment. The younger ones also have strength, as they can bond faster with the other kids than adults might. Unfortunately, when looking at preparedness, the family did not have a chance to prepare for Canada before as they were fleeing war. Their ethnicity is quite contrasting to the host countries' majority, decreasing their adaptive potential further.

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While reading the article by Hwang and Mastsumoto on Non-Verbal Communication, it presented more functions for it than my previous understanding of NVC. They identified four functions:
a) Can define the communication by providing a backdrop
b) Can regulate our interactions (like uhmms and ahhhs)
c) NVC can be the message itself
d) Can comment on verbal messages

I had only ever thought of it as an emblem or a way of accentuating what someone was saying but didn't consider the effect on the environment and the way NCV is used to regulate a conversation as well. These subtle cues show themselves to be quite layered and purposeful. It makes me analyze the spaces I'm in and what they are nudging me to feel. The soft lights in my room make me feel comfortable, and the strong white light of CHE makes me feel more alert and active. Does the hard, industrial design of CHE create a welcoming learning environment or does it connote more worker/factory feelings? Maybe I am taking the connotations too far, as it could also be that those are my personal cultural perceptions of the environment.

This concept is thought-provoking!

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I observed a conversation (on YouTube because I couldn't help but involve myself in every interaction I tried to only be a bystander in) between two strangers who had never seen each other but were sat back to back and were prompted to have a deep conversation. The video took place in San Diego, in an open space like a park during the day a few weeks ago. Although the conversation wasn't face to face, what was interesting is that the people were still doing non-verbal communication which wasn't visible to the other person.
Dynamic Actions Examples:

1. When they introduced themselves they both smiled and laughed, probably to let off anxiety but also indirectly showing openness and friendliness.

2. The woman in the conversation used her hands as gestures to accentuate the words she was using almost the whole duration of the conversation (although the man she was talking to couldn't see her).

3. The man started fidgeting with his watch when they started talking about more difficult topics, possibly showing deep thought, nervousness, and discomfort.

4. He also looked down when he spoke about difficult topics, signalling heaviness or sadness.

5. They both shrugged, independently of speaking, thus using the physical activity as an emblem to express defeat.

Environmental examples:

1. They were both wearing comfortable clothes, mostly black. It was a public space, which probably meant that they were out for a casual errand/interaction.

2. It was daytime and bright, with plants around them, creating an inviting safe environment to have a controlled social experiment like this one.

Takeaways: NVC is so socially ingrained in our behaviour that we use it even when it isn't applicable to our situation. The way they communicated non verbally showed a North American way of expressing emotions, by physically expressing them very directly, as the culture is generally a low-context culture. (Low context culture is one that uses communication more explicitly, while a high context culture uses a lot of NVC, social hierarchies and norms to complete its message.)

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In Heather Hansen's TedTalk she reverses the approach to English as a global language to embrace diversity instead of trying to fit everyone into the same language mould. She suggests that instead of having a standard English accent, we should be learning how to identify and understand the different accents in English. Not only would this be fairer, as there are 5x more English learners than English native speakers, but it would also break down a barrier that discourages people to speak and share information.

Speaking Bad English Perfectly is something that redefines my idea of intercultural communication. I thought that intercultural communication competency would be based on the clashing cultures staying very distinct, and how to navigate in a world of language differences. In other words, I hadn't thought about solution-oriented intercultural communication that actually changes the language and our approach to it. By letting go of the resistance to allowing "bad English", it lets go of a framework that isn't intercultural communication friendly. Of course, this isn't saying that every language should also let go of its standardized language, but that it's especially important for a language that has become the lingua franca of the internet age. Never has intecultural communication been as vital as it is now when everyone is directly interconnected, so this is a tool that can be quite easily adopted into language learning programs and communication programs.

We make language interculturally friendly instead of making different cultures adapt to a language!

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The Sapir - Whorf Hypothesis and My Experience

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The Sapir - Whorf Hypothesis and My Experience

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Created by Whorf in the 1940s, the hypothesis claims that the structure of their language influences people's behaviour and thoughts. An example of this that Whorf argues is that English speakers have a predisposition to measure and record time because we have exact numbers, and our verbs are mainly categorized in the past, present, future. In contrast, a language like Hopi ranks time by events and their order.

For me, Hopi time sounds like it describes the experience of time in a very human way; events are what we often categorize the past and history, and it's often how we feel time pass. Minutes sometimes feel like hours or sometimes like a blink of an eye and don't capture my time experience. However, my writing goes slightly against the hypothesis. Since English is one of my primary languages, I should be more sensitive to the English experience over time. In any way, I connected the hypothesis to a culture clash I had a few years ago.

While reading about the hypothesis it reminded me of my gap year in India, where I struggled so much with the Maharashtrian perception of time. Sweden, where I come from, is known for its punctuality and efficiency, which is a complete contrast to my experience in Pune. While my host dad would say we would leave the house in 15 minutes, it could actually be an hour. The buses could show up at their estimated time, show up a while later or not show up at all. My first few months were so stressful because nothing I planned was happening due to this clash of our understanding of time. Now I wonder if this part of both cultures (Swedish and Maharashtrian) is reflected in their languages. Maybe it's not the simplistic way of an "Indian minute" and a "Swedish minute" are different, but the actual structure of the language defines time differently. I want to look more into this, but I couldn't find anything online. I'm planning to ask some Marathi speakers on campus!

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Question:
What does a successful multicultural nation look like according to individuals with transnational experiences?

Data:
A round-table conversation about this topic, recorded.

Participants:
Raheem
Ellie
Hanako
Mustafa
Alya
Pippin

Actually maybe: should I have some non-students?
- Palak Taneja
- Aleksandra (from the Y)

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The Pyramid of Research: Multicultural Nations

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The Pyramid of Research: Multicultural Nations

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Topic:
Multiculturalism within one nation

Problem:
While there have been multicultural empires, the Eurocentric idea of nation-states aiming for homogeneity of language and ethnicity strongly dominates the narrative of a cohesive state. Two hundred years after the rise of nationalism in Europe, almost every country has more or less diversity in language, ethnicity, and people with other national identities. The way the movement of people has been dealt with has led to fragmentation in some nations, while others have embraced diversity and created unity beyond homogeneity.

Purpose:
To describe the factors of a multicultural nation, what aspects lead to unity/harmony and which ones lead to fragmentation.

Question:
- How does a multicultural nation create unity?
- How does a multicultural nation create a sense of nationality?
(the word nationality in itself I guess is debatable)
- What does a successful multicultural nation look like?

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(The responses are my possible options)
Where could I get my data from?
-Interviews of people belonging to different ethnic groups in one country

- Looking at how news portrays the multiculturalism in the country

- Analyzing policies in the countries

What countries should I look into?
One from each continent?
Africa: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania or South Africa

Asia: India, Indonesia

Middle East: Turkey, UAE

South America: Peru

North America: Canada

What aspect of culture should I look into?
- Language

- Ethnicity (which encompasses language, race, history?)

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Culture - historical set of practices and behaviours which are shared within a group of people.

Communication - the transfer of ideas between beings.

Intercultural Communication - the transfer of information across boundaries of common identifying groups.

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6. What kind of communicative messages should I examine in my story?

1.  Discourse and themes.

2.  Labels and norms, and discourse.

3. Discourse, themes.

7. What is the context of the intercultural problem?

1. Country: Belgium, Ethiopia, Canada

2. Ottoman history

3. Choose a few families to interview?

8. What perspectives and procedures should I use to study the data?

1. Objectivist, researcher

2. Interpretive and objectivist

3. Researcher interpretive

9. What are my preliminary and alternative interpretations and conclusions?

10. How can I apply my interpretations?

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1. What do I believe about communication and culture?

Culture is a common set of practices that create an identity that is dynamic and has no clear boundaries, but it still has a sense of unity. Communication occurs in every move we make, consciously or subconsciously and expresses both our personal experience and our cultural affiliations.

2. What intercultural communication question do I want to answer?

1.  How does a successful multicultural nation look like?

2. What went wrong between Armenians and Turks or Syrians/Turks?

3. How does intercultural communication affect children of mixed nationality?

3. What cultural identity issues are relevant?

Relationships between nationalities/ ethnicities and their history

4. What is the role of power and ideology?

1. Who has the governmental majority?

2. Religious differences, historical power over another group

3. Can ideologies coexist within one person's identity?

5. What are the intergroup and interpersonal relationship processes?

1.  How do these groups communicate in a country? Where are the melting pots?

2. Where do these groups interact? Where did they interact in the past?

3. How do the parents exchange culture and leave space (or don't leave) for both? Does it matter which parent has which culture?

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Research Timeline and Interview Questions

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Research Timeline and Interview Questions

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Week 6: Ask people who I want to interview and set up a time

Week 7: Do the interviews

Week 8: Start editing the podcast

Week 9: Editing

Week 10: Final cut ready

Final interview questions:
Before the interview, describe some differences between the melting pot and multiculturalism.

1. What does multiculturalism mean to you?

2. What does a non-functional multicultural nation look like? Why?

3. What does a successful multicultural nation look like? Why?

4. How did your host country implement/ignore multiculturalism in your own experiences?