Assignment:
Choose one topic:
Option 1: Describe an example of a cultural misunderstanding that you have experienced in your own life and discuss the ways in which differing cultural norms, values, symbols, and mental maps of reality likely contributed to the misunderstanding that occurred. Did you take action to address the misunderstanding? What knowledge may have helped you in determining the appropriate response?
Option 2: What can linguistic anthropologists learn from studying the focal vocabulary of a social group? Why would words that show a particular sophistication and that describe unique cultural realities of a group of people be useful to investigate? Discuss one example of how the focal vocabulary of a language has changed or may change in the future, and discuss how men and women may have different vocabularies on particular topics.