The Final Project allows you to investigate a culture and analyze its unique foundations and communications needs. Utilizing the tools you have acquired, the insight from your readings and preliminary work, you provide a comprehensive analysis of an intercultural situation and synthesize an approach to effective intercultural communication. You can use this process in a variety of personal and professional scenarios. As you apply this process in your communication praxis, you distinguish yourself as one who understands and applies intercultural communication principles productively.
To Prepare for Part of your project:
Review Week 3 Final Project Paper and recall your communication predictions based on Hall’s Hofstede’s, and the GLOBE taxonomies. What turned out to be true about your prediction? What did not seem to be true? What do your findings mean in terms of individual cultural patterns and general cultural patterns?
Review following sections
An Overview of Cultural Patterns
Cultural Patterns and Communication Taxonomies
Verbal Codes and Intercultural Competence
Contexts for Intercultural Communication in
After reviewing the texts consider the following:
How can you use the concepts to explain your intercultural communication experience?
What stories from your intercultural interaction demonstrate these concepts?
How did you react to cultural differences that you encountered?
How has this experience helped you to understand more about yourself in intercultural communication situations?
4 to 5 page paper in which we:
1-Describe in detail three or four instances during the study that were particularly memorable or meaningful for you and demonstrated intercultural communication challenges or differences. Include the cultural patterns and communication styles that surfaced.
2-Explain your perceptions and reactions to these instances based on the application of the BASIC and D-I-E tools.
3-Explain how your knowledge and skills developed in this course can apply to effective intercultural communication practice.
4-Explain how intercultural competence gained in this course applies to effective intercultural communication practice in personal and professional situations.
In addition revise all parts of your Final Project based on Instructor feedback and compile it into one single document.
(Project 1) Wedding Rituals in India and the Southern United States
This topic was selected for its unique, and esthetic value since no culture mimics the wedding rituals and events of India. Their cultural beliefs, values, and norms are specific in their religion and ancient practices. Weddings are the most important event in one’s lifetime so are performed with sanctity. Their religion’s beliefs are that once the couple marries they are together for life. The extended families of both the bride and groom play a vital role in the entire event. There are numerous pre-wedding celebrations, and ceremonies, post-wedding ceremonies and finally actual wedding celebrations, and rituals.
Indian weddings are the unique cultural events to research and teach us their culture. Their beliefs and performances follow many dogmas, rituals and performances that offer a rich insight. In comparing the weddings from India and the Southern Region of the United States, there is a high potential for me to learn the cultural differences between our two countries. It can create a better understanding, responding to and displaying appropriate behavior of all aspects of their traditions, language, and rituals. India has a diversity in a varied array of languages, traditions and weddings (Slideshow 2012; Indian weddings N.d.). My desire to learn what composes their marriages, in preference venue, most important part of the wedding and how sacred the ceremony has been fulfilled. Also I expected to learn at what point the unionization of the bride and groom is considered finalized and complete.
A powerful message is there in the beauty and art of these weddings. The Bride wears brightly colored clothing that is determined by her skin color. On the wedding day
Wedding Rituals in India and the Southern United States the bride and groom, in Hindu fashion, take the seven vows known as Saptadi that means prosperity and happiness. The initial ceremony, Tilak, is held one month prior to the marriage. the engagement ceremonies are elaborate and opulent with ornate dress. Next is the Sangeet ceremony that is all dance and music, and only for the women. Another custom and ritual is the Mehndi, that is an exciting pre-wedding ceremony, beauty and elegance are the great loves of Indian culture. The Var Mala ceremony is a primary wedding day ceremony, exchanges of garlands between the bride and groom. The most valuable service, Mandap, performed on the day of the marriage includes all the significant rituals. The last service is the Reception, with a lengthy time of food, dancing and enjoying family and guests.
Southern weddings have a beauty all their own and are solely for love. They are normally elaborate ceremonies consisting of long-held traditions, rituals, and cultural values. An age old ritual is for the bride to have “Something Old, Something new, Something Borrowed and Something Blue, finally a new penny is put either in the bride’s garter or shoe.” The Bride usually wears a white dress that is indicative of purity and virginity. Tradition dictates the bride does not see the groom, nor can he see the wedding dress before the wedding, the tradition is it would mean “bad luck.” The veil is covering her face as she walks down the aisle on her father’s arm. The father then gives her over to the groom, and he takes the veil away from her face. The Minister performs a traditional ceremony as chosen by the couple. The engagement is usually one year prior to the wedding; that year is taken to plan for the traditional marriage.
Wedding Rituals in India and the Southern United States
Typically the services are in the Church, Protestant or Catholic, with family and guests of both parents attending. Bridesmaids, Matron of Honor, Groomsmen, Best Man, Ring Bearers and Flower Girls are in attendance. The night before the wedding, a Dinner is held, hosted by the groom’s parents, for the wedding party only. Elaborate food and wedding cake are at the reception after the marriage. The fathers of the bride and groom give the first toast, then Matron of Honor and Best Man. The couple has the first dance and the second with her father. Both bride and groom cut the cake at that time. Afterward the bride throws her bouquet of flowers over her shoulder, and the unmarried women in the group hope to catch it since this means they will be next.
A comparative in the similarities of the Weddings from India and the Southern United States is now both marry for love. Previously India was noted for their arranged marriages as they felt love could come at a later time. Authoritative parents still prefer to arrange their children’s marriages as they will not accept marriage for love alone. It is not allowed to marry out of their culture. Southern Weddings are one-day affairs while India goes on for days even after the marriage.
The Indian ritual has sixteen adornments for the bride from head to toe to make the bride beautiful. The Southern ritual is to get hair, makeup, nails done on the wedding day, and then put some adornment on the head, either a veil or flowers or crown. The Indian culture has ladies only dancing, plus men only dancing for entertainment time, and Southerners have a Bachelor or Bachelorette party the night prior to the wedding. There are many similarities; some of the differences are in the time
Wedding Rituals in India and the Southern United States and the length of the rituals, traditions and values of the culture. Interesting that the majority of the United States wedding traditions were originally from the European traditions. Weddings in India, due to traditional rituals, are done during the night for its symbolic significance. Symbolic because the bride and groom are too decend saat pheras steps. Southern marriages usually begin morning, noon or evening and may proceed throughout the entirety of the day. Indian culture does not participate in the aspect of the honeymoon. The honeymoon is present in the South lasting approximately one to two weeks. Southern weddings are highly organized.
To give insight for my Final Project this comparison presented an understanding that involvement of religion, wedding ceremonies are bound to be different. Various rituals considered important in Indian ritual unification of the bride and groom are considered highly irrelevant in the South. Weddings by Southerners are highly organized and take one day as compared to India. What an excellent insight for understanding and researching the cultures of the world. . It has made me more aware when listening to the news, and doing research to assist in understanding the history and workings of European cultures.
References:
Lustig Myron w & Koester Jolene, Interpersonal Communication Across Cultures (7th ed) Pearson Publishers
This focused on intercultural communication competence. Learning the importance of knowledge, motivations and skills.
Indian Weddings, (n.d.), Wedding Customs around the world: north and south Indian weddings. Retrieved from
https://mymarriagewebsite.com/wedding-custom-around-the-world-north-and-south-indian-weddings/
This website gives an intricate and succinct depiction of the main differences in the manner of conduction and preferences of India.
Slideshare, (2012), South & north Indian marriage customs. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare,net/MaheshKumar35/south-norht-Indian-marriage-customsThis power point presentation in Slideshare shows the major customs giving attention by the Indian communities in the north and south of India are stated and compared.