Assignment
This assignment is intended for to bring together concepts and content about intercultural communication You are encouraged to use the PowerPoints from the Samovar textbook publisher, the textbook, other readings and videos on the two cultures, Anna Pertierra's book, Cuba: the Struggle for Consumption, and other readings and PowerPoints on facts about Haiti and Cuba, tourism media and the Internet in Cuba.
1. The job interview scene from the movie The Pursuit of Happyness where the Will Smith character (Chris Garner) is the basis for questions on verbal and nonverbal communication.
(a) Applying the information on the functions of language from the reading and PowerPoint on Ch. 8 in the Samovar text, how does Chris use verbal messages to explain the way he is dressed and to respond to the questions he is asked? Is he using language in social interaction, language to provide social cohesion, or as an expression of identity?
(b) What kind of nonverbal messages does Chris send and/or use in the interview? Please list and use three types of such messages in your answer.
(c) Is the interview between the managers of the firm and Chris an example of intercultural communication? If so, explain how. If not, why isn't it? Please remember to define intercultural communication in your answer.
2. Think about the role of consumption in Haiti and in Cuba? Neither country is known for the abundance of choices of goods that typifies the consumer culture in the United States. Are there rough equivalents of the Danish hygga in Haitian or Cuban culture? Try to respond using the viewpoints and perspectives about Haiti of anthropologist Gina Athena Ulysse and the introduction to the residents of the Tivoli neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba in Anna Pertierra's Cuba: The Struggle for Consumption. Pay attention to the Edwidge Danticat's listing of contributions made by Haitians to the world in the first few minutes of her TedTalk, Stories of Haiti, in 2004 in the year of Haiti's bicentennial and Gina Ulysee's recounting of her early desire to be a singer and eventual becoming an anthropologist in her Untapped Fierceness Ted Talk. Reflecting on culture, consumption, happiness, worldview, media, Haiti and Cuba, do you think Haitians and Cubans are happy? Is it better to ask the question comparing Haitians and Cubans of African descent? Explain your answer.
3. Find an article on social media and intercultural communication and briefly summarize it or two. Please find an article on social media (blogs, YouTube, other apps, etc. and Cuba and summarize it in a paragraph or two. As tourism and other contact from the U.S. increases with Cuba, what do you think will be the impact of new communication technology and social media? Do you think? Please take from two to four paragraphs to respond.