Cultural Immersion Project: Research Paper Assignment (Part 1) Instructions

Distant Encounter

This part involves scholarly resources and Internet/media resources related to the cultural group you will be exploring. This group may be a different ethnicity, religion, and/or culture or have other significantly different cultural features (e.g., the elderly in nursing homes, disabled children, disabled adults, the homeless, prisoners, etc.). You must select a group with whom you have little or no prior experience. For example, if you have interacted with many Cubans previously, you cannot base the project on the Cuban culture. This also applies to your own cultural background. For example, if you are a white student from an Irish background, you cannot base the project on the Irish culture. No reusing past experiences. The cultural group you select must be new for you. For the Cultural Immersion Project – Parts 2 and 3, be aware that you must both participate in cultural group activities as well as interview an individual or married couple from your selected cultural group (see the instructions documents for Parts 2 and 3 for information on those later assignments); therefore, choose a culture group with whom you will be able to interact.

You will read at least 3 scholarly sources on your cultural group of interest (the resources must be published within the last 10 years). A pertinent, unassigned chapter from the McGoldrick et al. text may count as 1 of these resources; however, the Hays & Erford text chapters may not count as a source. You must also use the Internet or media to examine at least 3 significant media sources related to the culture. For example, on the Internet, you may find the following types of resources that are both culturally useful and prominent:

• Online newspapers from the selected country,
• Internet radio broadcasts,
• Music from the country/group,
• Movies or videos,
• Culture-specific online magazines or websites, and/or
• Organizations.

You will answer the questions listed below. First person may be used in your answers, and you must observe correct and current APA style. The paper must have a correct title page, and you must use a reference page if you cite resources (no abstract is needed). A word estimate is beside each question; however, the quality of your answer is more important than the word count. You may expand further, but you do not have to do so. It is recommended that you use the following questions as level 1 headings to organize your paper (you can shorten the question into a level 1 heading/title). A template is provided for this assignment to help with APA formatting and organization.

• What are some key things you have learned about this culture through reading the scholarly sources? (approximately 400 words). Please include the following aspects, both for inter-group characteristics (compared to other cultural groups) and intra-group characteristics (differences within the cultural group).
  • Key historical events and figures impacting the culture and societal perceptions of this group
• What are some key things you have learned about this culture through interacting with Internet/media resources related to this culture? (approximately 300 words)
• Are there any current surprises regarding what you are finding out about this culture? (approximately 100 words)
• How does your search through the literature and Internet/media impact your expectations as you plan your immersion activities? (approximately 200 words)

• Attitudes, beliefs, and values
• Group self-perceptions and issues related to stereotyping
• Customs, practices, behaviors
• Spirituality/Religion
• Societal perceptions, opportunities and barriers in the U.S. and Internationally

On the reference page, list the scholarly resources and Internet/media resources that you used for this part of the immersion project in current APA format.

Note that the research you do for Parts 1 and 2 is necessary for the completion of Part 3. Organize all the notes and resources you have gathered thus far to enable you to easily accomplish the final part of this project.

Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the SafeAssign plagiarism tool.