Culture Clash In America Summary

Everyday I walk into my English class is the moment I experience an identity crisis. As I approach the entrance to the class, I already detected the dichotomy in the room. On the right side lies the Caucasian students, and on the left, resides the International Chinese students. As the only Asian American in the class, I struggle to select the correct side.

If we take a look at the different cultures in the world, we will see that the idea of what is ethically acceptable is vastly different. When the United Nations signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they had attempted to provide the world with a guideline of how we should ethically treat people. In many cases this declaration did not succeed and different cultures have their own ethical guidelines which go against this declaration. These culture specific ethics are defined as cultural relativism (Brusseau, 2012). Cultural relativism is the belief that ethics are not the result of universal reason; they are solely based on the individual cultures history (Brusseau, 2012).

In 1965 the restrictive laws for immigrants entering from Asian countries were amended and passageway into America was an easier process (Washington 2012). Due to the publicity the “model minority” received back then, many people’s perception of an Asian were based on the characteristics often portrayed by mainstream media, even in modern day media (Zhang 2010). To enter an Ivy League school Asian-Americans have to stand out amongst the other academically excellent students, therefor they are placed in a more competitive environment and are expected to excel in extracurricular activities. Much more time and effort is put into their studies to obtain results that are higher than the average score, which often encourages students to achieve more than satisfactory marks; the application process takes into account a student’s academic grades and also their extracurricular

Indeed, you mentioned an important aspect of disparities and it is one related to the disparities affecting racial groups. The United States is a multicultural country so for a healthcare professional to treat a disease or to approach a group is necessary to consider their cultural background, traditions, and beliefs. Despite all the United States effort to eradicate the racial differences in the Country, race continues as one of the most significant factors to take into consideration when we are evaluating health care services or high quality of care. Health disparities among Hispanics most the time is caused by the type of food they consume, and the lack of access to healthcare services. In addition, some Hispanic are not the United States

In the article Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America, Morris Fiorina addresses the issue of the illusion of political polarization. Political polarization is the separation of political beliefs into two separate extremes. The main illustration Fiorina uses is the use the electoral map. The electoral map is used to gauge which party won an election or polling. This is depicted when the states turns red if a state votes for the majority Republican, or the turns blue if the state votes primarily Democratic despite if there is a close margin. Fiorina discusses the uses the illustration to present the false illusion of political division and the influence media has on the public.

In his Highbrow/Lowbrow The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America (The William E. Massey Sr. Lectures in the History of American Civilization, 1986), Lawrence Levine reviews the American public culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. He believes that American public culture was shared across classes through the mid-nineteenth century. By the later nineteenth century, the upper classes began to divide culture into hierarchal categories, and labels of "high" and "low" came to expressive culture, such as Shakespearean drama, opera, and orchestral music, as well as institutions such as museums.

In his book “Beyond the Culture Wars: How teaching the conflicts can revitalize American education” Gerald Graff, describes his experience in his youth of disliking books and the discourse of literature. The excerpt “Disliking Books” from that book shares the story of Gerald’s experience with early education to his collegiate experience which then later inspired him to become a literature professor. Through sharing his experiences in his youth and at college Graff shares the added value that can come through adversity and education.

The definition as well as the specific parts of accurate American history is a highly debated topic- especially in regards to educating children on American history. In “Let’s tell the Story of All America’s Cultures” by Yuh Ji-Yeon gives her point of view on the controversial topic of the success of American history education. As the author is a Korean immigrant she has a special connection to this topic, and is writing this article to giver her opinion in the debate of reforming education in America. Ji-Yeon successfully persuades the audience that American history education in the United States is discriminatory by using her personal experiences and emotions as she informs the audience of a possible solution

Throughout history, Rome is often thought of as a rather consistent classical society with the coliseums, pillars, and chariots. While there were continuities, there were also changes of different varieties throughout history of the Roman Empire. The fall of the Roman Empire caused many political and cultural changes, but there were also many continuities that remained within the empire in the span of 500 years from 100-600 CE. Between 100-600 C.E., the Roman Empire experienced steady decline and eventually a fall, although in the east the Byzantine Empire kept alive many of Rome’s political and cultural traditions.

With the daily hustle and bustle of life Americans can lose sight of the true happiness. The cultural norms of Americans can define their outlook on life and cause them to be more satisfied by their social statuses that are achieved through their work. Other countries view Americans as workaholics, but to Americans long hours and lack of sleep is just a natural part of life. Americans live an unhealthy lifestyle due to overworking and not taking the time to take care of their minds and bodies.

With refugees from other countries, immigrants from Mexico, and same sex marriage, the composition of the U.S. has changed greatly. The United States is getting bigger and more culturally diverse. Based the U.S. Census data, the U.S. has doubled in size. People are living longer. There have been some major shift in racial groups. For example, the influx of Mexican of immigrants has cause the change of the racial and ethnicity structure. Currently, Caucasian are the majority of the U.S. It is been predicted that by the year 2042 Caucasian will not be the majority but yet the minority. According to Center for Disease Control (CDC), women are having children much older now. Women are becoming the bread winner of the family and focusing on their

Cultural Diversity is not something all countries have come to terms with. Some cities are more diverse and culturally rich more than others. I believe the one important factor of being an adult is to know how other cultures may be different from you own. In my opinion knowing what other cultures are like gives individuals and groups the ability to make sound decisions. Cultural diversity is something I love about living in the United States. Although, I have only vacationed in different countries I can appreciate having a mixed group of people in one country.

Undertaking my bachelor degree in the first Sino foreign university, the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), is the first step for me to engage in cross-cultural communication as a learner. The adapting to a western education system requires students, who received over 12 years traditional Chinese education, to use their transferable learning skills within a totally different teaching and learning style. At the beginning, I was faced with difficulties because of many differences in assessment system, attitudes towards answers, student-teacher relationship, and degree of participation. Although the first year of the university is about foundational modules for academic writing, presentations and research, I think the learning would have been more effective if the university had provided students with relevant courses in cross-cultural

Abstract Communicating successfully with people from different cultures can be a real challenge. Cultural differences may lead to tensions, arguments, and even wars between peoples and nations. This paper deals with one of the most common problems in intercultural communication cultural shock, it introduces its concepts and basic traits, causes and symptoms, stages of adjustment and strategies of overcoming culture shock with the aim of improving intercultural communication competence for smoothing intercultural communication.

No one can deny that studying abroad is extraordinarily useful for students. Studying abroad helps students to achieve a higher level of education in plenty of fields that might not be available in their country. It also helps them to learn a plethora of material and gain experience in their life. Further, students who study abroad think the experience is beneficial for their career path and success in the future [e.g., Dwyer, 2008; Orahood, Kruze, & Pearson, 2008]. They also become more responsible. However, there are various student prefer to study in Kuwait by reason of it is their country and they don’t aspire to leave their families and travel to study abroad. Also, employers report that they believe students who study abroad have strong interpersonal skills, a significant qualification for a potential job candidate [Doorbar, 2003]. Therefore, experience, knowledge and responsibility are three logical reasons why studying abroad is higher quality than studying in Kuwait.