Timothy Cantwell

Gordon Storrs
Intercultural Communications
Studying Intercultural communication has opened my eyes and allowed me to see
cultures and individuals from a different point of view. I never believed I was ignorant of other
cultures and their practices or beliefs of identity, but in light of what I have learned and we have
studied, there is a lot more to communicating with other cultures if you are going to truly
understand them. The diversity of individuals play a large role in everyday life and if youre
unaware of them chances are you are missing out on a large part of cultural experiences.
Immigrants traveling to this country play a large part in the diversity of the melting pot, The
United States of America.
Learning about the three ways to approach intercultural communication enables me to
assess each intercultural situation i encounter. The Social Science, Interpretive and Critical
approach all have different methods of explaining intercultural communication. I have learned
that the Social science approach describes and predicts behavior, the Interpretive approach
describes behavior, and the Critical approach changes behavior. When I apply these three
approaches to myself and use them to better understand my culture, it allows me to develop an
understanding of myself.
When using the three approaches to analyze my behavior towards any group, I can
recognize any behaviors that do not benefit others and change it. I would like to now explore
what white privilege meant to me before and after taking the intercultural communication course.
Before the course, my understanding of the term white privilege meant that as a white person
your access to wealth and resources in this world was easier to obtain. During the course, I
started to notice through multiple media outlets and the classroom what it really meant. Now I
believe that white privilege is not a wealth privilege but a belief assumed by all races in America.
As a white male raised in America I have never felt different because of my ethnicity. A
black person, gay person, woman, asian, latino, might feel out of place or judged in large
portions of american society since as a culture. Historically, the white male has dominated the
social and economic facilities and policies that are created to govern citizens. I now imagine
what it might be like working in an environment dominated by males. I can also imagine, with
and accurate understanding what it might be like being a black person going to school at a
college dominated by whites.
I listened to a fascinating story that I might not of listened to if I did not take the course
on intercultural communications. The story was about the national debate syndicate that often
produced the country's political and high level judges, and it was a dominant white culture. The
story was featured on Radiolab and was reported by Abigail Keel and was about a queer black
debate team from Emporia State University. Their story is about entering the well funded
predominantly wealthy, white debate culture, and how they were discriminated against in all
aspect of the competition. It is a wonderful story and I highly recommend it and it can be found

at http://www.radiolab.org/story/debatable/. I myself have an understanding about what it

would feel like having to fight a battle against a majority who did not see you as an equal.
My ability to effectively communicate with other people has been significantly increased
due to the content of the course work. I now actually practice what I consider to be active
listening. Since communication happens in a variety of different ways it is important to
understand how different people and different cultures may interpret your gestures, postures,
eye contact and facial expressions along with your tone of voice. Since communication is key to
understanding other people's culture, it is key to understand what their culture may of taught
them to believe, behave, or think. Understanding the culture of a visitor or the place you are
visiting, will greatly improve your ability to communicate with other people. This is especially
valuable in business, if you are insensitive to someone's culture then there is a good chance
you can lose a business deal or a business partner.
Being away of your audience can also allow me to judge the context in which i speak. In
America, sarcasm is often used to express feelings of disappointment. Since taking intercultural
communications I have decided to avoid using sarcasm at all times. I do not like making
assumptions and if I am speaking to someone who appears to understand all of the little
nuances of the american english language, I could easily insult them without intending to. Being
aware of the context in which I use my words has become important to me as has my sensitivity
to other people.
Being aware of my identity has also been something I have been pondering since taking
the course. Who am I? Is a question that I often ask myself. Once I answered that question I
understood how I could adjust my behaviors to perpetuate the identity I have decided to create
for myself. Ive realized how important identity is to people and how they become socially
integrated to the cultural identities they identify themselves as.
I understand my beliefs in
individualized, familial, and spiritual context. Because of this, I feel a deeper connection with my
family, friends, and myself. I am also able to summarize the beliefs of other cultures because of
this self awareness.
I now have a better understanding of the major minority identities, gender, sex, age,
racial, ethnic, religious, class, nationality, and personal identity. Being aware of the classification
can allow me to stereotype people with better accuracy and will improve my chances of
engaging in successful communication with different people from around the world. I think this
is a skill that I would love to practice and develop as people in America often identify themselves
regionally and understanding the sub-cultures within a larger culture can assist in any future
business deals I will encounter.
I have become increasingly aware of the importance of speaking out against prejudice
and racism because of the ideas I have learned in the intercultural communication class. It is
important to spread the ideas of real communication between cultural groups. Doing so may
lead to equality among the different cultures of the world. With equality, comes tolerance and a
lot of other beneficial beliefs. Understanding why people are prejudice can help me understand

how to critically identify where they may of learned their beliefs and how to assist in educating
them to incite change.
The other day in my anthropology class we were intellectually contemplating the
importance of understanding if violence is genetic or if it is learned. I believe it is learned and
during this discussion I was able to bring up the concept of white privilege and I think I may of
changed a couple of viewpoints. Though I did need to express some additional thought to
maximize the impact I could of had on other people's beliefs. Language has an impact on
people's beliefs and identities, understanding that there are multiple languages that have no
direct translation helps me understand the struggles that an immigrant may experience when
migrating to the United States, if English is their second language. It has also opened my eyes
and allowed me to better understand how I can increase my efficiency communicating with other
people when I travel internationally.
I recently went to Costa Rica, this was before studying intercultural communications.
Reflecting on my actions during my trip I believe I was probably fairly ignorant and took for
granted the fact that many people in Costa Rica were able to speak English. Next time I travel
internationally I will be considerate and thoughtful in my communications. Doing my best to only
use language in its original context and speaking with clarity and thoughtfulness.
I do get a chance to practice intercultural communication frequently. The company I
work for does international support for global companies and I communicate with people from
different cultures frequently. I have always been able to be patient with my communication
though after taking the course on intercultural communication I can express empathy for the
sometimes difficulty in communication. When an individual who calls in for support and does
not have strong english speaking skills, they frequently experience frustration in communication
from both parties and sometimes ridicule from coworkers who are not sensitive to the difficulties
of intercultural communication. I believe it is important for me to speak out and assist any coworkers in being aware that just because the person they are speaking to does not speak
English as their primary language it does not mean they are not listening or less intelligent than
they are.
When I take all of the communication skills I have learned over the past four months and
apply them to my job, it is a relief to know that I have a better understanding of the cultural
differences and the translation of the English language across different nations of the world. I
never did get frustrated when speaking to someone who didnt know the English language very
well, I personally would describe something differently when encountering difficulty in
communication. Now with the skills I have learned I can understand why people struggle
sometimes.
Non-verbal communication is a form of communication that I would like to learn more
about. Not only does it have implications on how I communicate with other people it also affects
how I communicate with myself. There are a wide variety of ways of communicating nonverbally and understanding things like the different hand signals and the meanings they have in
different cultures is essential to ensuring you do not offend people. I believe it is also important

to understand the different non-verbal gestures of cultures, and I believe it is important to

respect their traditions.
I was inspired by one of our guest speakers who was a migrate to be kinder to people
from other cultures who have migrated to the United States. They are just like everyone else in
terms of the lives they are living. We all want to survive and have opportunity. I do not feel like
it is appropriate for an immigrant to have any less of an opportunity in America than anyone
else. That being stated it is also important to remember the struggles of the people already
living in America. There is also the issue of refugees, people who were forced from their
homeland because of war and have related to a different nation. I think it is extremely important
to help all people including the victims of war no matter where they are. I believe the majority of
refugees would rather be in their native country instead of being forced to live somewhere they
might not be welcome. It is important to be sympathetic to these group of people as they are
victims of circumstance.