Social responsibility includes intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities, including the workplace. These skills are rated highest as desirable skills among hiring managers.

Intercultural competence includes:

Knowledge of your own culture and how it has shaped your world view.

Knowledge of significant characteristics of other cultures.

Awareness of differences and similarities in cultures.

Ability to adjust your actions to successfully interact with someone of another culture.

How do we continuously improve our intercultural competence? First, by understanding that intercultural competence is complex, and it requires growing and maturing in three areas: mind set, heart set, and skill set.

Mindset is the domain where as we learn and engage with others, we recognize similarities and differences. A growth mind set requires self-awareness and cultural awareness.

Heart set is the domain where we learn to acknowledge, appreciate, and accept cultural differences. There are six dimensions to your heart set:

Self esteem

Self-monitoring

Empathy

Open mindedness

Reserved judgment

Social relaxation

Listening

Skill set involves our intercultural agility; the ability to adjust your actions to successfully interact with someone of another culture. Specific skills include message skills, appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility, and interaction management.

WATCH THESE VIDEOS and review the power point on eCampus, and watch the following videos:

Defining Intercultural Competence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJqBhLgSNQYThe danger of a single story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zegEngagement is the Answer! Cross-Cultural Lessons in Life and Psychology

Laura Johnson | TEDxUM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0x4GPNz4HoIf I Could Change the World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuRURJ9E3iQKnowledge of civic responsibility includes:

Recognizing your civic responsibility to a specific community: locally, nationally, globally.

Identifying actions you will take as a citizen to address the pertinent issues within your community.

Engagement in a community includes:

Describing effective participation in civic engagement activities.

Understanding the purpose and benefits of your engagement in the community.

Intercultural Competence

PART I

Explore different cultures represented at Mountain View College, your job, organizations.

Define your culture – go beyond mentioning family, celebrating holidays, food, music, dance. Give examples. Why are these important? Include display rules (e.g., culturally accepted ways of communicating with others in your culture).

Discuss and record the things that you love about your culture. How has your culture shaped your identity and how you feel about your place in the world?

Discuss the misperceptions about your culture – what bothers you the most?

Discuss the contributions your culture has made to the community, state, country, and the world. Write about a specific psychologist (not the people cited in your textbook) from your culture. Describe his/her area of research and contributions to psychology (requires research).

PART II

Engage with a person from a culture that is different from yours, and about which you know very little. This person is your “culture” partner.

Before you sit down to talk to your partner, honestly reflect on and record perceptions that you have about this culture.

Allow your partner to discuss his/her culture in detail. Record what your partner says, including display rules.

Listen to and record what your partner loves about his/her culture.

Listen to and record the misperceptions about your partner’s culture – what bothers your partner the most? Did you believe any of these misperceptions?

Listen to and record the contributions that your partner’s culture has made to the community, state, country, or the world, including a psychologist. Record the person or group your partner tells you about.

PART III

After reflection on the experience, summarize your encounter in essay form.

Include a discussion that compares and contrasts the two cultures (yours and your partner’s).

As you learned about your partner’s culture, discuss any emotions/feelings you may have experienced. Did your perspective change? How? What psychological factors (e.g., stereotyping, perceptions, schemas, prejudice, “us vs them,” ignorance, motivation, personality) may have influenced your encounter, or could influence an encounter between people from your two cultures?

How did you adjust your actions to successfully interact with your partner?

Civic Engagement

PART IV: Partner Collaboration

(If your partner is someone in class, each partner will turn in an individual project)

With your “culture” partner, choose an issue that affects both of your cultures at a local, national, or global level. Define the issue and community (some examples: food insecurity, access to health care, access to education, immigration, LGBTQ, gender equity, racial equity, white privilege, climate change, housing availability, poverty, stress, mental illness, discrimination).

When analyzed with a lens of civic responsibility (see definition above), discuss what responsibility exists to address this issue.

Discuss the important and relevant issues that need to be addressed within the issue and “community” that you have chosen to focus on?

Discuss how one can effectively participate in civic engagement activities to address this issue? What already exists? What can be developed?

Discuss how your personal involvement could benefit you, your culture, and your partner’s culture.

Bonus: Actively engage in an event or activity that is related to the issue you chose. Discuss the experience.

Definitions of words in the instructions:

Explore – research, engage

Reflect – think deeply and honestly. Can also mean reflecting back to your partner what you heard him/her say.

Discuss – engage in a conversation with your partner. Also, when writing about the experience, be clear, accurate, precise, relevant, significant, in-depth, logical, and fair.

Record – Write down (see Discuss)

Research – Read, study, and provide evidence-based information (not your opinion). Include references and citations.

Listen – pay attention to what your partner is saying. Suspend judgment, be empathetic and open-minded.

ASSIGNMENT TIPS, GRADING and PROJECT DETAILS

This project is valued at 100 points and is due November 20, 2019, 11:59 PM uploaded on eCampus.

Do not rush through the assignment. Take time to get to know your partner. Think carefully about an issue that is important to you.

Your discussion/writing should be clear, concise, and in-depth. Your answers should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of your group’s culture and your partner’s culture, and how psychological principles apply to the encounter between you and your culture partner.

Research aspects: read reputable articles; visit credible websites; talk to people who are engaged in addressing the issue you chose. Visit, get involved.

As you develop your report, reflect on social or cultural barriers to interactions with members of the other culture. According to psychological principles, why is that?

Length: Minimum 3 pages (maximum 5 pages); typed, double-spaced, with 1” margins, 12-point font. Papers that are not typed will not be accepted. Grammar, style, and spelling account for 20 points of your grade. If the paper you turn in is illegible, you may forfeit all points for this assignment.

Style: To get started, answer the questions individually. If you get permission, you can record your conversation with your partner. Then, incorporate the answers into an essay. Paragraphs should transition logically. All answers must be in complete sentences using proper grammar and spelling. If you have concerns about your writing skills, please schedule a visit with the MVC Writing Center located in W114. This is an excellent, free resource.

Citations: You should have at least two (2) references to specific psychological theories to support your answers. The theories/concepts should be clearly related to your answers. Cite theory, author(s), main points, and how it supports your answer.

In Psychology, we use the APA format for citations (a tutorial link is provided on eCampus).

Do not include first names, book titles, or journal article titles in your written answers.

For example, if you cite information from your text, do not write: “According to Sandra Ciccarelli and J. Noland White in Psychology: An Exploration…”

Do write: According to Ciccarelli and White (2016), psychology is a fascinating discipline.

Direct quotes should be used sparingly (no more than two for the entire project) and only when the original author’s statement is the most effective way to state a concept or finding. You should always try to put other sources’ work in your own words.

If you use a direct quote, it should be no longer than one sentence.

Use proper citation for the quote:

“In any society, there will always be ingroups and outgroups, or us versus them” (Ciccarelli & White, 2016, p. 384).

According to Ciccarelli and White, “in any society, there will always be ingroups and outgroups, or us versus them” (2016, p. 384).

Periods go at the end of the sentence, but inside the closing punctuation, including quotation marks, if the quotation mark ends the sentence. Periods always go after the parenthesis. ( ).

A complete list of references should be at the end of your assignment (not included as part of the 3-page minimum).

Due Date: Final paper must be uploaded on eCampus by November 20, under the Intercultural Competence Project Tab. If you visit the Writing Center, please turn in the WC document before November 20.

This project will be graded using elements of the MVC Quality Enhancement Program (QEP) Writing Rubric. If you are in a face-to-face class on the Mountain View Campus, every classroom has a poster that lists these elements:

Clarity: understandable, nothing is confusing

Accuracy: the information is true, correct, and can be verified. Project demonstrates accurate and knowledgeable understanding of one’s ingroup and the outgroup and the relevant issue.

Precision: includes the specific information needed to address and explain the problem, issues.

Relevance: Incorporates meaningful information and observations. Information provided relates directly to the project.

Depth: includes enough complex information to address the psychological concepts related to ingroup and outgroup dynamics.

Breadth: involves more than one point of view; considers alternative perspectives

Logic: answers/paper makes sense; nothing is confusing, no contradictions

Significance: focuses on the important aspects of the ingroup’s and outgroup’s identities, positions, beliefs, norms, (culture). respondent’s life, not the trivial

Fairness: considers the thoughts and views of others