Lecture 2 (Student which are in university)

History

1. History Lecture 2

2. “Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion….. I go to them as humans go to worship. From their lofty summits I view my past, dream of the future and, with an unusual acuity, am allowed to experience the present moment….. my vision cleared, my strength renewed. In the mountains I celebrate creation. On each journey I am reborn.”

3. History & Intercultural interaction Culture influences our views of history. When people of different cultural backgrounds encounter one another, the differences among them can become hidden barriers to communication. Learning history can open up doors to understanding as intercultural interactions involve a dialectical interplay between past and present.

4. History of Intercultural interaction Culture and cultural identities are intimately tied to history because they have no meaning without history. Yet there is no single version of history. We feel a strong need to identify in positive ways with our past even if we are not interested in history. The stories of the past, whether accurate or not, help us understand who we are and why we live and communicate in the ways we do.

5. History & Intercultural interaction History influences intercultural interaction in many different contexts. For example: Israeli & Palestinians Indians & Pakistanis White Americans & Black Americans Northern Vietnamese & Southern Vietnamese

6. History & Intercultural interaction Many different kinds of history influence our understanding of who we are – as individuals, as family members, as members of cultural groups, and as citizens of a nation. Diasporas around the world

7. Histories Political histories – written histories that focus on political events. Intellectual histories – written histories that focus on the development of ideas. Social histories – written histories that focus on everyday life experiences of various groups in the past.

8. Absent Histories Absent histories – Any part of history that was not recorded or that is missing. Not everything that happened in the past is accessible to us today because only some voices were documented and only some perspectives were recorded. Documented vs. Undocumented

9. Memory – remembering How fragile is memory and trying to remember past events? Memory is fallible. Memory ends at the present moment. Memory is everything you have lived, experienced, seen, and felt up until this instant. Everyone holds their own set of memories. Sometimes it might feel unnecessary to stick to the exact or literal truth of what happened, as long as the message or the meaning of the experience is portrayed.

10. misinformation How to know what memories are true and what are false? Misinformation Effect – occurs when misleading information has corrupted one’s memory of an event. Imagining nonexistent actions and events can create false memories. Source Amnesia ( source misattribution ) – faulty memory for how, when, where information was learned or imagined.

11. Family Histories Family histories – occur at the same time as other histories but on a more personal level. They often are not written down but are passed along orally from one generation to the next. Some people do not know which countries or cities their families emigrated from or what tribes they belonged to or where they lived in the United States. Other people place great emphasis on knowing that their ancestors fought in certain Wars or survived events.

12. national Histories National histories – a body of knowledge based on past events that influenced a country’s development. A shared notion of who we are and solidifies our sense of nationhood. We may not fit into the national narrative, but we are expected to be familiar with a particular telling of our nation’s history, so we can understand the many references used in communication. It is one way of constructing cultural discourses. Who determines a nation’s history?

13. Cultural-group Histories Cultural-Group histories – The history of each cultural group within a nation that includes, where the group originated, why the people migrated, and how they came to develop and maintain their cultural traits. How does one determine their cultural-group?

14. History, power & intercultural communication Power is a central dynamic in the writing of history. It influences the content of the history we know and the way it is delivered. Power dictates what is taught and what is silenced, what is available and what is erased. The Power of Texts The Power of Other Histories Power in Intercultural Interactions

15. The power of texts The Power of Texts: History is extremely important in understanding identity. Think about all of the stories about the past that you have been taught. It is accessible to us only in textual, narrative form. Who produces these historical texts?

16. The power of other histories The Power of Other Histories: “ Grand Narrative ” – a unified history and view of humankind. Dominated how people thought of the past, present, and future. Organizes history into an understandable story that leads to some “ truths ” over other possible conclusions – one of progress and an underlying assumption that developments in science, medicine, and education would lead to progress and better lives.

17. History & Identity The development of cultural identity is influenced largely by history. Histories as Stories For Example : China’s perspective on World War II versus Japan’s perspective on World War II.

18. The power of other histories Nonmainstream histories – people from certain cultural groups often struggle to retain their histories. Sometimes these histories stand alongside the grand narrative , but sometimes they challenge the grand narrative . Hidden histories – are forgotten by the mainstream representations of past events. For example : What happened after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941? The Japanese American experience

19. The power of other histories Racial & Ethnic Gender Sexual Orientation Diasporic Colonial Socioeconomic Class Religious

20. Intercultural communication & history We bring our personal history to intercultural interactions through: Childhood experiences Historical myths Language Recent and vivid events

21. Intercultural communication & history Contact hypothesis – the notion that better communication between groups of people is facilitated simply by bringing them together and allowing them to interact. Although history does not seem to support this notion, many public policies and programs in the United States and abroad are based on this hypothesis. Example : The US Fulbright Program

22. Intercultural communication & history Contact hypothesis – under what conditions does the contact hypothesis hold true. Equal status (education, social-economic) Strong normative and institutional support (government, legal) Voluntary Potential to extend beyond the immediate situation Maximize cooperation Equal number of group members Hold similar beliefs and values Promote individuation

23. Intercultural communication & history In-Class Activity: Explain the differences between the cultural historical identities of these groups of people from Vietnam: 1954: Nam Dinh to Saigon 1975: Saigon to Orange County (USA) 1994: Hanoi

24. Homework assignment Interview your parents and grandparents: Learn what similarities and differences there are between your generation and theirs in terms of cultural historical identity. Try and find out about your family’s history.