Hello!

 

I am currently getting a Masters in Developmental Psychology. For a very long time I am fascinated with other cultures, and I would like to specialize in intercultural communication. My idea is to specialize in one or two regions (here I have in mind Singapore and Malaysia and/or Romania) and conduct cross-cultural communication workshops to a target population I have yet to determine- I am thinking something geared towards mental health personnel, although I am flexible with this. Ideally, I would like to integrate my background in Psychology with my interest in other cultures. I am also interested in research and I have research experience pertaining to psychology. I was wondering if you could guide me as to what program I should apply to given that I am in the process of getting my Masters in Psychology. I am not sure to what extent it would be indicated to apply for a Masters in Intercultural Communication or if to go for a PhD program. I would eventually like to get my PhD. What are some programs that you recommend? Should I seek employment in the field prior to applying? Or is this not a must? Thank you.

New intercultural books, movies and music are now available at the InterculturalU.com Bookstore. Here are a few of the new items this month...  

• The Myth of Mars and Venus: Do men and women really speak different languages?
• Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11: From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects (Arab American Writing)
• International Students in American Colleges and Universities: A History
• Motivational Aspects of Prejudice and Racism (Nebraska Symposium on Motivation)
• This is England
• Mind Of Mencia - Uncensored Season 3
• D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time
• The Birth of a Nation
• Ethnic and Border Music: A Regional Exploration (Greenwood Guides to American Roots Music)
• Putumayo Presents: Tango Around the World
• Kung Fu - The Complete Series Collection

For more info and a list of the other new books, movies and music, please visit InterculturalU.com Bookstore.  Please help support InterculturalU.com by purchasing your intercultural items and other items at the IU Bookstore.  The IU Bookstore is associated with Amazon.com which handles all the transactions.  You get the same savings from Amazon, but now you can also support IU -- a win-win situation.

Armed with their knowledge of culture, anthropologist are now assisting the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

"The U.S. military is now sending teams of anthropologists and social scientists out to assist all combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan. The effort has reportedly helped troops improve relations with local populations and avert casualties, while raising a hearty debate among anthropologists over the ethical boundaries of their profession. A look at the so-called Human Terrain Teams and larger questions of how the military is adapting to new expectations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond" (The Dianne Reams Show notes).

We've searched the web for new interculturally-themed videos and found the following videos for the interested interculturalist.  This week's videos are ...

• Jena 6 News Update
• IUMTV: Intercultural U Music Television (featuring Robby Romero)
• Key Scene from "To Kill a Mockingbird"
• And many more intercultural videos recently posted on the web, including...
  • Jared Taylor: Cherry Picker
  • "Slip of the Tongue"/Ethnic Makeup
  • "Reel Bad Arabs"/Jack Shaheen
  • Racist Attack in Norfolk, Virginia?
  • among many other videos 

Want to watch some of these?  Click on the title of this post or click the 'read more' link below.

We've searched the web for new interculturally-themed videos and found the following videos for the interested interculturalist.  This week's videos are ...

• Jena 6 News Video Collection (Background on the Story) 
• A Grade School Teacher's Views of Jesse Jackson's Comments about Barack Obama ("acting white")
• Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends - Louis Meets "Black Power Groups" in NYC
• Multicultural Connection: How To Tell If You Are Racist
• Subliminal Racism in Turkey
• And many more intercultural videos recently posted on the web, including...
  • This week's IU Video Collection includes clips on:  Tolerance (Michael Franti), American Muslim comedians, Muslims in America fasting Ramadan, Muslim Women, Islam, Muslims of Australia, "Stereotypical Dumb/Stupid Americans," Multiculturalism (a pipe dream and against nature?), multicultural education, "The Amazing Racist," Americanism, the KKK, Christian Stereotypes, "The Color of Fear," a GLAAD PSA, LGBT Issues in the Workplace, American Indian Movement, and "This Is England," among other videos.

Want to watch some of these?  Click on the title of this post or click the 'read more' link below.

Current research suggests that liberals and conservatives literally think differently.  There are differences in how the liberal brain and conservative brain processes information, researchers say.  This raises some interesting questions for an interculturalist.  Assuming this liberal-conservative brain difference is eventually strongly confirmed, is it possible that difference among different cultural groups could be tied to differences in how their brains process information?  Is this a dangerous question to ask?  What are the implications of such a line of research?  Doesn't this smack of  scientific racism / eugenics?  Would a scientific racism/eugenics sort of argument against such research be committing a slippery slope fallacy?

Check out some of these web pages:

• The culture-cognition connection
• Cross-national differences in cognitive style: implications for management

In the last Intercultural News post the Jerry Lewis story was the featured story.  I provided some articles, but not video of his actual on air comments.  I found some video now.  See below.

This is The Intercultural News ...
A review of news stories from around the web and from around the world for the past week. 
Brought to you by InterculturalU.com.

This issue includes over 150+ relevant intercultural news stories from the worlds of politics, crime, sports, entertainment, business, education, etc.

The top stories from this past week...

• Can Oprah Make Obama President? - DiversityInc.com *
• Whoopi compares Vick case to Chinese eating cats - Hyphen Magazine *
• NAACP says sentencing in dog case was racist - Cincinnati Enquirer *
• Reportedly member of skinhead group that fights prejudice - Chicago Sun-Times *  
• Case of 'Jena Six' Tears at Small Town's Harmony - NPR *
• The New Anti-Semitism - Washington Post *  
• Ageism 'daily blight' for elderly - BBC News *
• Turning Iranians into cockroaches!  -Payvand Iran News *
• Teaching Free Speech in Times of War - Inside Higher Ed *  
• Ethics and Study Abroad - Chronicle of Higher Education *
• When It Comes to Diversity, Pain Means Gain - AdAge.com *
• Canadians Abroad - Toronto Star *
• Featured Stories - This Week... That's Not Funny: The Words of Comedians - Eddie Griffin & Jerry Lewis

For links to these stories and many more intercultural news stories, click the title of this post or click on 'read more' below.