The Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Blog

The comparison between a Swedish subculture and the major Swedish culture

Örebro University, Sweden — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:09:44 +0000

In our essay we have examined the differences between a Swedish subculture, the bohemian subculture, and the typical Swedish culture. We have done this with the support of a bohemian Swede and our own knowledge about the Swedish culture, with a support from literature that covers these cultures. In our essay we’ve looked into culture and subculture, how they work, how they are built, which components we can find in these. There are central and periphery values in these cultures that are important for our understanding of them. When you are writing about culture and their values and beliefs there is a risk of generalization and subjectivity but we have tried to remain objective and neutral to the subject as possible.

The bohemian subculture

The Swedish bohemian subculture has certain demands on their members. These demands are to be artistic, creative and to be judgmental to the society and its framework. The Swedish bohemian are more functional in comparison to more “hard-core bohemians”. In a culture you can see four things that define a culture, beliefs, values, norms and social beliefs. The beliefs that we have identified are a humanistic view of the human kind. The values that are portrayed are that the view of people should be free and human rights are important. The environmental view of life is the norms of the group, take the train instead of flying for example. The social beliefs discuss the capitalistic views of life and the bohemians express a disguise for the behavior when you spend thousands on something that are unnecessary.

The typical Swedish culture

Beliefs of the Swedish culture that we have identified are about the pressure of producing something in your life that is worth something. Sweden used to be a religious country, but nowadays the religious beliefs are secondary. Equality between all people, female and male, foreigner or domestic are a good way of defining what values the typical Swede believes in. The biggest norm, that connects to beliefs, are individuality. Each man are expected to live on his own to reach a independency from the state, society, work and family, in Sweden it is for example very unusual that an elder lives with his family, usually the elder lives in a retirement home instead. The social beliefs that we have identified are shortly about time. To be on time and respecting other peoples times are something that are very important. Are you late, then you are rude to the person waiting for you.

This comparison was very interesting when we realized that the two cultures affect each other and that the Swedish culture is always changing and evolving with the society’s changes.

CCR in the news!

Christine Alfano — Fri, 25 May 2012 20:07:18 +0000

We were so pleased to see the partnership between Orebro University (Sweden), Stanford University (U.S.A), and the Khabarovsk State Academy of Economics and Law (Russia) in the news this week. It’s great to see this cross-institutional collaboration, innovation, and hard work recognized! See some of the blogposts related to this exchange by searching CCR exchange: Stanford-Orebro-Khabarovsk on our blog categories. For a more specific look at a student exchange about IKEA, follow the Orebro-Khabarovsk link.

A Diverse Discussion

Stanford University — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:03:31 +0000

Addressing Racial Diversity in a Writing Center: Stories and Lessons from Two Beginners by Nancy Barron and Nancy Grimm uses a combination of personal anecdotes and stories to convey the importance of race and diversity issues in writing situations. I believe that this article makes a very crucial point that a sort of colorblind writing environment may not exist yet and may not be beneficial to a writing center.

Although I have only been at Stanford for a year, I have already felt a push from my instructors and peers to share my opinions somewhat drenched with my personal, cultural, and ethnic experience. I believe that those personal experiences have enriched my writing at the university so far. As a writing tutor in-training, I believe that there is a certain beauty that manifests in a students writing that takes their unique backgrounds into consideration.

I understood the safety in anonymity and fear and exposure expressed In the first story about the African American woman who did not want to submit her piece. That just proves how important it is to establish that the writing center is a safe and open space for students to express their ideas without fear of judgement.

I believe that this article had an important teaching opportunity that was not fully realized. I wonder how often situations arise where a student is afraid to share their opinions when race is involved? I was hoping to gain insight into different techniques on how a tutor should approach said situation. I understand, however, that many of these situations may have to be dealt with on a case by case basis.

Oriekose Idah Stanford University ’15

Racial Diversity in the Writing Center

Stanford University — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:59:34 +0000

Reading this article by Barron and Grimm made me very aware that I will not only be a writing tutor next year, but also a staff member as a resident writing tutor in a freshman dorm. Certainly I do not have the same responsibility to address such issues as race as do the resident assistants, but as a staff member I realize that I must no doubt keep such issues in mind as I approach my role as a staff member.

In this article I recalled a conversation I had with my friend who will be a resident assistant next year. He spoke of the simultaneous profundity and heaviness he experienced when the RA class turned to the topic of race as an important component of student experience. I recall him telling me about students who felt they couldn’t say certain things because of their race, or students who felt they couldn’t relate to others or depend on others because of their race. It was quite a moving conversation and important for me personally as a future residential staff member.

However, in terms of its direct role on my tutoring, I was unsure of its impact. The article did not provide much advice in the way of addressing or acknowledging race in terms of tutoring writing. I would be interested to hear what the authors would advise with regards to how one should approach this cultural topic: what strategies we as tutors may employ and what ideas we may keep in mind, much in the same vein as the ESL tutoring article the week before.

Bryce Bajar, Class of 2014, Stanford University.

Stanford-Sydney Doucette Response

Stanford University — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:45:21 +0000

Doucette’s experience tutoring the medical school student is an incredibly powerful moment and leaves me with much to question. In that moment, a simple question was able to spark discussion and then change the perspective of both tutor and tutee. The author of the piece left the center with a new lens to view her issue and her paper. Doucette was in the distinct role of being a tutor who was well versed in some of the issues the tutee presented in the piece of writing. While he admits he had not viewed this problem through this lens, he was still able to provide some insight on the topic that lead to the end discourse.

However, not all tutors are going to have the previous knowledge that Doucette did into the intricacies of such a delicate topic. From this front, I am very interested in learning more about what he recommend a tutor do. In this class, we have read many pieces and techniques about how to tutor when the tutor is not the expert in the field. Most of the advice on this front has come from staying true to general principles of writing: focusing on general sentence structure and composition as well as broader concepts. Some authors have also stressed asking a lot of questions at the beginning of the piece so the tutor may learn more about the topic and the piece.

While all of these do seem effective, it would still be great to hear from Doucette on what questions he feels have been the most effective and other tips on how t handle this moment.. Without the right questions or the right setup to the meeting, it would be incredibly challenging to get at the heart of the issue behind the writing. I really enjoyed this piece because it challenged me to think about the questions I would ask in a similar setting. How would I broach a sensitive topic if I wasn’t too well informed on the manner but was still asked to tutor. In the paper Doucette was given, it seems that most of the writing is sound in the first place. I think in many ways this made the session easier. Regardless though, asking questions seems to be the best policy to try and further develop the learning experience for both the tutor and tutee. It is only through asking that we can really make Doucette’s wish true and make the writing center a safe and open space.

Doucette, Jonathan. “Composing Queers: The Subversive Potential of the Writing Center.” Young Scholars in Writing 9 (2011): 5-15. Web. 15 May 2012. <https://coursework.stanford.edu/access/content/group/Sp12-PWR-195-01/Doucette-Composing%20Queers.pdf>.

Meaningful Recognition of Race in Tutoring

Stanford University — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:38:21 +0000

“Addressing Racial Diversity in a Writing Center,” by Nancy Baron and Nancy Grimm, initially seemed to promise me some insight into how I should recognize race differences as a white (or Anglo) writing tutor. Instead, I was left with questions. The belief that we should not be colorblind but instead embrace our cultural differences is not new to me; my high school English department emphasized how much richer our understanding of texts is when we consider it from various viewpoints. I was saddened by the first story’s tale of “white prose;” I would hope that we can read the opinions of others without rejecting them. However, I have to ask: what if the professors do not recognize alternative voices as valid? Can I, as a writing tutor, encourage a student to write in his or her own way if that will negatively impact their grade in a course? Do grades or personal integrity take priority, and how can I help a student with that terrible choice? I would hope, indeed I believe, that a professor at a university as diverse as ours would be able to accept alternative views and ways of writing, but what if that is not the case?

I found little in the way of actual advice in this article. I found the anecdote about a diverse writing center somewhat helpful and rather heartening, but I do not understand how the authors would have me change my tutoring. Quite simply, I found this article interesting and informative on the subject of race in academia and in general. It certainly made me think about my own attitudes towards race, and I appreciate it in that sense. However, as an article for learning about race in the writing center, I would have appreciated more concrete discussions of what changed for individual tutors and for the center as a whole. Without those components, I found it hard to see what exactly I should do to address race in writing.

Emily Kohn, Class of 2015

An Open, but not Forced Discussion of Diversity

Stanford University — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:46:37 +0000

I was actually very taken aback by the article by Barron and Grimm in “The St. Martin’s Sourcebook for Writing Tutors.” As someone of a renegade faith and non-generic skin tone in America I felt that what the authors intended was to bring out my “Muslim” voice. However, this presupposes that I have a Muslim voice simply because I have an Arabic last name. Indeed my family is Muslim, but I am not. Were I to walk into a writing center, present my argument and then have the tutor try to bring out a different voice in me, I would be deeply offended. Similarly, when I walk into an airport, and the TSA projects an understanding of my father’s religion upon me, and tries to make me conform to that understanding, I am offended. I do, in fact, have a Muslim voice and am concerned with Muslim issues. But I believe that that voice is mine and mine alone to bring out.

Another diversity issue is brought about in the Doucette article: bringing out a diverse voice in an inappropriate way. Doucette, near the end of his article, talks of an example where he helped a political student write about same-sex marriage in the context of her gay brother. As a political science major, I can attest that this is largely not appropriate for political science writing. I do not believe that political science writing is biased towards heternormative, or Caucasian tendencies, but rather that it demands are certain style of writing developed out of tradition and practice. I do not think Doucette’s approach to bringing the personal context into an essay from a field which he was not familiar with was appropriate. Rather, it was part of a larger political agenda of Doucette to advance queer perspectives. Thus, we can help, if the student wants to bring personal context to it, but we should not force students to for our own interests.

Lastly, I think there are differences in the student body between Stanford and Michigan Technological University. Perhaps this is true at Michigan Tech, but at Stanford, I think it would be inappropriate to conclude on the basis of race, or religion that the student has a unique perspective. I think all students have a unique perspective, but it is not defined by what we look like. These critiques aside, I think the general idea of encouraging all diversity is important. We should encourage all students, when appropriate, to put their ideas in the context of their life experience.

The story discussed at the beginning of the Barron and Grimm piece is representative of this. The young, African-American woman recognized that she brought a different perspective because of her background. However, she did not think it was appropriate, not because of the type of assignment, but because of how others would view her. There, I think it is okay to encourage diversity. Had the student argued that the assignment would be seriously altered by personalizing it, I do not know if Nancy Barron would have still advanced the agenda she did — but I hope she wouldn’t have.

Salaam Alaykum,

Nick Ahamed

Keeping an Open Mind

Stanford University — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:07:18 +0000

I usually like to think that I am open minded to different religious views, financial backgrounds, and cultural heritages. However, I admit that I have not implemented a lot of queer theory into my writing. I have also not seen much of the theory implemented in writing at Stanford and high school. This does not imply that the student body is not open to ideas that are different from their own. I just feel that most students have not found the need or opportunity to include such differences in their writing.

I really enjoyed reading Jonathan Doucette’s “Composing Queers” because it exposed me to a topic I do not usually pay much attention to. In his piece, Doucette mentions, “Mitchell uses queerness as a way to engage her students actively and critically with pertinent political topics and ‘texts’ in both an academic and ‘public’ forum, challenging them to think of the ways reading and writing can produce ideas or mobilize action” (6). I agree with this view. By exposing students to these ideas, they can rise to the challenge of mobilizing action rather than remaining indifferent towards the various issues.

As a writing tutor, I should be able to be open-minded and encourage my tutees to feel comfortable expressing themselves through their writing. I should also ensure that I do not convey any bias I may have on to the student. This includes the practice of not assuming that the dominant beliefs are the same ones my tutee has. By dong this, I can help ensure my tutee feels safe and comfortable in the tutoring environment.

Aziza Dawodu, Class of 2014

Writing Tutors Providing a Safe Space

Stanford University — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:05:28 +0000

Jonathan Doucette’s “Composing Queers” brought up an interesting point that I wouldn’t necessarily have thought about if a relevant situation hadn’t arisen. He brings up a good point that the writing center, or composition studies in general, can be a limiting place, unconsciously ruled by “dominant culture”. He also paints a worthy vision, however, of a writing center where individuals can “find ways to claim a sense of agency in and through writing”. I would like to employ the approach of openness that Doucette suggests to help make any tutoring time I have with students a safe and open space that gives students the opportunity to feel free to engage in any kind of discourse, normative or not.

Caroline Hernandez, Stanford 2015

Strategies for a more inclusive Writing Center?

Stanford University — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:00:18 +0000

Nancy Baron and Grimm’s article “Addressing Racial Diversity in a Writing Center: Stories and Lessons from Two Beginners” provides an excellent understanding of how, if unchecked, the Writing Center can continue to perpetuate the culture and paradigms of the dominant ethnicity. They advocate racial openness as opposed to racial blindness on the basis that the post-civil rights era erroneously makes it seem like race no longer matters. An example is provided of an African-American girl who tries to write “White prose,” keeping her own experience as a colored woman outside of the conversation. They align their goal with that of the New London Group: to “instantiate a vision through pedagogy that creates in microcosm a transformed set of relationships and possibilities” (307). Here, they are challenging the notion that the writing center should simply tutor the tutee for the writing context as a “transformed” entity is proposed not one that simply reaffirms the existing writing structures. Effectively, they pose a desire to rightfully change the writing context to render it more inclusive of multicultural writing and narratives. Though the article discusses how to combat monoculturalism among the staff of the Writing Center, a whole new set of strategies need to be devised to deal with colored students who have inhibitions about racial openness.

Hence, I return to the tutoring session with the African-American girl who expressed her experience as a colored woman with great ease and flair but refused to write that down. How should the tutors help such a tutee? This was something that was wanting in the article and I feel like a mere rendition of the “affective confidence” principle we have discussed at length in our training would come into play. Tutors would need to give the tutees the support and confidence in the belief that their different perspective will enrich the racial discourse and therefore be of immense value. Exploring ways to enable Queer and colored tutees to be more open are the next step to truly facilitating inclusive environments in the writing center and, hopefully, beyond.

Sahar Khan ’13, Stanford