ANTH 2300 Intercultural Competency Research Paper

January 26, 2021

Intercultural Training Skills
Department of Anthropology / ANTH 2300 (Fall 2020)
Due November 23, 11PM on Moodle; 35%
Your will write a 2000-word paper that develops your intercultural competencies in identifying cultural
differences and the basis of them. You will choose a country that you desire to learn about (or your
future study abroad country). The paper is based on an analysis of relevant, and current, foreign movies
or television series that correspond to aspects of everyday life in the country (or as close as possible). We
use scenes within these movies and television series to explore key ideas in the course.

ANTH 2300 Intercultural Competency Research Paper
STEP 1
Country-selection and movie and TV series: You will need to find two movies or a television series from
your chosen country that fit the criteria. You may need to change your country if you cannot find
relevant or accessible movies or series. Part of the challenge of this assignment is making the effort to find
movies or TV series that are appropriate for this assignment. You will do better if you make the effort.
Country: Choose only ONE country. You cannot choose Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, or
the United States for this particular assignment. It is also recommended that you do NOT choose a
country on the basis that you already “know” the culture because you were born there, or this is part of
your cultural background. This recommendation is because this is a paper on intercultural learning and
the paper is designed to work with new impressions of another culture. In other words, it values fresh
eyes on intercultural difference, and this is undermined when you “already know” or think you know
that culture. If there are too many assumptions, the paper is often weaker. Nevertheless, it is your choice.
Movies and TV Series: Select movies and series that show as much as possible everyday life and people
in different situations in the last fifteen years (not older than 2005). In other words, most extreme
action, horror, fantasy, and historical movies and series are NOT valid. Documentaries and animated
movies/series are not valid. Avoid movies or series in which the characters are based almost entirely in
situations that are outside ordinary experience (e.g., prison, monasteries, police/intelligence service,
military, criminal organizations). A movie or series entirely set in a hospital would not work. A movie or
series that balances work or school environments with home environments would be better.
Try a few different movies or series and scan through them, if you can, to see if it would be a good
choice. It is up to you to find the movies and series. However, please note that the York Library is a good
source for international movies of which some are available for online streaming. You may want to use
the term “television programs” and your chosen country’s name. The Kanopy and Criterion streaming
services through the library also have movies and series. Netflix and other streaming services tend to
have both international films and increasingly, a good selection of international series. Some students
have found YouTube to be a useful source. Find the keywords for television series or programs used with
that service, and search using those terms and your selected country. “Dramas” and “shows” are other
frequently used keywords for television series. You might also begin by searching online the top movies,
or series or dramas for your chosen country, and then seeing which ones are appropriate and where they
are available. This is not a last-minute assignment – searching takes time.
*** Both movies and series must be made and set in your chosen country, fully or almost completely in
the original language(s) of that country. ***
JUST TO AVOID CONFUSION – this paper is NOT about finding a movie about someone who is have
an intercultural experience – it is about the everyday life of people in your chosen country.
STEP 2
Use of the movies or series (what you are trying to do)
For this assignment you use two movies OR four episodes of a series (if the series episodes are short –
under 25 minutes – then you can use six episodes). We use these videos to pretend we are observers of
cultural life in that country. We do not really care about the overall plot of the videos, we are using them
to observe aspects of cultural life that are different from norms in Canada – so you will collect scenes
that relate to these differences.
Watching the movies or series
Prepare for the movie or series by gathering information about the characters and plots,
so that you have some familiarity in advance (Wikipedia, and other online sources are
useful). The observations you make must relate to the four course topics below, so you
should have read the associated readings and have a sense of what to look for when
watching the movies and series. Take notes as you watch the series to identify differences
in Canadian/North American cultural practices and the cultural practices you observe
(even if you do not fully understand these differences). As you take notes, remember to
jot down the beginning timestamp (time, as in 06:40 – six minutes forty seconds in), of
scenes and observations that you may use.
A “scene” is a particular situation in a movie or script, before the movie or script changes
to another group of people, another time, or another place. So, for example, a scene
might be two people talking while eating breakfast. Although it can be longer or shorter,
most scenes are about one to three minutes in length.
Your paper will be a write up of the observations you make in three of these four topics. You must cover
ANY THREE of these FOUR topics in your paper – only do THREE please.

ANTH 2300 Intercultural Competency Research Paper
1. Socio-centric versus egocentric. In what ways is what you are observing in the behaviors of the
characters reflective of differences between Canada in terms of socio-centric or egocentric
patterns? In order words, describe and explain using scenes from the videos how your chosen
countries is more socio-centric (collectivist) than Canada, OR more egocentric (individualist) than
Canada. Sometimes it might be a little of both. You may draw upon different scenes in different
episodes or movies – just do not spread your examples too thin (not enough explanation).
2. Non-verbal communication differences. What are some of the observed non-verbal
communication differences between Canada and your chosen country? Try to use at least two
examples and connect them to course ideas or concepts. You may draw upon different scenes in
different episodes or movies.
3. Verbal communication differences. What are some of the observed non-verbal communication
differences between Canada and your chosen country? Try to use at least two examples and
connect them to course ideas or concepts (cite readings). You may draw upon different scenes in
different episodes or movies.
4. Friendship or relationships differences. What are some of the observed differences in how
people relate as friends or in relationships (e.g., dating, marriage) between Canada and your
chosen country? Try to use two or more examples and connect them to course ideas or concepts
(cite readings). You may draw upon different scenes in different episodes or movies.
NOTE ON CONNECTING TO COURSE IDEAS AND CONCEPTS: When you connect to course
ideas or concepts, it is best to use the readings when these ideas and concepts were found in
particular readings. In other words, don’t cite the lecture when it was in the reading – only cite the
lecture when it is not covered in a reading. You may also suggest parallel situations with examples
and stories in the Being There textbook.
DO NOT bring in outside sources – other academic articles or similar.

STEP 3
Writing the ANTH 2300 Intercultural Competency Research Paper
Because the paper will be read online, I ask you to keep it single-spaced – it makes it easier to read. The
length of the paper is approximately 1700 words. This does not include your title, or your references
cited at the end. You can write less, of course, or more. However, the maximum length is 2100 words,
and please do not exceed 2150 words, because at that point you will be penalized.
The paper structure is fairly simple and doing well is almost entirely based on choosing good videos that
will allow you to find scenes that you then build up into good explanations of difference between the
country you are studying and Canada in three topic areas (out of the four). There is no thesis statement.
No introduction is necessary.
You do need one or two paragraphs at the beginning of the paper that describe the videos you have
chosen, their basic narrative (storyline) plots, and a brief introduction to the main characters. This
description is not a major part of the evaluation, but you do need to write in your own words and show
that you understand the plots and can explain who the main characters are (this helps me understand the
scenes you describe later). It is suggested that if you have two movies, use one paragraph for each (the
characters, the storyline). If you are using a series, describe where it is located and who is involved in
the storyline (the place and characters) in the first paragraph, and the basic storyline (what happens) for
the episodes you watched in the second. You can cite sources like Wikipedia and IMBb or others and
put them in your references cited. (Believe it or not, many students forget to name the country they are
using in their title or in their description of the series.)
The rest of the paper is divided into your write up of your first topic, second topic, and third topic. You
can use section headings based on their topic names: “Socio centric versus Egocentric,” “Non-verbal
Communication,” and so on. Each section should be approximately the same length (but use multiple
paragraphs when needed – avoid one big paragraph for each – if you do not know how to write
paragraphs or what paragraphs are for, read this. https://wts.indiana.edu/writing-guides/paragraphs-andtopic-sentences.html.
The paper will conclude with a one or two paragraph “Challenges” section, “Challenges.” In this part,
reflect on some of the challenges you feel you would face in living or studying in this society/culture
abroad, based on the differences you found between your chosen country and Canada. You do not need
to address all of the differences, just one, two or three that you would find challenging (meaning
difficult, posing a barrier, something you would have to get used to).
Last are the formatting and late issues (next page)

ANTH 2300 Intercultural Competency Research Paper
FORMAT – REFERENCES AND CITATIONS
Preparing the video-based paper
You do not need a title page – simple use two lines on the first page to write “ANTH2300 – Intercultural
Competency Research Paper,” and name the country you chose. On a second line, put your name and
your student number. Centre these two lines.
Be sure to correctly cite the course material using the course materials. Unless it was only covered in the
lecture, you should cite the readings, not the lecture, with an appropriate in-text citation of author, date,
and page number like this (Giovanni 2011, 12). This is the citation format that I want you to use.
You must use in-text citations, see below. You also need a “References Cited” section for your videos,
but not for the other course sources (course readings). See below. No outside academic sources are
permitted for this paper (those not used in the course).
Citing and referencing videos in your paper: On the first description of a scene of a show or
movie, or when quoting characters, use a timestamp in the citation. For our purposes, use a
shortened, or one-word title if necessary, the year of the movie, or the season and episode
number for a series S1 E1, followed by the timestamp that marks the beginning of the scene or
quotation. Use the English name of the movie or series, if available, and use the English
subtitles for quotations.
There is a remarkable example of how Norwegian friendships are different from
Canadian friendships when the father of Lars dies (Salmon Creek, S4 E7, 11:05). What
happens is that…
In the movie, just before the Kenyan holiday celebrations and the big announcement,
Winnie tells her father “quotation” (Four Nights, 2011, 56:02).
Please use this references cited format for your movies/series:
Director’s last name, first initial. (Director). (Year film/series was released). Title of film
or series [Medium – DVD or online service]. Country of origin: Studio.
Examples:
Gilliam, T. (Director). (1985). Brazil [DVD]. Irvington, NY: Criterion.
In-roi, H. and K. Do-hyung (Directors). (2010). Playful Kiss [DVD]. South Korea:
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation.

ANTH 2300 Intercultural Competency Research Paper
Extensions and late penalties: There are NO EXTENSIONS for this paper and NO alternative
assignments. The deadline is here is only a late penalty submission period that applies to everyone
without relevant documentation. If you fail to submit it for the paper deadline of November 23, you must
submit it by the penalty deadline no later than 11PM, November 30, no questions asked/no excuses
needed. There will be a 1.0 point penalty per day, removed from the total score awarded on 30 (e.g.,
receive 22 on 30; 2.0 point/day penalty = 20.0/30.0). If you do not submit by November 30 you will
receive a zero for the assignment with no chance to make it up, sorry.
Thank you- looking forward to reading your paper!

ANTH 2300 Intercultural Competency Research Paper

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