What you say is very true: “Each country has a different way to go about schooling so each member our of group has a different background. This does not make one of us better than the other. It allows us to work together and learn how others might approach an assignment or topic differently.” Can you give a specific example of how different group…[Read more]

Alyssa – it’s interesting that you found video chats to be the most efficient form of communication. In terms of building relationships, face-to-face is much more effective than texting or chats. Those relationships will become the key to your team’s success moving forward!

Out of curiosity, have your team members discussed how much time…[Read more]

Just curious – would your experience working on the project have been very different if you had divided your team in different partnerships – so if Jonas worked with Sam and Katie and Nikki worked with Jody?

Loes – would you describe the Dutch way – more relaxed and laid back?

Interesting post and thoughtful reflection. As I think about your post, I sense that you are two groups as well a one team. Sometimes you feel like “we” is Team Anime and at other times “we” is based on your geographical reference point, the Arlington group — I wonder whether van Asperen thought that people would be all one category or another…[Read more]

Carol – you do a great job of describing specific examples. I wonder if some miscommunication may have resulted from differing assumptions about what is meant by “timely” — in your team contract, did you identify a specific amount of time for responding? At the beginning of the course we talked about your team will need to have several…[Read more]

Carolina – be as specific as possible. Give examples of how you approached the assignment with different understandings or expectations. For instance – think about how these differences might be a reflection of the cultural context or even the educational systems that operate in each country?

Carolina – van Asperen’s article challenges many of the ideas we often take for granted when it comes to working with other groups who differ from our way of life. Let’s sit down and talk through the sections – I am really curious to learn if her ideas fit well with some of your own experiences.

Macy – you tell us just enough to make us curious, and not enough to see how you are making connections between the course materials and activities! As an example, when you say “… when we were doing our timeline, the points that we chose to include were really different. While we prioritized more political points, the students in the…[Read more]

Carly – from what you’ve written, it seems you are a bit skeptical of van Asperen’s ideas, yes? Healthy skepticism is always good…. we love inquiring minds! How might you have handled the situation described by van Asperen? I suppose I would have felt rather clumsily asking — sometimes it is difficult to know what is meant by “cultural…[Read more]

I agree with you when you observe that place matters “…our geographical locations have an impact on our ideas about globalization. Here in Arlington, we are very close to Washington DC, our nation’s political capital. Therefore, we tend to be more focused on political events.” Because many of students in our class come from locations north of t…[Read more]

Interesting post and nice job making connections between the reading and your exploration in the community! I have to play devil’s advocate, though. Some might suggest that van Asperen is an idealist when she proposes communicative moral universalism. Do you really think it’s possible?

Your team members have invested a great deal of time developing a working relationship and learning how to communicate across differences. Your success as a group is directly related to reflecting on progress and then re-directing your course. This is very clear when you write; “As a group we decided to split the project up and each member had a…[Read more]

You make a very insightful observation when you note: “The ability to understand one another while acknowledging that people are both very similar and very different is a task that seems simple, but, unfortunately, has become complex due to years upon years of conditioning, partially thanks to the human condition and survival methods, to judge…[Read more]

I hope that your team continues to work through any challenges that you encounter — and am quite confident that you will benefit as a result of your diverse views!

Nice reflection!

Maia – you raise some fascinating observations when you say “I also have the same intercultural experience of everyone in my generation; I watch YouTube videos produced all over the world, read news about global events, add to the global community by posting on social media, and read books from perspectives from all over the world. Additionally,…[Read more]

Sofiana — It’s your last two sentences that spark my curiosity — “I think this may be useful for this project. Because it relates to the idea, of a group or community opinion about other cultures.” Could you tell us more about how van Asperen can be used to understand how your team members work together on group projects?

Sofiana – It sounds like your team has developed a strong working relationship – this will be important moving forward! As you write your posts, include as many specific examples as you can and make connections to the course readings!

Very insightful observation when you note: “We were looking for cultures that we saw were different from ours, not in an aggressive or confrontation way, but we saw them as something “exotic” as van Asperen uses this term as an aspect of relativism. I think personally I have more of an “I want to learn from these other cultures” but as I did thi…[Read more]

Grace – you do a good job of describing the process of interacting with your team mates to ensure understanding. What personal experiences led you to taking this approach? I am curious — do you use the same process for group work in the US versus across the ocean? Have you noticed any differences in expectations – do all group members confirm…[Read more]