1. Why would it be important to examine the role of
history in Intercultural Communication?
It is important to examine the role of history in
Intercultural Communication because you cannot know where you are going, or why
you are who you are now, without knowing what came before you. It is the same
with a culture. Habits, behaviors and customs grow from a circumstance or
struggle that culture perhaps experienced in it’s early years. Just as our
reading from class states, “…we do not escape history, because decisions made
in the past continue to influence us today,” (Martin, 2011).
If decisions from our past continue to influence us
today, then we certainly must know and understand more about it as we move
forward. We must know what might be holding us back, and what negative steps we
have taken that might effect us from moving forward as a nation.
2. What are hidden histories and how might hidden
histories affect intercultural interactions?
Hidden histories are an occurrence that effects family
history when they are revealed through DNA testing to show a bloodline that was
maybe not known prior to testing. For example, it was discussed in chapter
three of Experiencing Intercultural Communication (Martin, 2011) that some Hispanics in the Southwest
that they are descendants of the Sephardic Jews, or the Marranos. Although this
has been a part of them since before they were alive, because they were not
aware of it, it has not affected their culture or behavior at all.
Hidden histories obviously affect intercultural interactions
because some might have prejudices or negative feelings toward that specific
line or group that they are now realizing they historically identify with,
while others would accept the realization without qualms. It might cause
dissention or at least confusion for a group if some choose to accept the
hidden history while others do not.
3. Compare and contrast family histories with national
histories.
Family histories are what binds a family together and
gives meaning to the present. We know who we are, why we talk the way we do and
do the things we do because of the intimate family history that is orally
passed down through relatives. National history is something that is
historically documented and usually important to the people of the nation,
rather than a family. It is usually written in such a way to make the nation
appear better than it’s actual history would reveal.
Some groups have disagreed with newer standards of
history teaching for high school students because they fear that the new
material will “accentuate the negative in American history,” (Jost, 1995).
People often desire to romanticize their cultures reputation, and the same
thing can be done with family, when we tell the stories that make us seem
heroic or brave, rather than the ones that reveal our skeletons in the closet.
4. How is the history of gays and lesbians relevant to
intercultural communication?
Just as Martin notes in Foundations of
Intercultural Communication, “If we
do not listen, we cannot hear the voices of others,” (Martin, 2011). Singles
and couples of other sexual-orientations are a common peer-group among us in
this day and age, Yale University alone being known as “the gay Ivy,” and
having 1 in 4 gay students in it’s last unprofessional consensus done two
decades ago, is very passionate about embracing their gay, lesbian and
transgender students (Jost, 2004). They do not feel they can adequately move
forward in education if each student from each and every background does not
have a voice in their school whether as a professor or member of a club.
Even if we do not agree with a groups lifestyle or
purpose behind their choices, we must allow ourselves to hear and communicate
within life with other citizens and groups. Understanding the history of other
groups, such as gays and lesbians opens our eyes so that we can more accurately
assess where a group came from instead of judging them for the misconceptions
we have about them based off of our lack of knowledge.
5. How can we negotiate histories in interactions?
By knowing ourselves and others histories, we are
better able to communicate with them. They are more than what we see when we
stand on front of them, more than what they share about themselves to an
acquaintance or even more than they know about themselves, and all of these
things create who they are today. We must negotiate ourselves with others in a
way that allows us to give validity to who they are and how they got there,
even if we do not want to agree or go on with them in that culture.
Sometimes we must uncomfortably learn to have empathy
for our own history when we find hidden histories, and we also need to do the
same for others we meet, but either way, we cannot continue to learn if we do
not negotiate ourselves and our prejudices to learn more about others, and
ourselves so that we may all interact more effectively and accurately.
References
Jost,
K. (1995, September 29). Teaching history. CQ Researcher, 5,
849-872. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Jost, K. (2004, October 1). Gays on campus. CQ
Researcher, 14, 805-828. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Martin, J. et al., (2011). Foundations of
intercultural communication. New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
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