SOC1010 – Cross Cultural Understanding

CULTURES FROM AROUND THE WORLD PROJECT

“Cultural Heritage is an expression of the ways of living developed by a community and passed on from
generation to generation, including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions, and values”.
International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (Second Edition), 2020.

PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT:
To explore and learn about a specific country’s culture. You will choose a country and complete research on
the country’s culture. You will be charged with looking at specific aspects of this country’s culture and present
each aspect to the rest of the class.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS: PRESENTATION SHOULD BE BETWEEN 5 and 15

MINUTES IN LENGTH.

FINAL COPY DUE BY: Wednesday, August 9, 2023, BY 11:59 PM [23:59]

TASK:

A. Choose the country you want to learn more about. You can choose your own country, but I encourage
you to look at another country to learn something new. Only one person per country.

B. Choose your country and submit your top three (3) choices in the Moodle dropbox titled “Cultures
from Around the World Project Information”.

Choices are, “first come first choice”. I will inform you via the comment section what country you
have been awarded, so be sure to check back in a couple of days. The Moodle dropbox enters a date
and time when you submitted. I will award countries based on this timing.

C. Investigate specific aspects to research, including but not limited to the list below. Wikipedia is not a
good source for reliable information for your project. You may start there, go to the bottom of
Wikipedia, and there will be more substantial, credible sources to start your research.

D. Determine how to present your research on your country. You will be presenting to the class, each
section scaffolded throughout the term. You may use whatever format you would like.

E. After you have compiled all six (6) sections of the project you will submit the entire project and the
5-15 minute presentation in the Moodle dropbox for final evaluation.

F. Once you have decided on your country, submit it in the dropbox. The dropbox is in the folder called
“Cultures from Around the World Project Information” in Moodle

NOTE: You are not permitted to do Canada or the United States.

You are allowed to do the Indigenous Peoples of Canada.

RESEARCH
1) GENERAL INFORMATION:
 The climate
 Geography
 Transportation system of the country
 Major centers
 Economy and Trade
 Government
 Laws

2) CURRENT ISSUES FACING THE COUNTRY’S CULTURE:

 Standard of living
 Expectations of what you may see and encounter if you visit this country
 Globalization
 Ethnocentrism
 Consider: - general safety
3) CULTURAL BEHAVIOURS:
 cultural values and norms
 customs
 etiquette – what to expect
 Marriage and Family
 Work ethic
 Modifications to your everyday behaviour and appearance if visiting this country
 Changing norms, values, and beliefs

4) CULTURAL COMPONENTS:
 food and drink
 clothing
 language and symbols
 religious/spiritual practices
 rituals
 artifacts
 taboos

5) INTERESTING FACTS:
 Research several interesting, nice to know facts about your country and its culture.

6) CULTURAL EVENT: The cultural event is a crucial aspect of the assignment. The cultural event
could be a festival, holiday, national celebration, or religious/spiritual ceremony. This portion of the
presentation is significant. Spend some time and research your event choice. Review the rubric to see
how the assignment will be graded. (This section is worth double for value – please see rubric)

Outline the Cultural Event in terms of:

 importance, historical context, and description of the event
 traditional food and drink served at the event (if relevant)
 traditional clothing
 traditional music and entertainment
 traditional religious/spiritual practices (if relevant)
 any taboos (and reasons for them)
 provide videos and/or pictures of the cultural event (if providing a video make sure to only pick a short
section to present to the class)
PROJECT AND PRESENTATION FORMAT
 The oral presentation should be at least 5 MINUTES in length no more than 15 minutes.
 The presentation is worth 20 marks (please see rubric)
 You will summarize your findings from your research.
 DO NOT just regurgitate everything you found or cut and paste from the internet,
 Highlight the key, essential aspects of what you learned about the country you researched.
 DO NOT put too much information on each slide.
 DO NOT write large paragraphs on each slide.
 Only include your talking points and then expand your information during the presentation.
 Using presentation software – PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slides etc., you will put your
research into a presentation.
 Have notes with you while do your presentation.
 You will utilize graphs, maps, pictures, videos, and words to present your country’s culture.
 You will put your sources at the end of each slide (in smaller font).
 There is no need to use quotations or APA within each slide, but you MUST provide the
source(s) and a reference page at the end of the fully compiled final presentation (all
sections in one presentation).

FINAL SUBMISSION
After you have compiled all six (6) sections of the project you will submit the entire presentation, and your
5-minute presentation, in the Moodle dropbox for final evaluation.

Remember to review the rubric so that you cover all the criteria.