WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
CIIA > SHOWCASE INDEX > 2014
Center for Instructional
Innovation and Assessment

INNOVATIVE TEACHING SHOWCASE

2014
2015
Amber Sudduth Bone background
Heather Davidson background
Lysa Rivera background
Ideas to Infuse Multiculturalism Interviewing a Different Culture

IDEAS

Idea 3: Interviewing Someone from a Different Culture

Why is it important?

Interviews are a way for students to get to learn about another individual that they may not know on a very personal level. Creating an assignment regarding an interview gives students incentive to conduct the interview and analyze the information they have gathered in a thoughtful way.

Instructions

  • Instruct students to take their own time to interview someone who was born (and, if possible grew up) in a country different than their own. This person should be a fellow student or member of staff or faculty. Suggest the students find a comfortable place to talk and begin by getting acquainted with the person they are interviewing.
  • Then, instruct students to focus their questions on the following topics related to the interviewee:
  • Family, cultural, educational, and religious background;
  • Community in which (s)he was raised;
  • Leisure activities as a child;
  • Development of his/her diversity consciousness;
  • Other similar areas of interest.
  • Once the interview is over, have students think of how they would have answered the questions. Suggest that they compare and contrast their own answers to their interviewee�s.
  • Finally, have the students attempt to explain why these similarities and differences may have come about.

Advantages

  • Students have the opportunity make on campus connections with people they may not connect with otherwise.
  • Students will learn about a culture that is potentially vastly different than their own through stories and personal experiences rather than a textbook.
  • Students will garner cross-cultural communication skills as well as analytical skills through the assignment.
  • Reinforces that individuals from other cultures may have a variety of similarities and differences than what they are used to.

Adapted from:
Bucher, R. (2004) Diversity Consciousness: Opening Our Minds to People, Cultures, and Opportunities.