Crossing Cultures [antikvár]

The second edition of Crossing Cultures contains fifteen new selections. Thematically, the basic idea remains unchanged: Crossing Cultures treats the diverse ways in which men and women live and think in different societies and social circumstances. The selections discuss the origins of that diversity and, more importantly, its consequences for our lives, particularly in the United States. Examples of encounters between people of differing life styles accomplish this most effectively. It is safe to say that American awareness of cultural differences and their consequences remains on the rise. Within the United States, for example, the debate concerning bilingual education has risen in intensity since the first edition of this book; therefore, we have now included selections bearing on that topic. At the same time, Americans are becoming increasingly conscious of the need to interact with the rest of the world-with the recognition, in fact, that economics and politics make it impossible for us not to interact. In the mid1980s, 2V2 millión Americans work abroad, and more than 4 millión travel abroad on business every year. As teachers we have found that such cross-cultural subjects work well in a composition course. They have a powerful impact on students; they challenge accepted beliefs by asking students to consider the lives, ideas, aspirations-and prejudices-of people very different from themselves. In addition, reading, and having one's classmates reád, selections related to one's own culture heightens selfassurance and stimulates ethnic pride. When we are challenged "where we live," we are much more likely to want to express ourselves ÍX