Reflection on Intercultural Studies Course Outcomes

This reflection essay explores the student's learning experience in a course on intercultural studies, focusing on how cultural differences and similarities affect social interactions. The essay delves into key concepts such as acculturation versus assimilation, personal, social, and cultural identities, ...Read More

Running head: REFLECTION OF THE COURSE
Reflection of the Course
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1REFLECTION OF THE COURSE
The intercultural studies analyze the cultural differences and the similarities in between
the people around the world. It examines how race, culture and the other related factors have an
impact on social interactions. It is a modern educational concept that provides the students with
the proficiency needed in order to function analyze different intercultural contexts. This essay
looks at the reflection of what I learnt during the whole course on intercultural studies.
From this course, I have learnt that a cultural change refers to the modification of a
society through invention, innovation, discovery or contact with other societies. Meeting of two
cultures always results in changes in the both. They both gets affected by it some or the other
way. I have learnt that the two most important changes in the cultures are acculturation and
assimilation. However, acculturation and assimilation, both refers to the cultural modification of
a person or group of people of a particular culture when they adapts or borrow the traits from
another culture. Still, the thing that makes them different from each other is the fact that,
acculturation means getting used to the way the people from another culture are but not
becoming just like them and assimilation means to become the same as the main mass. In
acculturation, the person keeps some of his originality or say, original uniqueness ideally fit in as
a part of the total mix. Whereas in assimilation, there is a complete loss of one’s own cultural
identity since he or she gives more importance to the cultural aspects of the majority community.
When a person gets so involved in another culture that it becomes difficult to identify whether he
belongs to the minority culture or the major one, it is called full assimilation.
I have learnt that there are mainly three types of identities existing in the society-
personal, social and cultural. Personal identity refers to distinctive personalities or character
qualities and the social identity refers to the roles and responsibilities in our family or work
place. However, cultural identity is the feeling of belongings, security, satisfaction and

2REFLECTION OF THE COURSE
continuous connectedness to a particular group. It refers to a common belief, ethnicity,
nationality, assumption, norms and attitudes. We can identify a culture by identifying the ethnic
group, their social status, the geographic region where they belong, their faith, belief and
ideology and the medical condition as well. For example, there are many cultures prevailing in
India, as it is a nation of diversity. The caste system in India consisted of Brahmans (priests and
scholars), Kshatriyas (soldiers and warriors), Vaisyas (merchants and professionals), Sudras
(laborers and servants).
In addition to that, I have also learnt about the existence of groups within a culture that
differentiates them from their respective culture by means of dressing style, behavior, music etc.
It is called sub-cultures. For example, the Goths in England, the Punks, Heavy-metal music of
Australia, the Hip-hop style of dancing. In addition, there are counter cultures, the group of
people whose values and norms of behavior is completely different from the rest of society and
they are often seen opposing the cultural values and the beliefs of the society. The Hippies fall
under this category.
From the above analysis, I came to a conclusion that diversity in cultures within a group
tend to coincide with basic assumption preferences and they highly influence them towards a
cultural dimensions that are addressed above.