FYS 1021 - Don’t Drop Your Cell Phone in the Outhouse: Viewing Other Cultures

Hours: 4
A Peace Corps volunteer recently told me, “I make sure my cell phone accompanies me on each trip to the outhouse. After all, if I were to fall into the eight foot hole how would I ever get out unless I called for help?” The seeming contradiction of owning a cell phone but using an outhouse stuck with me. How could a country with no plumbing available have consistent cell phone use among their general population? Likewise, how could 60 percent of the population be living in tents but have available internet connections in those tents? In this course we will examine our own ideas, thoughts, impressions, values and priorities. Though discussion and perusal of blogs, research articles, DVDs and literature we will identify cultural “contradictions” and explore reasons for these “contradictions”. We will begin to answer the question, “How do our own backgrounds and beliefs shape the way in which we view others? How can we take these understandings and become viable members of the Otterbein, local and global communities?”

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FYS 1021 - Don’t Drop Your Cell Phone in the Outhouse: Viewing Other Cultures