Cross-Cultural Studies Concentration (CCST)
Director: Professor James Fisher
Associate Director: Professor Kathryn Sparling
Committee Members: Petra Crosby, Michael Hemesath, Roger Jackson, Alfred P. Montero, Beverly Nagel, Éva Pósfay, Qiguang Zhao
Requirements for the Concentration:
Language is fundamental to understanding other societies and therefore to the concentration. Each concentrator will fulfill the Carleton language requirement in the language of the focus area, or will study in a language-intensive program in the focus area. Upper level language study is also encouraged.
Concentrators will select a nation or region of the world on which to focus their cultural and linguistic study. This area will then be examined from three out of the following four perspectives:
In binary comparison with another culture
In regional perspective (i.e., beyond national borders)
In relation to global issues
Relating to ethnic diversity and diaspora
Core courses:
CCST 100: Growing Up Cross-Culturally (recommended but not required)
CCST 175: I'm a Stranger Here Myself
CCST 200: Theory and Practice of Cross Cultural Study
CCST 395: Senior capstone seminar: Man and Water in East China Seas
Electives:
Four courses from a least three of the four comparative categories listed above, to be selected from the list of pertinent courses available on the department web-site. Students who have participated in the first-year seminar, Growing Up Cross-Culturally, are required to take only three additional courses from any three categories.
American students will also participate in an approved international program (one or more terms), in an area where a language related to their focus is spoken. International students are exempt from this requirement since Carleton is an off-campus experience for them, but they are also encouraged to go off campus.
Cross-Cultural Studies Courses
CCST 100. Growing Up Cross-Culturally First-year students interested in this program should enroll in this seminar. The course is recommended but not required for the concentration and it will count as one of the electives. From cradle to grave, cultural assumptions shape our own sense of who we are. This course is designed to enable American and international students to compare how their own and other societies view birth, infancy, adolescence, marriage, adulthood, and old age. Using children's books, child-rearing manuals, movies, and ethnographies, we will explore some of the assumptions in different parts of the globe about what it means to "grow up." 6 credits cr., S/CR/NC, RAD,ND, Fall—N. Bilik, J. Fisher, S. Leonhard, J. Levi
CCST 175. I Am A Stranger Here Myself Designed for students who are returning from off-campus studies or who have lived abroad, and for anyone who has had the experience of being an outsider, this course will explore theories and models of intercultural competence and intercultural transition. Using the actual experience of the students in class as its evidence, it will first develop theories about the nature of intercultural contact and then test their usefulness by applying them to the analysis of specific historical and literary evidence. 6 credits cr., RAD,ND, Winter—P. Crosby, É. Pósfay
CCST 200. Theory and Practice of Cross-Cultural Study This course introduces students to theoretical, epistemological, and methodological issues in cross-cultural study. Emphasis will be on cultural translation, cultural encounters between groups, and concomitant cultural appropriations, cross-fertilizations, and resistance. How do we define and understand "communities" and "cultures"? What are the dynamics of power involved in cultural encounters? What are the theoretical debates surrounding colonialism and post-colonialism, globalization, and transnationalism? How do we juxtapose regional cultural identities vis-à-vis globalization and transnationalism? The course will examine approaches drawn from the humanities and social sciences, and apply them to case studies from different parts of the world. 6 credits cr., RAD,ND, Spring—J. Fisher, K. Sparling
CCST 395. Man and Water in the East China Seas This seminar explores human interactions in the maritime world surrounding the East China Seas and their tributaries, watersheds and reservoirs. Students will examine how the maritime spaces have shaped the evolving patterns of cultural encounters and economic transactions in East Asia. Although discussion topics will center upon the socio-economic transformations, students will also examine different conceptualizations of changing ideas behind modern economic behaviors. Its objective is to place our own notions of economy and society into a comparative perspective through the lenses of merchants and pirates, migrants and ethnic minorities, pilgrims and missionaries, and poets and travelers of the region. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—S. Yoon
Pertinent courses are available in a wide range of disciplines, including: Art History, Economics, Hebrew, Latin American Studies, History, Music, Political Science, Religion, Sociology and Anthropology and Spanish. For questions about particular courses, please check the department Web site or contact the director.