Cross-Cultural Studies Concentration (CCST)
The Cross-Cultural Studies Concentration objectives are: 1) to bring together American and international students in a program of study and interaction that will prepare them to live and work productively in a culture different from their own; 2) to provide a forum for studying problems and issues, such as pollution, disease, and human rights, that cut across traditional national or cultural boundaries and that tend to be excluded in traditional disciplines or area studies; 3) to enable students to come to a sharper understanding of their own and their academic focus culture by making comparisons explicit; 4) to create an arena for faculty whose work focuses on different parts of the world to address common issues and problems in a comparative, collaborative framework.
Requirements for the Concentration:
Language is fundamental to understanding other societies and it is therefore fundamental 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 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 210: Global/Local Perspectives
CCST 275: I’m a Stranger Here Myself
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 cr., AI, WR1, IS, Fall—S. Cox, S. Leonhard
CCST 210. Global/Local Perspectives How do global processes affect local cultures (and vice versa)? How do transnational movements of people, goods, capital, images and ideas affect identities? Is it really possible to translate, compare, and converse across cultures? Such questions animate this course, which aims to expose CCST concentrators, as well as interested students in related majors and concentrations, to theories and methods in the interdisciplinary field variously called global studies or cross-cultural studies. To model interdisciplinary conversation and methods of inquiry, the course incorporates co-instructors and guest presenters from the humanities and social sciences and includes readings drawn from multiple disciplines. 6 cr., ND, RAD; SI, IS, Not offered in 2012-2013.
CCST 250. Process Writing: As You Set Out For Ithaka This creative writing course offers students the opportunity to explore their own experiences in and with another culture through writing. Students will study basic building blocks and narrative strategies, and use them to craft stories that deal with inter-cultural transitions and the challenges of negotiating life in a different culture and a different language. We will read stories, novels and essays by contemporary writers while also writing and revising our own stories. Ideally, the course will help you envision and follow the path to your own "Ithaka." There is an option to write in a foreign language (French, German, English). 6 cr., S/CR/NC, AL, WR; ARP, WR2, IS, Not offered in 2012-2013.
CCST 275. I'm a Stranger Here Myself What do enculturation, tourism, culture shock, "going native," haptics, cross-cultural adjustment, and third culture kids have in common? How do intercultural transitions shape identity? What is intercultural competence? This course explores theories about intercultural contact and tests their usefulness by applying them to the analysis of world literature, case studies, and the visual arts, and by employing students' intercultural experiences as evidence. From individualized, self-reflective exercises to community-oriented group endeavors, our activities will promote new intercultural paradigms in the classroom and the wider community. Course designed for off-campus returnees, students who have lived abroad, or who have experienced being outsiders. 6 cr., ND, RAD; SI, IS, Winter—É. Pósfay