Examining Cross-cultural Observations

Overview

These activities help students recognize when anthropological accounts are culturally sensitive. Students are introduced to one of the anthropological accounts. Using this example, students learn about three sets of pitfalls involved in judging, interpreting and generalizing about cultures. Next, students work with a partner to examine the cross-cultural sensitivity of anthropological accounts of the cultures of New France. Their ratings and evidence are summarized in a display chart, which is evaluated by other pairs of students. Finally, students examine the cross-cultural sensitivity of a different anthropological account.