1. Ángel T. Tuninetti World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
Teaching Latin American and Other Cultures in the U.S.A.: Problems, Challenges, and Resources
Ángel T. Tuninetti
World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
FACDIS
June 2017

2. Context: Schools. Regional Context: Student body: Lack of diversity
Very limited exposure to foreign cultures.
Lack of interest in anything foreign.

3. Activities: OBJECTIVES: Defamiliarization of stereotypes.
Questioning of two key concepts:
The concept of culture.
The concept of Latin America.

4. What do you know about Latin America?
Quiz!!!

6. What is culture? Teaching American culture…
What elements would you include?
The Simpsons Mark Twain Beyonce
Apple pie Thanksgiving Day Abraham Lincoln
Jazz Andy Warhol Charlie Brown
McDonald’s Niagara Falls Hollywood
T. S. Eliot Ford Mustang Woodstock
Peanut butter Statue of Liberty Civil Rights Movement
Michael Jordan Hamburgers Marlon Brando

7. What is culture?
Working in pairs:
Definition of culture

8. What is culture?
Culture is the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.

9. What is culture?
Culture is an abstract network shaping and connecting social roles, hierarchically structured knowledge domains, and ranked values. Culture is dynamic, shifting, reinterpreted moment by moment. […] Culture permeates the individual, the Community, behaviors, and thinking. This means that culture is not “out there.” Culture has no existence apart from one individual’s learning from another individual.
Daniel Everett, “Seek Out Strangers”. The Chronicle Review , May : B6

10. Activity: What do you know about this country?
Cards with country names: What do you know about the country?
Why those countries?
OBJECTIVE: To perceive how tenuous the relationship is between Latin American countries…

11. What is Latin America?
Solomon Lipp, “America: Nomenclature and Discovery”
Geographical terms, historical terms, heritage terms.
New World vs. Old World
Invention of America
Michel Gobat, “The Invention of Latin America: A Transnational History of Anti-Imperialism, Democracy, and Race”

12. Activity: What’s wrong with this map?

13. What’s wrong with these maps?
Mercator Projection vs. Peters Projection.

14. What’s wrong with these maps?
OBJECTIVE: To perceive the oppositions
North-South
Up-down
development-undervelopment
Rich countries – poor countries
as arbitraries and politically motivated.
Goals

15. Main Challenges Stereotypes vs. Generalizations Stereotypes:
“pictures in our heads” (Walter Lippman, 1992).
“Limiting and deadening” (Engle 2007)
Generalizations:
Need for categorization.
Fundamental for intercultural communication (Engle 2007)

16. Main Challenges “American”-centered perspective
“High” Culture vs. Popular culture
“Culture for tourists”:
Emphasis on the distinctive and picturesque.
Folklore
Anachronistic perspective.
Negation of current trends.

17. Main Challenges Institutional constraints:
Program /Teaching certification requirements
Personal preferences vs. Students’ preferences.
Music

18. Class Activities: Oral Presentations: Country-based research projects:
Possibility to choose topics.
“Restricted” topics (Mexican food, Indian cultures, etc.).
“Forbidden” topics (“Día de los muertos”, “Cinco de mayo”, “Quinceañera”).
Country-based research projects:
Specialization vs. generalization.
List of concepts

19. Main Topics Family. Gender Relations. Machismo. Social Classes. Race.
Rural culture vs. Urban culture.
Religion.
Education.
Cultural identity.
Art and crafts.
Entertainment (sports, games, popular music, etc).
The concept of free time: ocio vs. negocio

20. Resources Newspapers and magazines Music.
TV and movies: Internet videos.
Videogames / Comics
Food:
Everyday food.
Traditional food.
Fast food.

21. CONTACT Ángel T. Tuninetti angel.Tuninetti@mail.wvu.edu
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS?