Cross-Cultural Blog

Greetings!

Our names are Zoe Richards, Danielle Brining, and Amy Herbertson. We are Stanford students in the Global Leadership class. Zoe is from New York City, Amy is from Los Angeles, and Danielle is from Bermuda. We enjoyed reading your blogs - it was really cool to learn about culture in Russia, Sweden and Egypt, and all the different rhetorical strategies globally. We were wondering what you think of American rhetoric and if you notice any particular differences in the rhetorical strategies between American speakers and speakers of other cultures? And do you think Obama's speeches relate more to an international setting than past politicians?

Our class has been an amazing experience. We've learned that for good intercultural communication to occur, you have to be familiar with your audience and write for the culture. A few weeks back, we had the opportunity to speak with students from Sweden who said that Obama's Race Speech had far to much pathos rather than logos to appeal to the Swedish audience, making us realize that emotional appeal is very powerful to American audiences, but not necessarily to others. What is your opinion? We also learned some important characteristics of a global leader: has compassion, communicates effectively to your audience, and talks to the people instead of about the people. Given the differences in American rhetorical strategies, we'd be interested in knowing what the main characteristics of a global leader would be in your mind?

In Amy's research about Che Guevara, she discovered that a lot of national leaders when they speak have a personal agenda, so they may manipulate ideas or others' ideas to fulfill their agenda. Zoe researched Nelson Mandela, the media, and the formation of the public hero, and she learned that there is a delicate balance between the media as a social structure that can form public opinion and political activists who become the heroes that we revere. She struggled with determining the role of individual agency in what are national social movements, and she found herself focusing primarily on the imperative role that the media plays in terms of creating a public image and that taking precedence over the rhetoric of Mandela as an individual. Danielle, on the other hand, studied a global controversy rather than a person. While she focused on the rhetoric of UNAIDS, Peter Piot, and Michel Sidibe, the past and present executive director of UNAIDS, she used their rhetorical strategies to determine the optimal model for approaching the HIV/AIDS epidemic. While there are a multitude of organizations addressing the pandemic, she resolved that a unified global collaboration with strong, dedicated leadership is necessary to attack all the aspects of the AIDS epidemic, which like most global controversies, spans nations, cultures, and disciples, including health, education, and business.

In addition to learning about global leadership, we also learned how to improve our own rhetoric and communication skills. We had to communicate to different audiences that related to our research projects, and thus we had the opportunity to change our speaking tone and style to adapt to each audience. Zoe said that before taking this class, she didn't realize that kairos, the appropriate time and place, was so important, but she now realizes that context makes the speech so much more personal and inspirational. This blog has also introduced us to the fact that there are these intercultural forums and they give us this new global perspectives.

If you want to learn more about us, our biographies are below and our research abstracts are in the extended entry section. Thanks for chatting!

Cheers,
Zoe, Amy, and Danielle

Author’s Biographies:

Amy Herbertson is a sophomore planning to major in Urban Studies with a focus in Urban Society and Social Change. She is interested in social justice and equality of opportunity, especially in education. Because of these interests, Amy has acquired an affinity for the writings of social theorists. Amy plans to continue her research of Che Guevara’s socialist ideas, including his dedication to universal literacy in Cuba. Her career ambitions include creating a non-profit that works to improve the design of schools in low-income communities both in the US and abroad. She is convinced that environment plays a large role in a student’s learning experience and wants to re-design schools and classrooms so that they are stimulating, culturally/ethnically sensitive environments that foster creativity.

Zoё Richards is a sophomore at Stanford University planning to pursue a major in International Relations. She is a contributing writer for The Stanford Daily and an active member of in the student-run organization, Stanford in Government. Zoё is very interested in the relationship between media and the formulation of public opinion as well as the role that journalists continue to play in the shaping social movements. Her research stems from previous course study in South African history, media studies and the importance of community organizing and media mobilization in nonviolent social movements. Zoё has a great admiration for the struggles of South African activists and this paper is dedicated to their strife.

Danielle Brining is a sophomore at Stanford University, planning to double major in Biology and International Relations before heading to medical school. Her main interests are international health and service. In health, she is an EMT, PADI Scuba Rescue Diver, Director of the Stanford Sexual Health Peer Resource Center, and peer counselor at Stanford. Her focus on international service has existed throughout her life, from volunteering at orphanages in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Switzerland every summer to being an ice skating coach for autistic children, Community Service Coordinator for Co-SIGN (Neuroscience Interest Group), and volunteer at the Stanford Hospital. For fun, she has had a variety of jobs and hobbies: a dolphin trainer for two years, a waitress for celebrities like Julia Roberts and Leonardo DiCaprio, and an avid sky diver and hiker.Brining’s most recent research interest focuses on the widespread psychosocial impacts of AIDS in Africa. As a Co-founder of the Initiative on Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Zimbabwe, she is developing an OVC evaluation criteria that could eventually be implemented as the standardized national monitoring system. She is currently planning a summer research project in South Africa to do research for this initiative. Brining is also interested in international and community health policy and its implementation. She has utilized this research project to discover and give the next generation of leaders a basis for the leadership skills and rhetorical strategies necessary for the most effective initiatives against any global, developmental controversy.