Cross-Cultural Blog

We had a good time discussing IKEA commercials with Andrea and Kenan! We are uncertain whether or not we actually got any deeper insights in intercultural rhetoric, and if this will effect the quality of our research papers. However, we found all of the spoof articles very amusing and memorable, and the whole meeting a pleasant one over all. The "wrong" way of doing intercultural rhetoric is a great source for irony and sarcasm!

In general, the discussion on IKEA ads and commercials was a very enriching and productive one. It's too bad that we couldn't get any deeper insights due to a time limit. I would have liked to discuss their international marketing strategy more, as IKEA branches are beginning to pop up in Asian countries, like the Philippines for example. I also thought that we focused in on the most controversial ad and that of course contributed to a very interesting discussion. I learned something about Swedish/European culture, and gained some insight on a universal condition for buying furniture--Affordability. Truly, the wrong and right way of intercultural rhetoric is something we, as students in a very globalized world, need to learn and be aware of.

Hi everyone,
I thought today's video conference was a great success. My group's discussion of the cultural rhetoric surrounding the "Swine Flu" pandemic was constructive and thought provoking. I also greatly enjoyed writing a "spoof" news report. It was interesting to see the difference in comedic styles between the Uppsala students and my fellow Stanfordians. The experience was valuable and a lot of fun. Satire is drastically underrated!

Hello!
I really enjoyed talking about the Swine Flu today. It was interesting to see how some of the ads that we did not view at first glance as America-centered clearly were when our Swedish counterparts pointed it out. I thought the most memorable part was hearing each group's spoof--very funny! After today, I will be more active in my research about looking for rhetorical devices used by Mandela that appeal in a special way to South Africans that I might not understand at first as an American.

Hello!
I was in group B. We discussed various McDonald's ads from around the world. I learned that the Korean McDonald's ad is more universal than the Australian one: the Korean ad focused on popular culture while the Australian one referred to numerous local aspects (such as spinning off of the Australian Toyota ad). We all understood the Korean one while we were not really sure of what the Australian's rhetorical devices were at play.

The most memorable part during the videoconference was when we tried to explain the tactics of the Australian ad--some pretty wild ideas were thrown out there. These ideas were used in the spoof version (what a funny activity!)

From the activity, I realized that although different cultures may view the same advertisement differently, there are many universal concepts that we can all understand, such as violence towards women in the fashion industry.

It was great conversing with Johan and Victor! Thank you guys for sharing your views with Han, Jonathan, and me :)

What shocked me most was the Swedish students to a FOX video that claimed there was violence in a Muslim immigrant neighborhood. I immediately compared it in my mind to black people in Oakland without thinking. Their response was that it was wrong to classify these people as Muslim, because it would create an image that only a few Muslims would fall under, and stereotype the rest. The next thing they said was that something needs to be done to help these people and get them jobs. In America we would have the opposite response. We would get mad that they are taking our jobs, and we would stereotype all Muslims as violent, poor, and uneducated.

Super Sweet.

Andrea and I learned about the Maypole tradition and actually had quite a bit of fun doing it. Again the cross cultural education really allowed us to realize that people are not that much different from Americans even though they are halfway across the world from us. We also noticed that the Ikea website was not different across cultures, again reinforcing the notion that cultures are not that different across borders.

Overall it was an tremendously fun experience and a good way to exercise cultural sensitivity and practice being rhetorically effective across borders, which proved to be easier than we had originally anticipated.

I had a really good time discussing issues from two different cultures. I was especially interested when we discussed the report of the immigrants from Rosengård and our different reactions to the word muslims. It was also very interesting when we realized that maybe, it depends on the fact that we never speak in terms of religion in Sweden.

First off, I'd like to say once again that I'm always deeply moved by the kind of interchange that takes place during these meetings. Getting to hear a perspective on politics, religion, and life in general that comes from a very different set of cultural experiences than my own is somehow a breathtaking experience for me (especially when the culture in question is Sweden's, which I greatly envy :) ). In fact, I so much enjoyed the informal sharing of perspectives and world views that I kind of wish we hadn't had to stop a half an hour early to do the presentations. As interesting hilarious as everyone's spoofs were, I personally felt that I gained the most from just having a chance to bounce my ideas off of our counterparts in Sweden - and often having them thrown back at me with a twist I didn't expect.
On another, more technical note, I had a thought about the large group sessions: perhaps it might not be a bad idea for everyone except the group(s) that are presenting to turn off their video as well as their audio. My rationale here is twofold:
(a) The amount of bandwidth/processing power eaten up by trying to process, send, and receive more than 12 independent video streams seems to be a little much for even Stanford's/Uppsala's computing infrastructure, and I think the video quality of the presenters *might* improve dramatically if the rest of us temporarily turned our streams off.
(b) This may be a personal thing, but I've found that I can get rather distracted by the panel of little "non-active" thumnail displays. Keeping up with the presentation and the written chat is hard enough; having a third region of the screen I feel I have to pay attention to is often somewhat overwhelming. But again, that might just be me.
Anyway, this was a thoroughly delightful experience. Warm thanks to our Swedish counterparts!

That hideously long thing directly above is my doing, by the way.

I must say I was pleasently surprised by this experience. We had a very nice discussion with our fellow americans and laughed a lot. I'm not sure either how much we learned about intercultural rethoric but it was interesting to realize how equal our thoughts were about the image of Obama and the reaction that followed. We really enjoyed doing our spoof, and could have used a bit more time to work on the accurate news item. But on the other hand that one turned out great, short and effective. Thank you Sarrah, Yasmine and Daniel for a nice chat!

I had a wonderful experience talking to everyone! I think Americans have a lot to learn from Sweden. This was an especially interesting activity because it involved humor, which can be significantly different across cultures, but we were able to collaborate and make spoofs that were funny for all!

What is spoof-writing? I couldn't find anything about it in any of the top article directories.

nice post. keep sharing dude!

I am not really a student of your school. I am just looking for something and end up visiting here. I am just curious about spoof writing. Please share some information for outsiders. Thanks!

IKEA adds are good choice. thanks for the info

Hi, I was in group B. and i learned very much with debates about Mc Donalds, i don't approve their policy, but people there has changed my mind.

I'm not sure either how much we learned about intercultural rethoric but it was interesting to realize how equal our thoughts were about the image of Obama and the reaction that followed. We really enjoyed doing our spoof, and could have used a bit more time to work on the accurate news item.

This lesson plan is really good.Thanks to give the information for spoof writing.

It was really a wonderful experience to share our views to everyone.My topic was Swine Flu.

I think Rhetoric project was informative and usable for all student and teachers who participate in this project.

I just hope that the project went good and all the students and teachers took interest in that.....

Teeth Whitener

I think this was an especially interesting activity because it involved humor, which can be significantly different across cultures...

Colon Cleanse

Well, I am not really a student of your school. I am just looking for something and end up visiting here. I am just curious about spoof writing. Please share some information for outsiders. Thanks!
Colon Cleanse