Cultural Reporter Introduction Blog

http://www.itsatrip.org/albuquerque/culture-heritage/hispanic-latino.aspx

America is often proudly called a melting pot.  I am always amazed by how many different types of people I meet each day.  It often feels like there are virtually unlimited varieties of culture in our country, and I think that this is something to be proud of.  When you look at the definition of culture as stated by our textbook, “a pattern of perceptions that influence communication to a site of contestation and conflict”, it is easy to see how many different ways culture can be looked at and categorized.

http://www.itsatrip.org/albuquerque/culture-heritage/hispanic-latino.aspx

For my cultural reporter project, I have decided to take an in depth look at the Hispanic culture.  As I was initially reading the directions for this project, one of the stipulations to choosing a culture was that it had to be one that I was unfamiliar with.  Being a Spanish minor, I initially thought that I had to rule out Hispanic culture.  However, the more I entertained the idea, the more it began to bother me that although I was fluent in the Spanish language, I knew virtually nothing about their culture.  As a white middle-class American, my identity is very similar to the majority of the population in most regards, so I am looking forward to becoming familiar with a culture that may have different identities than me in some areas.  Over the last 30 years, the Hispanic community has seen exceptional growth in the United States, and is currently the fastest growing minority culture group in our country (Clutter & Nieto).  Because of facts like this, I think it is becoming increasingly important to understand this group, both as a future marketing professional and as a citizen of this country

In my study of the Hispanic culture and communication, I will be using the interpretive approach due to its qualitative nature.  This approach is much more interesting to me than the other two types, so I think that this project will be the most fun for me attacking it this way.  I also will be doing a fair number of interviews, so I think that this approach will be the easiest to use to align the interviews to my goals.  I look forward to getting into this project, and getting to understand the Hispanic culture better

Clutter, A. W., & Nieto, N. D. Understanding hispanic culture. Retrieved from http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5237.html

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural communication in contexts (6th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw Hill.