She admitted that this activity made her uncomfortable at first, because she could not talk about her family culture. Neither student had known about their common Iranian roots.Īnother student who grew up in the foster care system in California talked about not knowing her family history. Another student, who was raised in the San Francisco Bay area, brought a book about Iran. She had never been there, but talked about how her parents were born in Iran and immigrated to the U.S.
The student was born in Iran, raised in Germany, and is now a United States citizen. One student brought a globe as his artifact, saying it represents all of the places that he has lived and his diverse group of friends. The students’ choices of artifacts, along with their explanations, effectively illuminated the great diversity in the class. As homework, provide Handout #2: “REFLECTIVE WRITING: Cultural Artifacts.” I gave students a week to complete this writing. Discussion: Ask volunteers to share with the whole group their lessons learned.ĥ. What have you learned about culture (yours and others’) during this unit?Ĥ.How does the difference between how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you affect you as a student?.How did this activity help you learn about or increase your awareness of yourself? Of others?.Post (or provide a handout of) the following questions for pairs to discuss: After the presentations, ask students to pair up and discuss their experiences and insights. I share a cultural artifact first to model what students are to do in their presentations.ģ. Remind students to discuss their reasons for selecting the artifact, what it means to them, and how it represents their culture. During the next class, have each student show and explain their cultural artifact. Provide Handout #1: “CULTURAL ARTIFACT: A Self-Awareness Activity,” which contains the assignment to bring an artifact to the next class and be prepared to speak about it for 3-5 minutes.Ģ. *Handout #2: REFLECTIVE WRITING: Cultural Artifacts (appended below)ġ.*Handout #1: CULTURAL ARTIFACT: A Self-Awareness Activity (appended below).To give students the tools to look beyond stereotypes.To help students become better acquainted with their classmates.To facilitate personal and cultural self-awareness.
For a class of 20 students, I allocate about 90 minutes. The time required for this activity depends on the class size.
#Living artifact meaning professional
Individuals, pairs, or teams of students could even present and explain symbols of college or campus culture, and the activity could be adapted for a career class where students can present professional artifacts to describe an employment area of interest. It’s a great icebreaker in any course, provides a great prompt for a writing assignment in English or a presentation in speech, an intriguing discussion starter in sociology or anthropology, and certainly would be valuable in any course or group that addresses issues of cultural diversity. This activity can be adapted for use in a number of education settings. I also wanted them to realize that, like themselves, their classmates have many facets of identity and experience important to them. I wanted to encourage students to think about their personal cultural identity in a safe environment. When the class was doing a unit on appreciating differences and the concepts of culture, I sought an activity that complemented our readings and discussions on communication, diversity, and relationships. INTRODUCTION: I teach a four unit college and life management class that is linked to a basic skills class in College Reading.
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