February 2005
An enewsletter for CultureGrams™ subscribers
This month's Culture Matters enewsletter will help teachers, librarians, administrators, and students stay informed about the world's cultures, while providing classroom resources and giving tips for using CultureGrams. Check out our online archive for access to past issues.
Regional Focus
This month: The Middle East
Next month: Western Europe
In this issue:
- Notes for CultureGrams Users
- Did You Know?
- Holiday Focus/Upcoming World Holidays
- Teaching Idea: Travel Guide
- Middle East Quiz
- Cultural Wisdom: Middle Eastern Proverbs
- In the News: New Palestinian Leader Elected
- Email Service Information
1. Notes for CultureGrams Users
Are you unsure of how to find the information you want in the CultureGrams database? Try the CultureGrams advanced search engine--the search icon is located in the top-right corner of the database screen.
This useful tool allows you to search for any term or phrase used in CultureGrams. Once you're on the search screen, you may select one of five sections of the database in which to focus your search: World Edition, Kids Edition, States Edition, Famous People, or Recipes.
A handy link to the searching rules helps you find the most relevant hits. Each result includes a heading that tells you where in the database the information is located. The heading acts as a link to that content. Try out the advanced search engine.
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2. Did You Know? Tidbits from CultureGrams
- In Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, the number of expatriate workers living in the country is larger than the number of citizens.
- As in other Arab countries, men in Saudi Arabia often wear a checkered headscarf called a ghutra and a long cotton garment, usually white, called a thobe. Some women wear a traditional abaaya, a black robe that covers the entire body.
- Ancient Romans called Yemen Feliz Arabia (Happy Arabia) because of the people's hospitality.
- In Oman, popular spectator sports include camel racing, horse racing, and a type of bullfighting where two bulls push and battle each other until one backs down.
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3. World Holidays
Holiday Focus: Islamic Holidays
Islamic holidays are determined according to the lunar calendar, which is shorter than the Western (Gregorian) year by about 11 days. This means the Gregorian dates for Islamic holidays differ from year to year. These holidays include the Islamic New Year (which falls on February 10 this year) and Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice (a four-day holiday that takes place in late January). Commemorating Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Eid al-Adha is celebrated by feasting, giving gifts, and visiting friends and family. It also marks the period of the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Makkah (Mecca), Saudi Arabia.
Some February World Holidays:
Cameroon – Youth Day – 11 Feb.
Iran – Revolution Day – 11 Feb.
Estonia – Vastlapäev (when Estonians go sledding and eat special foods) – 15 Feb.
Lithuania – Independence Day – 16 Feb.
North Korea – Kim Jong Il's Birthday – 16 Feb.
The Gambia – Independence Day – 18 Feb.
Bangladesh – Ekushe (honoring six people killed in a 1952 political protest) – 21 Feb.
Saint Lucia – Independence Day – 22 Feb.
Guyana – Republic Day – 23 Feb.
Estonia – Independence Day – 24 Feb.
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4. Teaching Idea: Travel Guide
Note: This activity can be adapted for use with any world region.
Summary: Students use CultureGrams to analyze differences in behavior patterns between target cultures and their own culture.
Curriculum standards: Conforms to the National Council for the Social Studies' curriculum standards. Culture (I. c.): Apply an understanding of culture as an integrated whole that explains the functions and interactions of language, literature, the arts, traditions, beliefs and values, and behavior patterns; Global Connections (IX. b.): Explain conditions and motivations that contribute to conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among groups, societies, and nations.
Conforms to the National Council for Geographic Education's curriculum standards. The geographically informed person knows and understands (4.) the physical and human characteristics of places and (6.) how culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions.
Materials: CultureGrams World Edition
Instructions:
1. Give each student a copy of a CultureGrams country report. Have students read the CultureGrams to identify behavioral patterns in the country. Although many sections of the CultureGrams may provide insight into behavior, students should pay particular attention to the Greetings, Gestures, and Visiting sections.
2. As they read, students should list ten behavioral patterns they discovered by reading the CultureGrams. The behavioral patterns of the target culture should be listed in a left-hand column. Students should consider how people greet and address one another, how they spend their free time, what gestures are common, etc.
3. In the right-hand column, for each of the ten patterns listed, students should briefly discuss if the same behavioral pattern is practiced in the students' own culture.
4. Have each student write a short paper as if he or she were a travel guide writer helping a student traveler from the assigned country prepare to visit the United States. What would the traveler need to know in order to fit in? Which of the traveler's native behavioral patterns might lead to misunderstandings in the United States? Would a visitor from the assigned country find it difficult to adapt to life in the United States?
Follow-up:
1. You may want to publish all of the papers in a class "travel guide."
How do you use CultureGrams? Submit your teaching ideas using CultureGrams today!
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5. Middle East Quiz
1. Located between Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan, what sea is the lowest point on earth?
2. What two rivers originating in Turkey and converging in southern Iraq supported the "cradle of civilization" known as Mesopotamia?
3. What leaf is an addictive stimulant that Yemenis commonly chew during visits and wedding celebrations?
4. What two cities, located in Saudi Arabia, are considered Islam's most sacred?
5. What three countries in the region have Shi'i (Shi'ite) Muslim majorities?
Answers: 1) Dead Sea (1,300 feet, or 390 meters, below sea level); 2) Tigris and Euphrates; 3) Qat; 4) Makkah (Mecca) and Al Madinah (Medina); 5) Bahrain, Iraq, and Iran.
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6. Cultural Wisdom: Middle Eastern Proverbs
Note: You could write one of these on the blackboard every week, discuss how proverbs reflect cultural values, or ask students to find an English proverbial equivalent.
A pleasant tongue will lure a snake out of its hole. -- Turkey
Bulls stumble in the houses of mice. -- Saudi Arabia
Everyone is pleased with his brains; no one is pleased with his wealth. -- Oman
That which bends does not break. -- Lebanon
A mouth does not get sweet by talking about honey. -- Turkey
A shared pot doesn't boil. -- Oman
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7. In the News: New Palestinian Leader Elected
Last month, Palestinians overwhelmingly chose Mahmoud Abbas, popularly known as Abu Mazen, as president of the Palestinian Authority. He replaces longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died last November while undergoing medical treatment in France. Abbas briefly served as prime minister of the Palestinian Cabinet in 2003, but he resigned amidst a power struggle with Arafat. Seen as a moderate among Palestinian leaders, Abbas has stated he will maintain the key positions of Arafat while pursuing a return to the internationally backed "roadmap" peace plan between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
To read more about the people of the West Bank and Gaza and the historical background to the conflict with Israel, access the West Bank and Gaza CultureGrams report.
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8. Email Service Information
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Cordially,
Your ProQuest K-12 Team
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