In preparation for our 100 Countries Project, Phase II: Reflection, we’d like to share with you our scheme for the upcoming 100(+) entries by country.

Each entry will begin with its classifications according to standard theories of cultural study (e.g., individualist vs collectivist). We’ll then offer some of our insights, or particularly salient facts about the country and its dominant culture, followed by a few tips for better understanding. Photos to accompany the article will be selected according to their ability to “tell a story” – to reflect an important cultural feature (or several).

We’ve decided to start with Hong Kong, as that’s where EWP is headquartered; while no longer technically a “country” per se, Hong Kong nonetheless, like its neighbor Macao, is culturally distinct from the Chinese mainland as a result of its history.

Having begun in Hong Kong, our articles will then progress throughout Asia, by sub-region; beginning with Northeast and ending with Western Asia, aka the Middle East, with a side journey to Oceania. From there, we’ll turn to Europe, from Southeastern through the various regional distinctions until we come nearly full-circle to Southern Europe – at which point, we cross the Mediterranean into Africa. Progressing once again regionally from Northern or MENA through Western, Eastern, and Southern Africa (the Central region has not yet become part of this project), we’ll go from there into South America, moving upwards to North America where we’ll begin with Spanish- and end with English-speaking countries.

The outcome, or Phase III, of our 100 Countries Project is multi-pronged, including a 7-book series on Intercultural Competency by region; the further informing of our current training programs which can be found HERE, as well as new ones in development to be delivered both onsite and online; the grounding of Dr Anne’s counselling practice with expatriates, intercultural couples, and Third-Culture Kids, as well as her consultative practice with multicultural corporations; contribution to 3 global projects currently co-facilitated by Dr Anne for the BPW community: Intercultural Dialogues: UNESCO Platform, International Mobility: Expatriate Empowerment, and Women, Peace & Security: UN1325; and, much more.

We hope you’ll continue with us on this journey around the world.

~Dr Anne

We offer this tool, based on a standard set of classifications used for entire cultural groups, and which can also be applied to individuals. Naturally, these descriptors are not meant to be absolute; individuals as well as cultures are more oriented to one than the other, but would generally fall somewhere along a spectrum.

~Dr Anne

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Map your own cultural orientation, that most accurately reflects your values, on each continuum below. Remember that a continuum represents an infinite number of possibilities between the two opposing ends. There are no right or wrong answers.

Reflection:

• How does your cultural orientation map help you in your life?
• How does your cultural orientation map hold you back in your life?
• How is your cultural orientation map similar or different from your peers’?
• Which traits are difficult for you to deal with in other people?

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Based on research by Edward Hall, Geert Hofstede and Aperian Global. Compiled by Natalia Dyba.

https://www.uwb.edu/getattachment/globalinitiatives/resources/intercultural-competence-tool-kit/Mapping-Your-Cultural-Orientation.pdf

Turns out, I can’t write and travel. The intensive research-oriented travel over these past 8 months — in 50+ countries across 5 continents — has taken all of my focus, and only now can I begin to write about it.

Like life: one can’t fully experience the moment if caught up in analyzing it. And so — we experience, deeply and openly; and only after: we reflect, and begin to understand.

Our 100 Countries Project is nearing completion, but only of Phase I: Local Experience. Within the next couple of days, Phase II: Reflection will begin.

But first, I offer you the following, from University of Washington|Bothell [modified by me]. Enjoy!

~Dr Anne

Cultural Awareness Self-Assessment

To begin to assess your cultural self-awareness, ask yourself several questions:

• What are some of my core beliefs and how have they been culturally influenced?
• How would I describe my worldview?
• How would I describe the worldviews of my friends/relatives/colleagues/students?
• How might these differ from the ways in which I see the world?
• How much do I know about the cultural backgrounds of my friends/relatives/colleagues/students?
• What information am I missing and how can I get that information?
• How can I incorporate the worldviews of my friends/relatives/colleagues/students into my own?
• What worldviews are demonstrated through the way in which I currently live?
• How can I enhance my interactions with others, so that other worldviews are represented?

Dr Anne here — setting out on yet another, this time epic, journey.

I’ve just concluded a one-year position as Visiting Professor, once again on South Korea’s Jeju Island, at the Jeju National University. There I taught courses of my own design on intercultural competency, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and developing global mindedness, and the benefits and challenges of multicultural societies, as well as a course in practical psychology.

Now, following visits to my bases of Hong Kong and New York, I’ll set off in just 3 days for Russia — the first of 55 countries over these next 9 months. I’ll be conducting cultural research throughout Eastern Europe, Central Asia, 10 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and more of South America. Research goals, beyond generally increased cultural understanding, include reconciliation and reconstruction in post-conflict zones, the status and nuances of gender equality, and the identity and self-presentation of nations and cultures, including the preservation of tradition in the quest for modernity.

A new series of articles, entitled ‘100 Countries‘, will soon begin here in this blog. In it, I’ll share cultural highlights and interesting anecdotes from my ongoing research — on these upcoming 55 countries, as well as many of the 58 others previously studied. Of particular importance to me is not only to learn about each culture from its own members and my direct experiences, but also to ‘connect the dots’ — to draw correlations, compare and contrast, gain ever-increasing understanding of these intertwined histories, and in so doing, to look at the greater picture: our shared humanity.

I invite you to join me in this quest.