Multicultural Perspectives

An understanding of how race, class, ethnicity, and gender affect contemporary society.

Most students at PMC find themselves living and studying in a more diverse environment than the one in which they grew up. The diversity at PMC provides numerous opportunities to learn about other cultures. Learning about other’s cultures also helps us understand the ways in which our own identity is shaped by our own culture.

You should select an artifact (i.e., paper, presentation, co-curricula project or experience) that you believe to be representative of your learning about other cultures or points of view. Your reflection should describe what you have learned about another culture, how that culture differs from your own, an awareness of how your views are shaped by your culture and how you have changed as a result of living and studying in a diverse environment. To help you reflect on your experiences at PMC – both inside and outside of the classroom – ask yourself the following questions:

How have you expanded your knowledge of other cultures in courses or other academic experiences?
What similarities have you noted between yourself and someone else that surprised you? What differences have you noted between yourself and someone else that surprised you?
What were the sources of your experiences of difference? Did you seek them, encounter them “by accident”, or become exposed to them through an academic assignment?
Has awareness of another culture made you look at your own culture differently?
In what ways has this experience given you more insight into the ways in which your own background (gender, class, race, ethnicity, etc) has shaped your particular set of values and views.
How has living and studying in a diverse environment changed you?
In what ways, if any, have you been challenged by living and studying in a diverse environment?

Criteria for evaluating reflections on Multicultural Perspectives

Exemplary

Satisfactory

Needs Improvement

Not Acceptable

Analyzes how one’s view has been effected or changed as a result of living and studying in a diverse and multicultural community

Displays significant knowledge of a culture other than one’s own.

Contrasts elements of one’s own culture with corresponding elements of another culture.

Shows awareness of how one’s own culture has shaped or continues to shape one’s worldview or perspectives

Shows awareness of other cultures or points of view; or of one’s own culture and point of view

Inadequate reflection or missing artifact