Episode 21 – Culture in the Cradle

Japan Intercultural Institute
Japan Intercultural Institute
Episode 21 - Culture in the Cradle
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Yvonne van der Pol and Joseph Shaules discuss cultural differences in parenting and the process of enculturation—how cultural patterns shape us as we grow up. We learn about the 3Rs of parenting in the Netherlands, and pressures Joseph felt to be a “winner” growing up in the US. Ishita Ray explains how the life lessons she learned growing up in Eastern India—as a young girl she was scolded for playing with boys—prepared her to fit in . . . or not . . . to Indian society.  

Episode 20 – What makes home a home?

Japan Intercultural Institute
Japan Intercultural Institute
Episode 20 - What makes home a home?
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Where is home? Living between cultural worlds can make it hard to answer this question. In this episode, Joseph Shaules and Ishita Ray discuss what makes a home a home, including the “bridge person dilemma”—how foreign experiences can make us feel unrooted. We discuss the adjustment challenges of third-culture kids, and cultural marginality. We reflect on those who lose a home because of conflict or other disasters. Podcast contributor Zeina Matar shares her experience of loving . . . and losing . . . her home in Lebanon.

Episode 19 – Why do we think differently?

Japan Intercultural Institute
Japan Intercultural Institute
Episode 19 - Why do we think differently?
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Does culture influence the way people think? Are cognitive processes the same everywhere in the world? In this episode, Yvonne Van der Pol and Joseph Shaules dive deep into the topic of culture and cognition. They discuss the groundbreaking research of Richard Nisbett, who argues that culture shapes our mental processes—and thus our experience of the world—in many ways. They talk about cows, chickens and grass . . . and the student who changed his professor’s understanding of mind by saying that for the Chinese the world is a circle whereas for an American it’s a straight line!

Episode 18 – Culture Shock

Japan Intercultural Institute
Japan Intercultural Institute
Episode 18 - Culture Shock
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In this episode, Joseph Shaules and Ishita Ray discuss culture shock, the psychological disorientation caused by foreign experiences. They tell the story of Kalervo Oberg – the anthropologist who first wrote about culture shock, and explain the difference between culture surprise, culture stress and culture shock. They explore research into resilience, which reminds us that foreign experiences are often deeply meaningful even if they’re not always ‘fun’.

Episode 17 – Honor and Diversity

Japan Intercultural Institute
Japan Intercultural Institute
Episode 17 - Honor and Diversity
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What does it mean to “honor diversity”? Joseph Shaules and Ishita Ray explore this hot-button issue: What is an “honor culture” and how is it a double-edged sword? Is social media the new village square in which our moral values are under public scrutiny? What is the diversity that we are honoring? Ishita shares personal stories from India where the pressure to live up to moral ideals can be positive or destructive. We discuss research into the embodied nature of cultural values and how honoring diversity requires building bridges of understanding.