DANC 1010 Life History Interview Grading Sheet Name:____________________ Semester:________________ Year_____ Campus:____________________

_________ Thesis Statement & Research Methods: (2 points) Clearly and briefly describe the culture of your subject and why you picked this specific culture. Discuss who your interviewee was, how you picked them, and why. Include how often you consulted, how the interview when, and how you felt about what you were doing. __________ Discussion: (4 points) Write about what you learned. This is a reflection on what was said, not just a transcript of the interview. Describe what was said, as well as your own reflection on what you heard: your feelings, uncertainties, empathy. Be aware of the potential biases that can arise out of your interview. you, as an outsider, can cause actions and reactions from your consultant. Be aware of and discuss any aspects of behavior or statements that might be a result of a bias as you write-up your interview. __________ Experiences being different (1 point)

_________ Intercultural and/ or inter-ethnic experiences (1 point)

_________ Cultural identity, values, customs, including dance & music (1 point)

_________ Experiences living in Utah (1 point)

__________Migration experiences and/ or language barriers (1 point)

__________ Conclusions: (4 points) The conclusions should include specifics on what you learned. What did you learn about a persons experience in this country who is different from you and part of non-privileged group? What impact did this assignment have on you or your understanding of the world? Did it challenge any of your assumptions? Did you modify or change any of your previous perceptions about this specific culture? Were they reinforced? What surprised you and what information was new to you?

___________ Total Points (15 possible) POINTS WILL NOT BE ADDED into calculating your final grade UNTIL A PRINT SCREEN OF YOUR E-PORTFOLIO UPLOAD with F=REFLECTIVE WRITING is submitted. This must be submitted by the final day of class

Courtney Beavers

Dance 1010 Tess Boone 2/26/14 Life History Interview

Life History Interview There is so much history behind the Chinese culture, but not all of their remaining traditions are used in todays society. China is such an influential country in this world and I realized I know very little about this specific culture. so for this interview assignment, I have chosen to interview my neighbor Lan. When I first asked to interview Lan, I asked him if he could give me a little information about himself, his initial response was, I like to dance and listen to music. He expresses himself through hip-hop dancing. Lan is 18 and moved to Utah 8 years ago with his family right now he is a senior in high school he has been accepted into the University of Utah, which he will be attending next year. By performing this interview on Lan, I want to learn about his Chinese culture and his religion which is Buddhism. I want to learn about his experiences and differences towards education in China and America. As I interviewed Lan, I asked a couple of questions that involved his culture. A big part of his culture includes the countries holidays. They celebrate the Chinese New Year. For this occasion, family and friends gather to watch the celebration either on TV or in person and they dine together for this 15 day long

celebration of China. Other holidays that are celebrated in China are National Day which is celebrated May 1st and expresses the beginning of Spring. I also asked him about his religion. Lan is Buddhist, the buddhist religion, tradition and practice is revolved around the Three Jewels. The Buddha is the first jewel, Buddha is the person they worship, according to Buddhist tradition, Buddha traveled around the Eastern Asia and taught about this religion. He was know as The Awakened One. The second Jewel is the Dharma: these are the teachings of the buddhist religion. And the third Jewel is the Sangha; the Sangha is the community. In the Buddhist religion is incorporates states of meditation. Lan practices in Yoga and meditation on the daily. When Lan lived in China he went to a Buddhist School, He said it was a huge difference moving to America going to a public school from a Buddhist school. Education is a huge part of the Chinese Culture. For Elementary students, they must go to school from 8 am to 3 pm, middle school students attend school from 7 am to 9 pm and high school students attend school from 7 am to 11 pm. all through elementary, middle school and high school, they have a 2 hour lunch break, but middle school and high school are the only ones that get a 2 hour break for lunch and dinner. However, not every Chinese student gets to attend high school. A single test score can determine whether a student will attend high school or not and it is roughly estimated that only 70% of middle school students will have the chance to attend high school and only 30% of high school students would make it to college. Lan didnt have to go through all of that schooling in

China since he moved here when he was 10 but he saw his oder brother go through it and he was glad that he got to go to school in the United States because its much more lackadaisical than schools in China. Also, he is happy that he got the chance to go to high school and now the chance to go to College! When he moved here schooling was really easy for him because he felt like he was 3 grades ahead of everyone in his class, so he has always eased through school. In China the students are expected to learn English and to establish it as their second language. Lan stated that in school they would have an english class every day at his school so it made it easy for him to move to the U.S having a background of the english language and plus moving here so young made it a lot easier on him to learn english very fast! Anyone who goes out of their comfort zone and in to a new world can be very difficult. Lan has a very positive out look for the reasons why he is here in America and the experiences he has gained and that he will gain in the future. He explained that he has not experienced any discrimination or how being different can be difficult. When Lan first came to America it was hard for him to speak the language because he didnt know how to translate every thing he was trying to say because he was just learning about english in school so he didnt get how to say somethings because english has a lot of slang that is hard to get. Now Lan can speak english with ease! They still speak Chinese in his home but he has no difficult speaking english since he has been in America for 8 years.

Lan seems to love it here in Utah! He did say that when he first came to Utah it was weird to be around a bunch of mormons and seeing missionaries because he was so use to just being around Buddhist people and he saw that there were a lot of different religions around here! From this interview I have learned so much about the Chinese culture and how speaking a different language can be difficult in America. Lan has incredible courage and dedication to move here with his family from the the place he grew up in and where his whole family lives! That would be so hard to live in a different country than the rest of your family! I thought it was bad living in a different state than most of my family! I could never imagine traveling to a different country and be exposed to a different culture! He said it was a huge culture shock for him and his family since the U.S ways are so different than Chinese ways. I never really thought as China of being different from America other than they looked different than a typical Caucasian American and the Chinese language was impossible for me to read! This interview opened my eyes to know that everyone in this world has their own culture that is important to them and everyone should respect their beliefs and differences they express.