Justin Hurst

November 5
th
, 2012
Ed 315
Multicultural Dialogue
A. Who is the person you talked to? What is his/her cultural background? Why did you select
this person/ethnic group?
The erson ! tal"ed to is #hris $ieters, a camus minister% He described his culutral bac"gound
as uer&middle class, gro'ing u in the suburbs o( #hicago% ! selected this erson because ! lan on
teaching science, and religion is o(ten erceived as in con(lict 'ith science%
B. Describe the planning process neccesary to arrange or conduct this conversation? How did you
prepare?
$lanning (or the intervie' 'as a rather simle rocess, comared to ho' ! imagine it could
have been% ! 'as able to (ind his contact in(ormation (rom the )rand *alle+ #amus Ministr+ 'ebsite
and emailed him (rom there% He resonded ,uic"l+ and "indl+, and 'e 'ere able to set u a time that
'or"ed (or both o( us a(ter ! had brie(l+ e-lained to him 'hat the intervie' 'as going to be
about%.nce ! "ne' (or certain 'ho ! 'ould be intervie'ing ! reared b+ creating a small series o(
,uestions 'hich made sense 'ith 'hat ! 'as tr+ing to learn, and 'ho ! 'as intervie'ing%
C. How did your subject respond to your reuest !or a conversation? What were your !eelings
about asking !or an interview? What are so"e reasons !or the response and !eelings generated?
M+ sub/ect resonded 'ell to m+ re,uest (or a conversation, and seemed eager to hel me out%
0dmittedl+ ! had onl+ described m+ goals (or the intervie' brie(l+ through email, and he seemed a bit
more arehensive 'hen actuall+ starting the intervie', but ! believe that 'as mostl+ due to the
ermission sli, and the re,uest to record the conversation, 'hich ma+ have made it at (irst seem that
this intervie' 'as not strictl+ (or ersonal educational, and aer 'riting use% ! 'as a bit nervous about
as"ing (or an intervie' at (irst because ! did not 'ant to (eel li"e ! 'as causing someone an
inconvenience%
D. Discuss !actors that in!luenced the !low and uality o! the conversation. How did you put your
conversation partner at ease? How did he/she put you at ease?
The conversation (lo'ed better as the intervie' rogressed, and 'e both seemed to get more
com(ortable 'ith each other% 1e are both (rom essentiall+ the same cultural bac"ground, so an+
di((erences in vie'oints 'e had, ended u being (ar more minor that ! had e-ected% ! believe the
conversation 'as more com(ortable (or me, 'hen ! reali2ed this, and ! believe he became more
com(ortable 'hen he noticed m+ ,uestions 'ere there so that ! could learn more about his
ersectctives, and about him, not to illicit an+ sece(ic resonse%
#. What were your !eelings be!ore$ during$ and a!ter the conversation. Why?
! 'as mildl+ nervous be(ore the intervie' due to (actors that 'eren3t sece(ic to the erson !
'as going to be tal"ing to% 4rom e&mail he seemed to be nice and that did do some to alleviate an+
nervousness ! ma+ have had on that (ront% ! 'as nervous because ! had never conducted an+ sort o(
intervie' be(ore, and ! 'as nervous because ! 'anted to ma"e sure ! came o(( as resect(ul and
ro(essional, to a man that 'as doing me a (avor b+ allo'ing me his time% 0t the beginning o( the
intervie' ! 'as even more nervous, because ! (elt ! did not come o(( as ! intented to, as someone 'ho
'as genuinel+ interested in his ersective, but ! thin" ! 'as erceived in that 'a+ more signi(icantl+
as the intervie' rogressed% M+ nervousness had essentiall+ subsided b+ the end o( the intervie', and !
reali2ed ho' 'ell aligned our individual ersectives 'here% 0(ter The intervie' ! 'as ver+ glad ! had
this e-erience, and believed, and still do believe, ! ic"ed an e-cellent erson to intervie'% Though !
al'a+s tr+ to be tolerant o( others !3ll admit ! had become ! bit /aded 'ith religious ersectives be(ore
the intervie', and had been e-osed to a (air bit o( intolerance and a clash 'ith m+ ersonal belie(s
(rom 'hat ! erceived that grou to be% The intervie' did an e-cellent /ob o( li(ting that burden (rom
me and sho'ing me /ust ho' 'rong m+ more essimistic thoughts could be% Mr% $ieters did an
e-cellent /ob at sho'ing me ho' tolerant, reasonable, and (riendl+ religious eole can be, even 'hen
(aced 'ith someone 'ith an oosing vie'oint% Though it seems obvious to most eole that this is
the case, ! had been having ersonal doubts about it be(ore&hand%
%. How did you think your partner responded during the conversation? What body language did
you observe?
M+ artner seemed to resond ver+ honestl+ and in(ormativel+ throughout the conversation, a
and his bod+ language (rom the begginingg o( the conversation did ma"e it seem seem li"e he 'as
articular+ tense or nervous about an+thing but 'as disla+ing more oen gestures, though as ! have
reviousl+ stated, ! do believe he became more com(ortable throughout the course o( the intervie'%
&. What did you learn about this individual or his/her culture? What surprised you? How is this
person si"ilar to you? Di!!erent? What did you learn that was not in your original list o!
uestions to ask?
! learned a great deal about this individual, even though 'e come (rom essentiall+ the same
social economic status and culture% ! thin" that similarit+ ma+ be 'h+ ! learned so much% 0s reviousl+
stated in oint E, he re&taught me a bit about tolerance siml+ b+ being so oen and understanding, and
he also taught me 'here religious vie'oints can develo (rom% His insight 'as that it became a much
bigger art o( his li(e 'hen he reall+ understood it and embraced it himsel(, instead o( it /ust being
something that he 'as raised 'ith% He sa' ho' even 'hen times 'ere hard, his (ather develoing
al2heimers 'hile he 'as 13, he 'as still being suorted and heled through these times, 'hich he
believes to have been the lord using others around him as instruments to hel him in that di((icult time%
This gives me insight into ho' eole develo their (aith, 'hich should hel me understand it better in
the (uture% ! 'as surrised, b+ ho' 'ell aligned our ersectives 'here, 'ith the main di((erence
bet'een us being his abundance o( (aith, and ho' he has embraced the christian religion%
H. What did you learn about yoursel!?
! learned (rom this intervie', mainl+, that no matter ho' much ! tr+ to distance m+sel( (rom
other eole 'ho ! assume ! disagree 'ith, 'e can al'a+s be surrised b+ ho' much 'e have in
common 'ith a erson, and that ho' 'e vie' someone is never going to be comle- enough to reall+
ever understand a erson i( it is not based o(( actuall+ getting to "no' that erson% ! learned that ! have
a lot o( 'or" to do ta"ing the reviousl+ stated 'isdom to heart but that ! have the caabilit+ to do so i(
! ut in the e((ort%
A one'page su""ary o! your e(perience and the "ost signi!icant things you learned !ro" doing
this assign"ent. How will this e(perience a!!ect you/your teaching/career?
This e-erience did a lot to sho' me ho' eas+ it is to be 'rong about eole% Though on a
logical level ! tend to understand ho' sill+ it is to /udge someone be(ore +ou actuall+ get to "no' them,
! reali2e no', ho' ver+ eas+ it is (or emotions and ersonal biases to relace the logical reasoning, and
relace 'ith something (ar more sinister, and (ar less tolerant% !n a broad sense this intervie' has
sho'ed me ho' eas+ it to not act the 'a+ in 'hich +ou believe, but also ho' easil+ it is do shi(t +our
e+es bac" to the ersectives +ou "no' +ou should be seeing through, siml+ b+ sho'ing +oursel( ho'
oor +our e+esight 'as% ! have learned that both sides o( the aisle, at least in some instances, 'ant to
see a reconciliation bet'een science and relegion, and that it is ver+ much ossible to embrace both in
+our li(e% !3ve also learned ho' little it ta"es to learn about someone% !t3s absoulutel+ incredible ho'
much more +ou can understand someone b+ /ust ta"ing a little bit o( time to get to "no' them% !( ! ut
this into a ersective, ! have sent onl+ a little more than a hal( an hour, one (ourt+ eitghth o( a da+
and ! (eel li"e ! not unl+ understand one erson, but an entire vie'oint much better% This brings light
to ho' much good 'e can do to ourselves 'hen having di((icult+ 'ith another erson, or another
vie'oint, /ust b+ learning about it%
!mlementing all o( the lessons ! have learned (rom this e-erience 'ill be the more di((icult
art o( the e,uation% !t3s (ar easier to siml+ claim 'e have "no'ledge, than to actuall+ imlement it, so
gro'ing b+ action is going to be the essential iece% 0s someone ursuing a career in education this
e-erience has taught me that i( ! am ever having di((icult+ 'ith a articular student, one o( the best
'a+s to more e((ectivel+ teach that student is going to be to learn about them, and to tr+ and understand
their vie'oint better rather than /ust assuming ! alread+ "no' their vie'oint and tr+ing to 'or" o((
o( that rather than a genuine understanding% This e-erience should also hel me "ee trac" o( m+
biases and emotions better in the classroom, so that ! can be a'are o(, and move ast them 'hen the+
are restricting me%