CSUN Cultural Studies Bat Mitzvah Important Jewish Celebration Essay

INTERCULTURAL RESEARCH PAPER:

Research online a cultural event from a culture that you have not experienced before. The cultural event can be from members of a particular ethnicity or religion (i.e., Octoberfest, Diwali, Holi, Spring Equinox, Dia De Los Muertos, Bat-Mitzvah, Quinceanera, Nowruz, etc.), or a cultural event that is participated in by members of a sub-culture (i.e., a rave, sporting event, concert, performance, rally, holiday, etc.). The main objective is to pick a cultural event that you are not as familiar with. Your research and paper will require the following:

1) INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH: An Introduction paragraph that provides a preview/overview of your paper (i.e., attention grabbing beginning, thesis statement, a statement identifying the culture and cultural event you researched, preview of the four sections that are covered in your body paragraphs).

2) BODY PARAGRAPHS: The body paragraphs include four sections.

• SECTION A:
  • Research online a cultural event from a culture that you have not experienced before.
  • Describe the cultural event in detail (e.g., foods, decorations, stories, actions they partake in at the event etc.)
  • Your intention in this section is to explain the event to the reader as if the reader is asking you to tell them about the event and culture you researched.
  • No research is needed for this section; you only need to describe what you observed from reading about the event/watching online.
• SECTION B:
  • Include 2 – 3 concepts from the textbook or course reader and apply the concepts to the cultural event. (Concepts from the course materials can include key-terms, definitions, and/or theories).
  • Explain the concept from the textbook/course reader (must paraphrase or quote from book and must cite author), then apply the concept to the cultural event.
• SECTION C:
  • Research and use scholarly sources to explain and apply to your cultural event (i.e., research 3 – 4 scholars who have written on the cultural event you studied, and use their writings to relate to what you observed when you researched the cultural event)
  • Scholarly sources can include the following: scholarly/academic articles, books, newspapers, credible websites. (The 3 – 4 sources in this section cannot include sources form the textbook or course reader. Each source must be cited both in-text and in the works cited/reference page.
  • In this section, use 3 – 4 quotes from a scholarly source that explains, gives insight about, provides expertise about, your cultural event.
• SECTION D:
  • A summary of reflections on what you have learned from researching about the event.
  • You will especially need to write about topics such as: how researching the cultural event/culture might have changed your preconceived notions about the culture, ways you recognized both differences and similarities to your culture, how researching the cultural event was meaningful to you, etc. 
• 3) CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH: A conclusion paragraph that includes sentences that recap/summerize of your paper.
• 4) A WORKS CITED/REFERENCE PAGE