Cultural Report Assessment

Each student is required to research, write, and present a well-documented report that provides the foundation to create a better understanding of one racial, ethnic, or religious group from the United States. These groups include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Native Americans (note: the U.S. Census bureau uses the term American Indian)
• African Americans
• Jewish Americans
• Muslim Americans
• Latino/Hispanic Americans (please select one: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan American, etc.)
• Asian Americans (please select one: Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, etc.)
• Arab Americans (please select one: Lebanese, Chaldean, Syrian, Palestinian, Iraqi, etc.)
• Pacific Islander Americans (please select one: Samoan, Tongans, Polynesians, etc.)

Choose the Muslim American.

Report - The report will contain three elements: Foundation, Application, and Recommendations.

Foundation -

A clear description of the group's most relevant aspects of the culture and why they exist. 

1. Economic, political, and social history (which should also include the current social status of the group).

2. Educational information (education levels, educational system, the role of education).

3. A discussion of family and religion (some considerations: the role of religion in family life, the roles of women and men, multi-generational household or not, care of elderly family members).

4. Popular culture (fashion, art, music, dancing, traditions, etc.) and cuisine.

Application -

You want to conduct an interview to become more familiar with the group's background, lifestyles, problems, and issues from the perspective of a member of the culture.

Discussion of how the cultural factors play a part in their profession and potential profession (what program you are in at Baker College).

Provide a description of possible real-world situations that would raise awareness to potential conflicts between cultures and how to promote tolerance or a solution that is relevant to the chosen profession. For example, in a hospital, the dietitians and nurses must be aware that Muslims do not eat pork. Therefore, they should be aware that serving a Muslim patient a meal containing pork is culturally insensitive.

Recommendation -

Provide recommendations that suggest actions that can be taken in your chosen profession to make individuals more culturally competent by promoting tolerance.  You can regard recommendations as a prompt to action for individuals in your profession. Your report structure should lead up to the recommendations and provide justification for them. 

What makes effective recommendations:

• describe a suggested course of action to be taken to solve a particular problem;
• written as action statements with justification;
• stated clearly;
• based on the case built up in the body of the report; and
• stated logically, are relevant and practical.