Cultural Jeopardy-Study Circles and the Serious Game of Culture

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What is Limpia? What is a Bar Mitzvah? What is a Samosa? What cultures celebrate a different date for New Year? What faiths require men to always cover their heads? What is Ramadam? Who eats black eyed peas on New Years eve and why?  What is the Hijab? How many can you answer?

The questions were all part of a fun game, and the A team beat team Jonas, and there was a lot of laughter and joking. But when you think about it, the questions reveal how ignorant or how well informed each one of us is about the culture of another. Imagine a teacher who teaches a child who is keeping Ramadam, and does not understand what fasting does to a young body on a hot day?  Or the teacher who has a girl wearing the hijab?

We live in a global world where cultures are both blended and distinct. To teach or to work in a mutli-cultural setting, such as our AmeriCorps team do, in their day to day service, the training that Study Circles offers is crucial. Thank you Study Circles.