Örebro-Stanford Cross-Cultural Workshop
February 19, 2008
I. Welcome and introductory remarks
Time: 18.10–18.20 / 9.10– 9.20 10 minutes
Anders Eriksson (Örebro): Overview of the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project
John Peterson (Stanford): Carl Larsson and Norman Rockwell; Model Rhetorical Analysis
II. Small group introductions
Time: 18.20-18.35 / 9:20-9:35 15 minutes
Introductions: Each student in the group should introduce himself/herself and say where s/he
is from. Briefly mention one thing about your culture that perhaps not everyone knows.
III. Small group analysis
Time: 18.35-18:55 / 9:35-9:55 20 minutes
Each group will be assigned one painting. Look at the painting, discuss the focusing
questions with your group, and then write an analysis and present it to the class
Group A: Santa Lucia
Group B: Freedom from Want
Group C: Girls in Mamma’s Room
Group D: Breaking Home Times
Focusing questions:
Suggestion: You might start simply by describing to each other what you see in the painting –
the setting, the people, the clothing, the details – then move to the questions below.
1. What is the argument of the painting?
2. What details do you most notice?
3. What is the dominant appeal of the painting? An appeal to emotion (pathos)? To the authority
or credibility of the artist or to the authority of the culture (ethos)? To logic and reason and
order (logos)? How does the use of appeals contribute to the effectiveness of the argument?
How does an understanding of the argument’s point in history or its timeliness (kairos) affect
its persuasiveness?
4. What can you tell about the audience? Consider doxa, or what the audience already has to
know about the culture. Could you argue that this painting is culturally specific? How does it
work for certain cultural audiences, or not?
IV. Collaborative activity
Time: 18.55-19.10 / 9:55-10:10 15 minutes
Work together as a group to create a brief, informal presentation about your analysis of one
of the paintings. Write your analysis and presentation script on the Whiteboard. Rehearse
and time your presentation (speakers will be cut off at two minutes).
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Presentations will be 2 minutes long per group
Give one person the speaking role
Provide an overview and explanation of your analysis of the painting
Present key points of the small group work (answers to focusing questions above)
Identify what the group learned about different cultural perspectives from the analysis
V. Group Presentations
Time: 19:10-19:20 /10:10-10:20 10 minutes
Present group work in closing “Virtual Student Conference.”
Each group’s speaker will present the analysis.
We will go from Group A to Group D. (Note: Speakers will be cut off at two minutes.)
Second Page – do not distribute to students but use in the classroom debrief after the video
conference
VI. Debrief at Individual Universities
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What differences did you experience in the way various members of your groups interpreted
the paintings? How much were those differences informed by cultural differences?
Has your own understanding of different cultural perspectives changed at all? In what ways?
What did you learn most about cross-cultural rhetoric from this activity?
In what was did technology inhibit or work best for cross-cultural communication?
What did you enjoy most about this exchange? What surprised you most? What would you
change for next time?