STANFORD-SYDNEY CROSS-CULTURAL WORKSHOP
April 29/April 30, 2008
Schedule for Video Conference
Workshop Webpage: http://ccr.stanford.edu/workshops/042908.html
I. Welcome and introductory remarks
Time: 9:00pm–9:10pm 4/29 (USA) / 2:00– 2:10pm 4/30 (AUS) 10 minutes
You will be connected to room T217 (http://emeeting.tech.oru.se:8000/index.jsp)
 Christine Alfano (Stanford): Welcome to the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project
 Susan Thomas (Sydney): The Rhetoric of the Streets
II. Small group introductions
Time: 9.10pm–9:20pm 4/29 (USA) / 2:10– 2:20pm 4/30 (AUS) 10 minutes
Leave T217. Switch to small group A, B, C, D, or E at http://switchboard.stanford.edu
Introductions: Each student will take a turn introducing him or herself and sharing a fact or
story about his/her cultural identity.
III. Small group analysis
Time: 9:20pm–9:50pm 4/29 (USA) / 2:20– 2:50pm 4/30 (AUS) 30 minutes
Each group will use the following focusing questions to discuss the Homeless Guy Blog,
available at http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/ and also at
http://thehomelessguy.wordpress.com/.
Focusing questions:
Questions about the Homeless Guy Blog
1. What is the cultural context of the Homeless Guy (who writes the blog)? How do
you know? How does this confirm or undermine cultural stereotypes about
homeless people?
2. What is the purpose of the Homeless Guys Blog? Who is its audience?
3. What are the characteristics of weblogs as a genre? To what extent does this genre
seem appropriate for writing on this subject matter? How does it compare to
graffiti or homeless street presses as modes of discourse used to provide a voice to
subcultures that are usually marginalized or silenced by mainstream society?
Questions about Homelessness
1. What instances of homelessness have you witnessed personally? What are the
characteristics of homelessness as a subculture?
2. What are the factors that drive homelessness in your community? What drives
homelessness in different cultures?
3. Consider how homelessness factors into larger questions of national culture. For
instance, in Australia, people tend to mythologize the “battler” and the “larrikin”
as part of the construction that Australia is a classless society. In America, they
mythologize the idea of the “American Dream.” How does homelessness as a
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STANFORD-SYDNEY CROSS-CULTURAL WORKSHOP
April 29/April 30, 2008
lived experience and as represented in the media work in conjunction with or
against these national myths?
IV. Collaborative activity
Time: 9:50-10:10pm 4/29 (USA) / 2:50– 3:10pm 4/30 (AUS) 20 minutes
Create a Deliverable: Work together as a group to create a deliverable to share with the
larger group that reflects your analysis of the Homeless Guy Blog. Use the whiteboard to
produce this deliverable: it can be a written text, a visual text (one taken from the internet or
one the group creates itself), a poem, or other creative composition.
Choose a presenter: Choose one person to present this deliverable to the large group;
presenters will be cut off at 2 minutes, so practice your presentation!
Choose a group blogger: Also, you will be expected to post this deliverable and a summary
of your group work to the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Blog after the video conference session.
Choose one student to be responsible for posting to the blog: e-mail alfano@stanford.edu to
let Christine (Stanford) know who has been chosen to be the Blogger. If there is time in the
group session, you can draft a preliminary version of the blog post together.
V. Group Presentations
Time: 10:10pm-10:20 4/29 (USA) / 3:10pm-3:20pm 4/30 (AUS) 10 minutes
Leave the virtual group room. Reconnect to room T217
(http://emeeting.tech.oru.se:8000/index.jsp)
Present group work in closing “Virtual Student Conference.”
We will move from Group A to Group E. (Note: Speakers will be cut off at 2 minutes.)
VI. Debrief at Individual Universities
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