American Cultural Baggage: How to Recognize and Deal with It

One of the greatest weaknesses in intercultural education is the failure to learn about one's own culture. Nearly all of the educational effort is centered on learning about cultural "lenses" and how those lenses are reflected in other cultures. Perhaps one of the most important and necessary skills for living in another culture and working in a multicultural society is learning about the characteristics of one's own culture. Stan Nussbaum calls this being aware of one's "cultural baggage," which can be a hindrance to successfully crossing cultures. Nussbaum creates a list of the "10 Commandments" of U.S. culture using idioms and proverbs from the dominant U.S. culture. He then uses stories, cartoons, and hundreds of other idioms/sayings to reinforce those top ten cultural values. He also includes exercises for discussion and practice. The book reads easily as it is written for a wide audience, including internationals and immigrants so they might better understand the dominant U.S. culture.