Culture and Intercultural Identity

Over the past 10 years, the importance of gender equality to promote development, innovation and economic growth has been widely recognized. All over the world, political leaders, corporations and international organizations have realised that sexism is not just wrong but also expensive. Recent studies show that globally more and more women of all ages are entering paid jobs, but this has not served to equalize responsibility for unpaid domestic work within the home or to close the gender gap in earnings. Without addressing these two inequalities, women’s contributions to economic growth will be at the cost of their individual well-being and the equity of the growth process. A more inclusive pathway to growth requires several walls to be overcome: the walls that associate women with a limited range of skills, that block their access to productive assets, and the walls that assign them disproportionate responsibility for the unpaid work that reproduces people and labor on a daily and generational basis. Gender discrimination, in the form of social norms and patriarchal value systems, is still at the root of the problem, and economists like Naila Kabeer are challenging this by exploring policies that can address these structural inequalities.

What do Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have in common? They are both famous actors and both descend from prominent American families that have been in this country since its inception. But they share something else, too: Both had ancestors who were early opponents of slavery. Bacon’s Quaker ancestors repudiated slavery long before the rest of the country, in 1780. And Sedgwick’s ancestor Theodore Sedgwick argued the freedom case of Elizabeth Freeman, also known as “Mumbet,” in 1781, which helped bring an end to slavery in Massachusetts. These facts and many others are revealed to Sedgwick and Bacon in this episode, also revealing quite a bit about slavery in the North in the process.

Michelle Rodriguez, Adrian Grenier and Linda Chavez all share Spanish colonial roots, yet each views their own identity very differently. In this episode we ask what it means to be Hispanic-and find that the answer lies in the tangled histories of European, Native American and African peoples. Crisscrossing Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean, and the Southwest, Professor Gates reveals stories of ancestral Conquistadors, Indian rebels, and "Crypto-Jews" (Spanish Jews who converted to Catholicism to survive the Inquisition, yet continued to practice their religion in secret) - showing that the American experience has been shaped by people who were in the New World long before the Mayflower.

Might an African nation with a long history of apartheid and one that experienced only a brief period of colonization have different national morés? Could citizens of either type of country hold the same views as second-generation Asian-Americans? Are there beliefs about societal behavior that are common to all peoples? In this program, college students from Ethiopia, South Africa, and the U.S. discuss what Geert Hofstede called “the five dimensions of culture”—regard for individuality, gender roles, ability to tolerate social change, hierarchy, and long-term planning. As the students explain how these values are expressed in their home countries, viewers learn which attitudes are unique and which are shared by communities around the world. A viewable/printable instructor’s guide is available online. A part of the series Intercultural Connections. (39 minutes)

This series looks at the many struggles that led to the creation of the NAACP.

Experience the rich cultural diversity of Native American tribes and the impact that early white explorers had on their lives. In this program, viewers will learn about the mysterious disappearance of the Anasazi culture and the successful Pueblo revolt against their Spanish conquerors. First-person accounts bring to life the adventures of early explorers, from Cabeza de Vaca, the first white man to enter the West, to the Lewis and Clark expedition. Part of the series The West: A Film by Stephen Ives.

Emancipation ended slavery but only to replace it with an American form of apartheid, euphemistically known as Jim Crow, used to keep African Americans as second-class citizens. This four-part series constitutes a major cinematic achievement covering the years between Reconstruction and Civil Rights.

This program studies the rise, decline, and legacy of Hitler after World War I. It is an ideal resource for students of modern European history and politics.

The election of Barack Obama began on March 5, 1770, at the Boston Massacre with the death of Crispus Attucks. This video tracks the progression of the United States as she frees herself from British rule and slavery gives way to the election of the country's first African-American president. Features commentary from Spike Lee, Al Sharpton, Gayle King, Wyclef Jean and more.