CAPS Final

Webster defines culture as: "the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also : the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in a place or time [or] the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization"
  

With these definitions in mind I have decided to focus my report on the Arab-American culture. I think that some people would find it surprising how many Arab-Americans there are, not only on our campus, but in Nebraska. As many places as I've lived I've always seen and been amazed by the Arab culture. Their views and beliefs are so profound and to carry a lot of history and are a perfect culture group for anyone to study. 

I really have no previous connections with Arab-American culture. The only type of connection I have with Arab culture is that my sister minored in Arabic when she went to Texas A&M. She would tell me stories about when she lived in Morocco and the culture has fascinated me ever since. I feel that the American Arab will be even more interesting to learn about because it's dealing with one culture that I'm familiar with and another culture that I know close to nothing about. Whenever you have a combination of more than one culture, it makes a persons experiences much more vast. 

Arab-Americans have such strong values and traditions that the most logical concept for me to focus on is Arab-American's cultural values. Cultural values are defined by the worldview of a cultural group and its set of deeply held beliefs (Martin and Nakayama p. 100). Based on the definition, one would believe that every member of a particular culture group would have the same cultural values...that is not the case. 


To someone that has no knowledge of Arab-American culture, the idea that they all have the same cultural values would sound correct. With my research I have found that the cultural values and personal values of some Arab-Americans are actually vastly different.
Each Arab-American I interviewed had different ideas towards what their cultural values were. I chose to focus on, the reasons for wearing a Hijab, views on their families and religion.    

The first cultural value that I witnessed amongst the Arab-Americans that I interviewed is that they all wore beautiful scarfs around their heads called an hijab. Hijabs have a special meaning and tie in directly to Arab culture. Many Muslims believe God requires women to cover their hair. Many people who don’t believe it’s required believe that it is preferable for Muslim women to cover their hair. Head-covers also are a sign of purity and godliness and are used to hide a woman's "beauty".
Each girl that I interviewed wore a hijab but their reason's differed.

To help me collect my data I interviewed two Arab-American girls named Khuloud and Shams. Both are college students here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Shams said that she wears her hijab for religious purposes and because that's how she grew up. Shams did say that her parents never made her wear a Hijab and that, that is a common misconception people have. Khuloud said that she wears her Hijab to stand out and be different then others. She said that her Hijab not only depicts her heritage but it also demands respect. 

The second cultural value that I chose to focus on was the views towards family that each girl had and that if there was a pattern between the two. Although both girls admitted that every Arab-American family is different they still described both their families as close-knit. Shams described herself as family oriented and said that family is everything to her and Khuloud said the same. After talking with both girls and researching other Arab-American families, it was easy for me to come to the conclusion that although small aspects of Arab-American family life are different, they are all very close and stick together.  

The final cultural value I decided to focus on was what seemed like the most controversial topic of any culture...religion. We learned in class that immigrant cultural groups may lose some of their values, one of those being religion, as they try to adapt to american culture. I asked both girls if they thought that they lost some of their religious practices living in America. Shams firmly believed that living in America didn't effect peoples religions and that religion and how you practice it, is a choice made by everyone. Shams did admit that she doesn't follow her Muslim heritage as well as she should. Khuloud agreed with Shams but she said that she does take steps to bring herself closer to her Muslim roots. Khuloud said that she doesn't ever want to lose her heritage even though she has taken on a more Americanized lifestyle. 

With my research and help from Khuloud and Shams I was able to learn a lot about Arab-American culture and some of the differences in cultural values and how those values are viewed and practiced. Although Khuloud and Shams are alike in many ways, their views and values differ, just like many other Arab-Americans or other people who share the same cultural group.