Barbara Vonarx
Chamberlain
Cultural Diversity in Professions
SOCS 350
Ivan Mancinelli-Franconi
January 19, 2013
Islam-Cultural Misconceptions and Beliefs
I have chosen the topic that I am most confused about and have the least amount of personal knowledge of. I do not personally know anyone of the Islamic faith, nor is there a large enough group of them in my community for me to observe in any one-on-one situation. I have heard many of the stereotypes about this religion, but have no real knowledge of the philosophy or practices of the religion.
My goal with this paper is to become educated about this multinational religion that gets lots of media attention. Unfortunately our US news media reports more opinions than facts, so depending upon what the story slant may be, there are widely different portrayals of the religion and it’s beliefs. I hope to find sufficient factual information to provide a less biased view of the religion and the cultural beliefs different countries derive from it.
I think this topic is very important to the study of cultural diversity since so many people worldwide practice the Islamic faith and there is so much confusion about how it is practiced, and it’s philosophy. I will personally benefit from researching this topic and have a natural curiosity about a religion that is so different from mine.
My plan is to seek information about the Islamic culture and religion from the Devry library, scholarly journals and online sources. The expected outcome from this research is unclear to me and I plan to keep an open mind. I come from German and Russian descent and just because Germany and Russia have done some horrific things to other nationalities and religions, do not mean that all of its people have the same tainted ideology.
I am excited that this course, and specifically this paper, is “forcing” me to delve into research that interests me, however with the busy lives we all