shrinking; this concept is an oft-cited one in discussing international relations, the blinding speed of worldwide communication, and global travel and migration. Ideas like moving to another nation or even another continent are significantly more feasible today than they would have been even half a century ago. This closeness of various linguistic, ethnic, and cultural groups has created an urgent need for a better understanding of assimilation among these varied groups.

Cultural assimilation has a broad definition due to the broad nature of "culture;" it can refer to an actual intermixing of races and "the genetic dissolution" of a certain group; it can also refer solely to more immediately changeable concepts such as language, religious belief, familial relations, and other traditions of a certain ethnic or societal group (Moran 2005, p. 169). In today's globalized society, different groups are encountering one another with increasing frequency, significantly altering the importance of...
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