In many tall buildings of New York City, one might notice that there is not a thirteenth floor does not exist. Even in certain hospitals, room thirteen cease to exist. Architects or landlords purposely omit this floor, but why? In many traditions and religions such as Christianity, people believe that thirteen is an unlucky number that may lead to death. This fear known as triskaidekaphobia is one of the most common superstitions that exist.
People do not emphasize superstitions anymore because as science and technology advances, fewer and fewer people of the younger generations tend to practice or acknowledge these nonscientific beliefs. However, superstitions are not just irrational beliefs, but common practices that compose a significant part of cultures. When immigrants arrive in the United States, many of these superstitions are slowly forgotten or less emphasized whereas certain beliefs might conflict with other cultures. Therefore, people may have adapted to other cultures’ superstitions. Learning and investigating these superstitions may be an interesting subject for the project. Understanding them not only allows people to learn more about their culture and beliefs, but also to prevent misconceptions or unintentional offenses.
Students can focus on certain superstitions that originate from specific cultures such as British superstitions or Chinese superstitions. There are many ways to investigate this topic. Perhaps the most easily accessible resource would be parents or relatives that had immigrated to the United States. Students may record videos or audios of interviews with American-born friends or family members and compare their views and knowledge of cultural superstitions with people who are not born in the United States.
Besides interviews, students can visit different stores and neighborhoods and observe common themes or similarities. For instance, when people visit most Japanese or Chinese restaurants or stores, they will see a common figurine—a “maneki neko.” It is a common ceramic or gold cat, and the term “maneki neko” means a “beckoning cat.” This cat beckons wealth and riches. Other similar items or beliefs may be recognized through observations.
Besides primary sources, students can conduct research through texts that focus on taboos or religious customs and compare them with what is seen today. Sometimes, superstitions are difficult to notice because they are little things that people slowly develop into habits unknowingly.
There are many approaches to this multimedia topic. Another approach may be to compare superstitions from different cultures. Many of these superstitions are associated with luck or fortune. Different cultures or ethnic groups have different superstitious concepts. For example, in Chinese culture, architects will omit the fourth and fourteenth floors instead of the thirteenth floor. They associate the number “four” with “death” because of their similar pronunciations.
The concept of superstitions is interesting especially in the United States where there are so many people with so many different beliefs and views on superstitions. Can nets really catch dreams and can mirrors bring bad luck? Fewer and fewer people believe in luck and superstitions especially in such a developed country. However, because of this, they are also more tolerating of different beliefs.
