Culture and Diversity

Definition of culture:

Jay: Culture means to me the history of my family and my African-American decent.

Nicole: Culture is the beliefs and morals for a family.  It’s the things that one practice in his everyday life.

LaQuita: Culture is the type of foods we eat, the dances we do, the things that has been passed onto us by our previous family members.

Definition of diversity:

Jay: My definition of diversity is simply a multiple of races.

Nicole: I think diversity means a variety of cultures coming together to celebrate each other’s differences.

LaQuita: Diversity is the differences among a group of people.

Which aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course are included in the answers I received—and what are some examples?

In the responses I received, a lot of things that I have studied were represented in the answers of the three people I asked.  All three had different definitions, but they all built off of one another.  I was able to see that one had the “tip of the iceberg” view and only thought of surface level aspects.  Whereas, another had a deeper understanding, and thought about the things that one does not recognize so easily.

Which aspects have been omitted—and what are some examples of such omission?

Neither of the responses I received dealt with gender, sexuality, nor socioeconomic power.  I’m not sure if these people view these traits as a part of culture and diversity, or if they did not think that these things were also a part of culture and diversity.

In what ways has thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics?

After I reviewed the responses, I realized that before I started this program I too had a surface level of what diversity and culture meant.  I now have a deeper understanding, which in return is helping become more aware of the diversity and all the different cultures around me.