Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

o    Their definition of culture

·        Culture is the reasons behind the way you act and the things you believe.

·       Culture to me is your families back grounds and beliefs, the way you are raised and the morals and values that are passed down from one generation to the next. Culture defines how we act.

·         Culture is different people from different places, different foods, and different communications styles.

·         Culture for me is the customs, traditions, thoughts and beliefs particular to a group of people or civilization

o    Their definition of diversity

·         Diversity is the differences between people.

·         Diversity to me is where you are around people with different back grounds and beliefs and you are accepting of their morals and values even if yours are different than yours. It is accepting people for who they are.

·         Diversity is the same as Culture, the ways we are different.

·         Diversity is the physical and social traits that identify each group of people or civilization; America has a diverse population with high predominance of African American and Latinos and the way each group of people live is driven by their culture

• 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?

Many of the aspect of culture and diversity studied in the class are included in the answers above, for example, culture including values, beliefs, and morals, and traditions of families. Also included was the idea that diversity was the differences in people, and accepting those differences.

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

One of the answers provided did only touch on the surface of culture, addressing, languages, foods, and places of origin, and omitted the idea of culture including beliefs, mannerisms, and behaviors.

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

Many of the people interviewed were co-workers and employees. In thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity,  I have realized that the definition of culture and diversity is not clear, and that cultural understanding and respect for diversity needs to start with continuity in meaning.