After speaking with a family member, and asking about him to define the terms culture and diversity this is how he described them:
Culture can be described as an identifiable group of people with common values and customs.
Diversity can be described as variations within a culture of those values and customs which are not necessary common to the culture but not sufficient enough to break from the culture.
A colleague of mine defined these terms as follows:
Culture can be described as the way people think and live.
Diversity can be defined as the differences in people and places.
I asked a friend from Iceland to also define these two terms and these are his responses:
Culture can be defined as the norms and the conditions under which a society lives.
Diversity can be defined as recognition of different cultures and different norms between more than one group of people.
I believe that each of these responses are very similar and reflect what I think and believe as the definitions of both terms. I also believe that through my educational courses I have a better understanding of these terms. I do not believe that the terms offer any omission, but I do believe that these terms have been described somewhat superficially, which is how I would have described them before studying them more thoroughly in my classes.
Dear Amy,
ReplyDeleteI think the same as you regarding how much we have already learned in this course. I like the nuance that your family member puts into diversity when he said that it could be defined by variations in values within a similar culture.
Julie
I liked what your colleague answered that culture could be the way people live and think. I always thought of culture as what we have learned to be surface culture. To now look at it as a way a person thinks or lives is great, it gives it a different perspective. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI would have only touch on the surface of culture if I had been asked about the definitions before this class. I am also learning so much about culture and diversity. Thanks for sharing.
Amy
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI too am learning so much already in this course. Before this class, I would have only defined these two terms from surface information I know; very similar to the people I spoke with. I really liked how your colleague defined culture. I think that definition is perfect and beyond just the surface. Thanks for sharing.
Victoria