Perspectives on Culture & Diversity

By Deb Trowbridge

I asked several people what their definition of culture and diversity was. 

Here are the responses for culture:

·      Culture is a lifestyle.  We all have culture.  We all come from different places of the world (USA, Germany, Sweden, etc.) that shape the way we live.  Our ancestors and parents shape our culture.

·      Culture is the things we do such as Eskimo dancing, skin sewing and preparing Eskimo food.

·      Culture is your background.

·      Culture is the state of being where you feel like you are at home.

·      Culture is the way certain groups of people do thing.

·      Culture is the unique ways of living within a group such as the food you eat, the way you communicate (verbally and non-verbally), the way you raise children, the way you dress, the entertainment that is acceptable, etc.

·      Culture is your background, how you were raised to believe and traditions and values that you were taught as a child.  These cultural values dictate how you celebrate holidays and birthdays and how we live day to day and what we do when someone dies.

Here are the responses for diversity:

·      Diversity is a mix of cultures and represents people from all walks of life (Puerto Ricans, Alaska Natives, African American, etc.).

·      Diversity represents different people groups: Eskimo Inupiat, Eskimo Yupik, Indian Klinkets, Indian Athabasca, Canadian Inuit.  Diversity is all over the world.

·      Diversity is a wide range of different people.

·      Diversity is multiple paradigms interacting.

·      Diversity is how groups are different.

·      Diversity is the opposite of ‘same’ and ‘monotone’.  Diversity is plural.  It’s the many ways of doing things, seeing things, speaking things, etc.

·      Diversity has to do with how accepting we are of other’s beliefs and traditions.  How one immerses oneself with another culture that he/she lives in and around and how much one follows what other people believe.

After reflecting on the above definitions of culture and diversity from people I talked with, many of their definitions include things we have talked about in this course.  For example, almost everyone referred to ‘family’ culture and diversity.  It is our parents and family history that make us who we are.  There are various cultures within similar people groups.  In this course we learned that family culture is were we feel most comfortable and where we first establish our identity. Some of the definitions above reflected a deep understanding of ones culture (family values and traditions).  Finally, culture was referred to as the things we do.

I also found that people’s definitions omitted certain concepts that we learned about in this course such as, social economic status, work cultures, interest cultures, ability levels and etc.  Their definitions primarily focused on family culture and diversity but really didn’t think of culture and diversity beyond that.

I appreciate the definitions that say, “Culture is the state of being where you feel like you are at home” and “Diversity is multiple paradigms interacting.”  They are both definitions that personalize and generalize the meanings of culture and diversity.  I realized that each person answered based on their thinking of their own culture.  Our culture truly defines us and our thinking.

My Family Culture

My Family Culture

By Deb Trowbridge

     If there were a major catastrophe that almost completely devastated the infrastructure of my country, and I would have to evacuate my country for safety and I was told I could take three items that represent my family culture, I would choose my wedding ring, a family photo and my Bible.

      My wedding ring is a humble but beautiful ring with a small crystal clear diamond that belonged to my husband’s mother.  It now represents the bond and commitment that my husband and I have together.  I would choose to take my wedding ring as a reminder of this commitment.  I would like to see this commitment in the lives of my daughters in their relationships and in the lives of their children and grandchildren.

     I would choose to bring along with me a family photo of my husband, myself, my two daughters, my parents, my siblings, their spouses, and their children.  With this photo I would always remember who and where we came from and that we grow, change, and multiply.  This photo would prompt many family memories such as where we lived, what we did, what our strengths were, how we got along, how we dressed, what we looked like and that family was important to us.

     The third item would be my Bible.  I think that in such a life-changing event, I would need and seek the Word of God more than ever.  I know that through Him I could face all challenges that would come my way.  My Bible has been my life guide that gives me strength and hope.  I have underlined and written in my Bible so it shows some of my life’s journey and thoughts.  Generations before me in my family have trusted God and it is my hope that my children will do the same.

     My wedding ring, my family photo and my Bible would all be symbols of what has been important to me in the past and what I would most certainly want to be important to my daughters in their lives, no matter where they lived in this world.  It is my hope that my husband and daughters would be with me during this evacuation.

     If I were told that I would only be able to keep one item upon arrival into this new country, I would feel very distraught.  All three things are very important to me and always will be.  After contemplating which item I would keep, it would be my Bible.  My Bible could be a continued source of guidance, comfort and hope that I could share with my daughters for our future lives.

     Thinking about this possible situation has revealed to me the importance of my faith in my life and how I need to more actively share this with my daughters so they can make faith decisions in their own lives.  I realize that my relationship with my parents and siblings is a big part of my life and identity and I do not want to completely lose it.  If I truly had to give up a picture of my family, I would make every effort to speak of them to my daughters and perhaps write about them so my future generation could read about their family history.  I realize that there are things I wish I knew about my family that I have never asked about.  How far back were my previous generations, Christians?  Where were they all from?  What kind of struggles in life did they need to overcome?  What did they look like?  What types of careers and work did they do?  It looks like I need to ask my parents some of these questions before I don’t have the opportunity to do so anymore.

   I also realized that if I were placed in a very different culture from my own, I would hope to be surrounded by people who cared, who wanted to help, were sincere, respectful and willing to accept me and my family.  I can see that this experience would be a very humbling experience that would require me to trust others as I seek to keep my identity during an unstable time of life.  I can see how I might be required to make certain cultural changes in order for my family and I to survive.  I realize that this could be exactly what children and families that come into our programs from other countries feel like.  Wow!  It’s important for our programs to be welcoming and sensitive to culturally diverse families!