This week's material and media covered the meaning of culture and the labels that are sometimes placed upon people when discussing culture and diversity. According to the definition that was given by Miss Gonzalez-Mena, culture consists of many different areas, including, (but not limited to): religion, tradition, and most importantly perception (Laureate Education, 2011). I think that this week for the assignment perception was the key aspect of the responses that were being presented--when asked about the definition of culture and diversity.

This week's assignment called for our class to contact three close friends or family in order to assess their definition of culture and diversity. The three individuals that I decided to contact were my mother, my youngest sister, and my husband. Though I consider all to be my family, we do have differing viewpoints on culture and diversity (more so in regards to religion and traditions). When asked about their views on culture, ironically, there was a common factor in each response: "family." For all three of the people who I asked a question concerning culture-- family traditions and upbringing were the common denominators. Each one of my loved ones responded that they believe that culture where the things that were learned when growing up that made you into who you were in today's time. A very interesting fact that was also mentioned within the media for this week, was that each one of the people who I asked also responded that they believed that culture was how each individual person saw it be, which in essence translates into perception. Not only did I think that this was extremely enlightening, but also found it interesting that my three loved ones also believed culture to include perception and an individualistic view of traditions and upbringing.

When asked about the question of diversity, the women who I asked, my mother and sister, seem to have the perception that diversity included different types of people from different backgrounds, cultures, religions, and regions of the world. However, when I ask my husband, he seems to believe that diversity included just a different way of thinking and seeing the world.  Technically nothing was omitted from the definitions that were stated within the materials for week 3, however, the common keyword within the answers that I was given was the word “different.”

I believe that this exercise allowed me to view how my loved ones were actually reviewing what we were learning in real time. It caused me to stop and think about the fact that some people relate the words culture and diversity to mean physical people, and some people relate the definition to mean a different perception or way of looking at a situation. I personally had never separated the two thoughts, but after speaking to my loved ones I believe that I've learned to appreciate that each person has their own definition of what they believe these two extremely powerful concepts to consist of in the society we live within today.

References:

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Culture and diversity [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu