Perspectives on Culture and Diversity.

Here are the definitions of culture and diversity that I received. I did not change any of their wording (so you'll have to look past their grammatical errors) from Facebook and Texts messages.

Perspective #1

"for me both culture and diversity were something that i didn't discover until i was older. there were many things that i wasn't exposed to or aware of growing up. different ideas, ways of living, and ethnicity's were introduced to me first when went to college. for example, i had never met or befriended a jewish person before then. so much was new to me at that time. later on, i got travel around the country and parts of the world and see even more. these day's i would define culture as the people you surround yourself with. who influences and inspires you. who you spent your time with. the life choices you make also define culture and is subject to change. diversity is realizing that everyone is different. there so many labels attached to diversity. almost to the point of overkill. i think the bottom line is that everyone is unique. i think we as humans should realize this. it doesn't mean we agree with everything. just image how many great things wouldn't have happened if we weren't a diverse culture."

Perspective #2

"I think culture is when a group of people adopt the same beliefs or behaviors. Diversity is when a group of people in the same area have a variety of different beliefs or behaviors. "

Perspective #3

 "Well, our social studies textbook defines culture as the way a group of people live. I guess diversity would be a bunch of cultures together."

Reflection
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?

I believe these perspectives are representative of deep culture.  For example, Perspective #1 refers to culture as the relationships around us and the choices we make which are all subject to change over time. Perspective #2 defines culture as a set of beliefs or behaviors.  Perspective #3 defines culture as the way a group of people live.  I find it interesting that most of the definitions of culture and diversity focus on relationships, beliefs, and behaviors.

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

As most of the perspectives focused on deep culture, I was surprised that Perspective #2 and #3 never mentioned surface culture such as foods, holidays, traditions, etc... Perspective #1 talked about surface culture in the beginning as he explained his first encounters with diversity but later focused more on deep culture to define culture and diversity.
In what ways has thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics?

Quite honestly I was surprised by the definitions I received. I chose three individuals that have had been raised in different cultures such as different family relationships, religion, values, and way of life.  Two of the three perspectives came from individuals that I perceived as hard to connect with or to establish a relationship with because of our differences.  Their definitions of culture and diversity are rather similar to my own.  I think this is why people need to talk about culture and diversity so that we realize that we do have some things in common.