Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Three person I interviewed are Pratik: A male friend from Nepal, Katya: Hispanic Female friend & Yangchen: My female cousin.

1.     What is culture?

a.    Pratik: “When the world culture first strikes, I think of the back ground people come from. Their habit and their way of life that they have been following from their predecessor. Their social way of life.”

b.    Katya: “Culture is what defines you. It is customs and traditions that have helped shape the person you are. These are introduced to us by our family, society and country we grew up in.”

c.     Yangchen: “Culture is an individual way of living, thinking and interacting. It is usually shaped by a person’s early encounter in life through family and society they grow up in.”

2.     What is diversity?

a.    Pratik: Diversity means differences. When you take an example of NYC, We see people from around the world, which makes this place diverse. Probably the most diverse city in the world.

b.    Katya: “Diversity is accepting/acknowledging other's culture while keeping your culture. It is learning of other cultures and sharing your own culture.”

c.     Yangchen: “diversity is differences not only in looks or color of skins, but also in thoughts. It is embracing the differences and learning from each other.”

All the people I have interviewed defined culture thoroughly as what we have learned so far. They have noted the surface as well as deep culture in their explanation. For an example, Pratik defined culture as people’s habit and their way of life, whereas Katya defines culture is what defines us. Even though they have not used the term ‘surface’ and ‘deep’ culture but it is apparent through their definition what defines culture. However, I felt they have omitted few aspect of diversity in terms of what we have learned. Diversity is a vast term and not one person’s perspective can fully define diversity. It is much more beyond one’s definition like the word itself “Diversity”.