Throughout the book, Kennedy’s childhood stories shocked me the most. It is one thing to hear statistics on the amount of violence, abuse, rape, hunger, and other things in an area removed from you; however, hearing a personal account of these atrocities was incredibly startling. Such a raw and real account of these issues opened …
Using terms such as “culture”, “cultural competence”, and “cultural proficiency” can be dangerous in that they generalize non-majority cultures rather than seeing culture as a branch of individual identity. I think that the idea of “emphasizing culture in order to deemphasize injustice” is particularly important for intercultural competence and the subject of our minor. Learning …
This article reminded me of a story my mom introduced me to that highlighted how different cultures honor transgender people in their societies. In certian Pacific Island cultures, Hinduism and several other religions being transgender is magical and something to be praised and revered. I remeber first learning about this and my shock as to …
We talked in class and read about last week how language can shape the way we think. I strongly believe that this is the most important aspect of language learning. I also think that language learning is a necessity in cultural immersion. In order to fully immerse yourself in a new culture or place, it …
I most appreciated the anthropological definition of culture as a vessel of shared meaning. I think it is beautiful to view culture as the thing that brings communities together, but more importantly, that gives meaning to our daily tasks and lifestyles. The notion that culture and developed symbols give purpose to the things we do …
