Cultural Perspectives and Communication

Being an International Affairs Scholars student allows me to experience many types of interactions and learn about different global perspectives. For my academic requirement, I attended the On the Other Side presentation. It was shown by the CARE head, Sean McClare. The presentation focused on cultural perspectives and how one must look at actions or events in different lights based on what is considered normal for a specific culture. Mr. McClare spoke about his personal experience overseas in China where he lived for all of high school and for a couple of years in college. After college, he went back and worked as a Hotel Ambassador for foreign diplomats for 5 years. He was in charge of planning events between different country delegations and making sure that each party was comfortable. This went from providing certain foods, informing his diplomats of certain customs, and making sure each party was safe. He talked a lot about his failed business endeavor where he lost out on a $500,000 business duty simply because of a misjudgment on his part. Today he works in OSU as the International Students Program Coordinator where he helps international students adjust to Americanized student life.

 

One of the most important parts of his presentation was a short video. It showed a woman with a shawl on her shoulders, wearing no shoes, and feeding a man sitting in a chair. The woman would bow three times before a table of food before selecting a piece, walking to the side of the man’s chair, feeding him the piece, getting on her knees, and then bowing again with the man’s hand on her back. This was repeated many times. Looking at this from the American perspective, we would see a male-dominated society where the women had to serve the men and had to walk and kneel on the dirty ground. However, from their culture, the woman is in power and the man cannot touch the ground or anything that came from it because he is not holy. The woman may walk barefoot because she is holy. It is within her power to not feed the man and leave him hungry. This misinterpretation greatly alters the ceremony from a religious event to one of oppression. These different perspectives greatly show how different an event can be perceived.

 

In the globalized world of today, we still struggle with understanding other people’s cultures. This leads to feuds, war, and even pity. This has brought around something called ethnocentrism, or the belief that your culture is the best and correct culture. This has always been a problem in the world. It dates back with the Romans control over the Jews, the colonization of the Americans, and even the Imperialization of Africa. Even today in The United State, we still struggle to understand other cultures even when we are surrounded every day with a multitude. There needs to be more focus, in schools and the government, to bridge these gaps and bring about thoughtfulness and respect for others and their beliefs.