My Diversity Experience

The country that I chose to conduct a culture analysis on is Jamaica. Jamaica is a third world country located in North America and the 3rd largest island in the Caribbean Sea. There is a 2.5 million population, which equally divided between urban and rural areas. The country runs approximately 146 miles long and varies between 21- 52 miles wide. The climate is tropical and its main tourist attraction is their beautiful beaches. The capital of Jamaica is Kingston, which has a population of more than 645,000. Kingston is the chief port of Jamaica and is along the southeastern coast of the island. It is covered by the “Blue Mountains”, which is thickly covered which tree ferns. The Blue Mountains experiences an average of 200 inches of rain annually, resulting in topsoil erosion and an abundance of streams. Peasants nurture coffee, usually grown on large plantations, in the valleys of the mountains. It is amongst the most expensive coffees in the world and is exported mainly to Japan.

“The idea that the Jamaican cultural identity, and by extension the Jamaican’s understanding of the self, may be lost by the presence of globalising forces can be resisted by recognising that there is an appropriation process that occurs and that this process has an underlying instrumental methodology” (Burton, 2015). This is evident in how the country treats with it food and

I was very excited when I saw this essay prompt because diversity is actually one of the main criteria that drew me into NC State. All throughout my schooling life, for as long as I can remember, I never attended any schools that were diverse. There was always one extremely predominant race or gender, and it’s something that truly disturbed me. I am excited to attend a college that is so diverse in many aspects, that I will be able to benefit from in multiple different ways. I will be able to learn and understand new perspectives which will help me gain an open mind and heart to be able to accept different kinds of people. I will be able to familiarize myself with different backgrounds and cultures, because I am so accustomed to my own, I

Native to Jamaican culture is spicy, colourful food such as salt fish, rice, jerk chicken, fish, banana fritters, and roasted yams . Looking back to the years of slavery, the African slaves ate left overs of what the wealthy people they worked for did not want to eat. As this type of cuisine was not readily found in food shops in Canada, Canadian restaurants, grocery stores and, food courts have added Jamaican food options in order to be culturally sensitive to the Jamaican migrant culture. With the migration of Jamaicans settling to Canada, there has been a huge impact on the cuisine. They brought their spices and recipes which added to the continually growing taste, flavours, and variety of Canadian

1. When I first heard about this conference last year in the diversity club event, I thought of it as essentially a vacation in Atlanta. It sounded fun, but I wasn’t particularly interested in it. Still, I thought it might be worth checking out, so I decided to look online to see what its website said. What I found painted a picture very different from my first impression. It gave the impression of a legitimately powerful learning experience, which coupled with Ainsley’s testimony began to sound extremely worthwhile. I like to think of myself as a fairly culturally sensitive person, but I began to realize how little diversity I’ve been exposed to, growing up in New England. How much could I really understand cultures I had never even come

Everyone has their own experience with diversity growing up. Some kids grow up in a very diverse neighborhood and school district, while others grow up in small farm towns where their closest neighbor is five miles away. It is always interesting to see how everyone is raised, their beliefs, and their personal experience to diversity. No matter how an individual is raised, as an educator we need to make sure everyone feels welcome in our classroom no matter what their background is.

Four different people, four different lifestyles, all with at least one thing in common—their races (or so we have yet to discover). I began my interviews wanting to show the similarities and differences in eating habits and traditions with the African American perspective in mind. Although race is used as the combining factor in this situation, each individual’s lifestyle, cultural behavior, and even eating habits are all very unique. My interviewees consisted of four Americans, as mentioned before all of same race, with similar yet very distinct backgrounds. They range from a black Jew, to a “Jamerican,” to what I would call a “traditional southerner”, right on down to a modern day Muslim.

The chapter by Ruth Frankenberg entitled, "Introduction: Points of Origin, Points of Departure", argues that the way one is perceived in society drastically changes their experience and advantage over others. Therefore, white women are often distinguished by their whiteness which gives them a more diverse racial experience (Frankenberg, 1993, pp. 1). With being white comes various additional components that set it apart from the other raced women of the world. Moreover, being a white woman automatically links them to a more favourable position of superiority in the way that they are often identified. This means that they get certain benefits by being white, as colonialism positioned them to have a large portion of control and authority

I completed my inclusion/diversity field experience at the Isanti Intermediate School/School for all Seasons in Isanti, MN. I was able to complete my 15 hour observation in a special education classroom. The classroom consisted of one special education teacher and multiple instructional assistants. The special education teacher taught kindergarten through 5th grade students’ social skills, math, and reading. In her social skills she currently has three 1st grade students and the topic was about stranger danger. She has as three kindergarten students, two first grade students, three third grade students, six fourth grade students, and three fifth grade students who came in throughout the day for both math and reading instruction. She also has multiple students’ come in and out for additional help with homework throughout the day. Also, one student

To participate in the Diversity Project would be excellent experience to partake in research and gain knowledge on integrative approach towards the study of biodiversity of coral reef ecosystems. Through field work and laboratory training, I would be participating in laboratory research which will complement career development that will help with successfully applying to graduate school and choosing a career. With this experience it will enhance my academic goals by allowing me to get a firsthand experience in collaborating with other researchers and help them in their research. With this it will help in my academic goals because with this research I could use the experience as an internship class required for my major and possible use it for

MasterCard has also partnered up with other minority-focused organizations, such as Women 2.0, which is focused on connecting talented women in technology to existing entrepreneurs (6). The relationship between Women 2.0 and MasterCard will help create communities of innovative women in technology, and to help them cultivate future leaders of these women and provide continuous support through their careers (6).

I feel comfortable talking about my favorite ethnic foods such as fish ‘n chips just about anywhere. Although the diverse ethnic diets of the American people do not always reflect my own, I, as well as others must be accepting of different ethnic diets. The acceptance and acknowledgement of different and diverse diets shaped by ethnic culture enables me to be comfortable talking about and eating my own distinctive foods, regardless of where I

We make assumptions of people based on where they live, what they eat, where they grew up and what occupation they have. Instead of forcing integration on people, personal interaction with cultural diversity could be more effective, which is illustrated by author Jessica Harris. In The Culinary Season of My Childhood, Harris describes her experiences in learning cultural diversity through food. She states, “…and these seasons of my personal and yet very New York childhood gave me the foods of the world on my plate,” (119) Her article discusses the different cuisines that played important parts in her childhood as well as developing her understanding of diversity.

      The film opens with camera shots portraying Jamaica as the beautiful and carefree place that most Americans view it as. The vast majority are oblivious to the fact that the delicious food they indulge in on their

Jamaica is known for its jerked chicken, clear waters, and more notably for Reggae, which makes Jamaican culture globally recognized. However, despite its mainstream entertainment value of today, reggae is not only music; however it is a way of life for some Jamaicans. It originated as a political form of protest against the colonial forces operative in the social context of Jamaican life. Musical ambassadors like the Abyssinians, Burning Spear, Sir Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, and Rita Marley, along with many others, can be credited with introducing reggae music to the world and giving it international recognition. Yet, despite its popularity, many do not understand the cultural and political climate in which Reggae