Culture Post #8: Reflect on what you learned from the cultural presentations.
I really enjoyed seeing other people's cultural presentations! Even though I didn't know some of the language-specific words, most students did a great job putting them into a cultural context that I understood. The topics were incredibly diverse -- ranging from entertainment to food to henna -- and I loved being able to see a piece of each person's culture. With regard to today's presentations, I learned a lot from the presentation about Afghan Star because for me, as someone deeply interested in human rights in the Middle East/South Asia, it was interesting to consider the incredible role of the media in shaping the movement towards furthering the rights of women in Afghanistan. I never really thought about how a pop music/TV show truly can be an equalizer of people -- with everyone coming together to bond over something so universal. In the face of so many failed aid policies or debacles involving Western initiatives for girls/women in Afghanistan (e.g. last year's jarring allegations against Greg Mortensen), it is wonderful to see something rooted in Afghan culture that is creating community, as well as progress for women. I also really liked seeing the diverse perspectives on Korean culture -- from food to marriage to the vibrant entertainment industry!
With regard to my topic rooted in health/human rights, I loved being able to take the time to pursue and further the research that I am passionate about. It was great to be given the opportunity to intersect my interest in Hindi with my passion for learning about issues of health and caste in India. I learned so much about my target culture with regard to complex issues of caste, class, and gender. I also learned a lot more about how intricate and complex the issue of maternal health is -- not just rooted in biomedical factors, but as something that requires an understanding of cultural factors (caste, physical touch, gender, etc) for these maternal health discrepancies to be solved in India.
In reflecting upon the cultural presentations, it was wonderful to see how passionate everyone was about learning more about their target culture and about teaching us about an element of their target culture -- truly a multifaceted cultural exchange!
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