Dennis CP#2

For the 2^nd Culture Workshop, we discussed the concept of cultural icebergs: what is above and below the surface of our culture. What was interesting about this was how the longer we thought about specific, observable customs, we realized the observable aspects of our culture always had an underlying root in cultural customs, influenced over many centuries and depended on what each culture had placed its highest values upon. The differences between U.S. cultural norms and Saudi norms, for instance were quite noticeable. What may seem like a carefree and casual dress code on our college campus could stem from an American belief in the bill of rights, which we take to be inalienable personal freedoms. Saudi customs of dress of course, encourage modesty, stemming from an adherence to deep religious values, which is also a code of beliefs that is clear in its intent. We discussed many other features of our cultures but that was one that I felt to be particularly compelling for understanding the foundations for observable differences between two very different cultural customs.