Anthropologic Aspects of Cultural Diversity

Hello class, let us begin!

Week One Learning Objectives:

• Compare and contrast cultural anthropology of the past and present
• Discuss human and environmental influences that have created cultural diversity within the U.S.

Culture diversity or cultural sensitivity awareness has increased in our society and the healthcare industry. If the word culture is analyzed in detail, one will discover it does not exclusively pertain to race, religion, or gender. Other factors should be considered such as age differences, gender preferences or sexual orientation preferences, community beliefs, intellectual differences, as well as financial and social differences. At some point, we all have placed ourselves in one or more of these categories.

Within the United States (U.S.), race is one of the largest factors that has a direct influence on diversity in our society. The United States (U.S.) has undergone and continues to undergo a tremendous transformation. According to the U.S. Department of State, it is projected that minorities will be the majority by the year 2042 which represents a 34 percent increase from 2008 to 54 percent in 2042. The face of America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, will eventually evolve to more closely mirror the global face where 75 out of 100 persons present a non-white ethnicity.

Sanner, S., Baldwin, D., Cannella, K. A., Charles, J., and Parker, L. (2010). The impact of cultural diversity forum on students’ openness to diversity. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 17(2), 56-61. Retrieved August 23, 2010 from EBSCOhost Research Databases, CINAHL Plus with Full Text.

First Assignment: Read the cited article above and provide a 150-200 word summary about the article along with your impression or opinion for 21^st century nursing students.

Wanda