Student 34

Object 1: My white top-top Converse

One object that relates to the question are my white low-top Converse shoes. My parents purchased these shoes for me in 8th grade and I have worn these shoes every single day to school in my junior year. They are incredibly worn-out, with the color being more brown than white, cracks in the soles, and broken shoelaces.

My shoes represent how culture influences knowledge, which in turn, shapes my actions and decisions in social situations. The knowledge that is gained from culture makes an enormous impact on an individual’s decision-making skills as certain behaviors are instilled starting from an early age. For example, when I was younger, I was told repeatedly that when you enter a person’s household, you have to remove your shoes as a sign of respect to the owners. From then on, any house I enter, I remove my shoes at the door because of the knowledge I gained from my culture when I was younger. Furthermore, since different cultures teach different types of knowledge, this particular action of removing your shoes before entering another’s house is uncommon in certain Western cultures. The westernization of culture has led to different beliefs and values, which creates different knowledge within individuals, such as the act of removing shoes when entering a house. This shows how the type of knowledge that is gained depends on the individual’s culture which then influences how that person acts in various situations. Through this reasoning, my Converse are incredibly worn out due to my Western lifestyle that is quick and rushed. Therefore, through my upbringing, I follow my culture’s norms, however, through social influences, those norms have become a bit westernized. Additionally, these various interpretations of different cultures lead to a wide range of knowledge in the world, which allows for diversity and the creation of new ideas. This object relates to the area of knowledge of human sciences as the actions of a person are determined by their culture and the knowledge that they have learned from that culture.

Object 2: My comb

A second object that relates to the question is my comb. This comb was purchased in India and was brought to the US in 2016. It is both a wide-toothed comb and a fine-toothed comb as both sides of the comb are different widths. It is a combination of different shades of orange and brown.

This comb represents how culture influences the knowledge that is gained from language, which affects communication between different cultures. Various cultures teach different languages and the type of language an individual learns influences how they communicate with others and the world. If there is a disconnect between two cultures, then this could hinder communication, leading to an argument or misunderstanding. For example, when I was in 5th grade, I needed to borrow a comb from another girl after P.E. (physical education) as I left this specific comb at home. I was only familiar with the name of a comb in my mother tongue, Tamil. Therefore, I asked her for a chīppu, not knowing that the object was referred to as a comb or hairbrush in English. The reason for this cultural disconnect is due to the difference in cultural practices that employ various languages, leading to a difference in how objects are referenced, hindering communication. Furthermore, the comb represents how knowledge from one country is brought to another as this comb traveled from India to the US. The transfer of knowledge from country to country can be done through various methods, however, migration is the most prominent and effective way. When individuals migrate from one country to another, they bring aspects of their culture with them, diffusing the knowledge that can be gained from cultures, such as this comb did. This object relates to the optional theme of language as it represents how the knowledge of dialects differs from culture to culture and how this difference leads to a difficulty in communication.

Object 3: My religious calendar

A third object that relates to the question is the religious calendar in my pantry. This calendar was purchased at the beginning of the year and it depicts all of the major events of my religion, Hinduism. Additionally, it presents the most auspicious days based on the stars and has the dates of the Hindu/Malayalam calendar, which is followed by the people from the state of Kerala in India.

This calendar represents how culture influences knowledge as the culture that is passed down from generation to generation, accumulating past and present knowledge, creating an updated and increasingly rich version of cultural knowledge. In this case, my family purchases a religious calendar at the beginning of every year and each new calendar has more information about my culture, which influences my values and perspective on future issues. This broadens my understanding of my culture, resulting in a deeper connection with my heritage. Additionally, this calendar presents knowledge about the stars and how they correlate with auspicious days, allowing me to comprehend centuries worth of knowledge about astrology. Furthermore, this calendar depicts both the regular, Western dates and the Hindu/Malayalam dates, showing how the diffusion of multiple cultures to various parts of the world leads to an increase in the knowledge that is gained. This object relates to the optional theme of religion as the calendar portrays all the major dates, based on the stars, of my religion, which in turn, allows my knowledge of my culture to increase, further influencing my beliefs and principles.