Culture Shock Analysis - Experiencing a New World

Student Illustrator: Samuel Obi-Exexhukwu

Student Author: Jasmin Baker

As a bright-eyed eleven-year-old, I assumed I was prepared to experience what life would be like outside of the United States. I didn’t consider how different West Indian culture would be compared to what I was taught. Traveling to Jamaica, I experienced culture shock due to differences in lifestyle and practices from a first to a third world country. Without realizing it, I had an ethnocentric perspective. As I learned more and gained a better understanding about the cultural differences, I began to have a more culturally relativistic viewpoint. I had the chance to learn how socialization can affect people’s achieve status based on absolute and relative poverty and how the idea of cultural capital impacts people’s lives. Experiencing a new world can be intimidating. By taking the time to understand the culture and traditions of others, we can learn to appreciate the diversity between first and third world countries. 

This is part of the 2021 Annual Poster Session, a collaboration between the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Department and the Media Arts and Technologies Department, featuring work by social science and illustration students.