Monat: März 2021

Student profile: Carla Sille, 24 years old, Electrical Engineering student

Thu: How do you define cultural diversity?

Carla: I would say cultural diversity happens when people from different nations, countries are at the same place. They learn from each other and respect each other.

Thu: Do you think cultural diversity and globalisation are the same?

Carla: No, I don’t think they are the same, but they are connected. Globalisation is a material world, regarding economics, business, import, export, etc. Also, when the universities offer exchange programs in other countries, they can exchange the experience. When there is globalisation, there is also cultural diversity.

Thu: Which benefits does cultural diversity bring you?

Carla: I would say a lot. I am an Argentinian who studies in German, so I am in touch with many people worldwide. They teach me many things, open my mind, help me see and understand other traditions, and be more empathetic.

Thu: How is your student life connected with diversity?

Carla: As I said, I am an international studying in Germany, and many things in my life connect with cultural diversity. Most of my fellows are Germans, so I learned how they live, how they communicate and how they work. I also lived in an international dormitory, so I was in touch with many people worldwide; I learned to speak English, tried to eat new things that they cook for me, or cook for them. It was like an exchange.

Thu: Do you think COVID-19 has affected cultural diversity since it restricts social contacts and creates more inequality?

Carla: I think yes, to some extent. It is difficult to get in touch with my friends, travel to my country, visit my family, and in general, it affects the social contacts we have. But I don’t think it affects cultural diversity that much because we live in a digital era where we can always use Zoom, Skype, etc. I can both meet my family there and meet my old ERASMUS friends, my friends from Argentina. During my first year in Germany, I didn’t have many contacts, but now they all have social media, so I think it doesn’t affect cultural diversity that strong.

Thu: Do you think digitalisation and technologies help us to bring more cultural diversity?

Carla: Yes, I do. Like I said before, I think this new era with Zoom, Instagram, Skype, etc., they all help us to get in touch with people living in different time zones, from other parts of the world. With digitalisation, I could always connect with my friends, my family members and even create new friendships.

Thu: Thank you so much for your time and effort!

*Note: This interview was done in the form of audio with a photo.

Student profile: Alexandra Sulz, 21 years old, Environmental Engineering student

Thu: How do you define cultural diversity?

Alex: I would define it as the combination among cultures in society, in a group or an organization.

Thu: Do you think cultural diversity and globalisation are the same?

Alex: They connect with each other; without globalization, it is hard for cultural diversity to be created. But I think globalisation is a bigger thing.

Thu: Which benefits does cultural diversity bring you?

Alex: I love travelling a lot. I enjoy cultural exchanges, and I do a lot of volunteer work via a platform called Workaway. There you can find your host from anywhere and ask to stay with them, help them and learn about their cultures. I always feel happy to get to know new things in life, especially in terms of cultures and traditions. I learn to cook new food, eat with more than forks and knives, wear traditional clothes and more.

Thu: How is your student life connected with diversity?

Alex: I lived in an international WG before, but we felt like family. Everybody shared their culture with me, and I learned a lot from them.

Thu: Do you think COVID-19 has affected cultural diversity since it restricts social contacts and creates more inequality?

Alex: Totally. As an extrovert, I think it is sad to stop travelling and get to know other cultures. I hope that the pandemic will soon be cured so that we could move freely again.

Thu: Do you think digitalisation and technologies help us to bring more cultural diversity?

Alex: I’m not a fan of technologies and social media, but I think it does help bring people from all over the world together. It is just a different experience when you meet a person personally than digitally. However, I still recognize and acknowledge the benefits of virtual networks.

Thu: Thank you so much for your time and effort!

*Note: This interview was done in the form of audio.

Student profile: Lara Neumann, 25 years old, General Linguistics student

Thu: How do you define cultural diversity?

Lara: Cultural diversity to me means different cultures engage with each other in one society.

Thu: Do you think cultural diversity and globalisation are the same?

Lara: Not really, but globalisation creates cultural diversity, globalisation is the cause, and cultural diversity is the effect.

Thu: Which benefits does cultural diversity bring you?

Lara: I always like to stay in an international environment. Diversity brings me many benefits, such as learning a new perspective, new cuisine, new language and finally, cultural diversity makes me more empathetic and understanding when I meet new people.

Thu: How is your student life connected with diversity?

Lara: During my student life, I got to know many international students because I’m studying linguistics, maybe. People are very open-minded, and whenever we work in a group with people from different backgrounds, we always come up with new and interesting ideas. I also did one internship in Brazil, and I loved it there. I grew up after that.

Thu: Do you think COVID-19 has affected cultural diversity since it restricts social contacts and creates more inequality?

Lara: Certainly. It is harder to meet up in big groups and therefore no opportunity to meet new cultures, which is a shame. 

Thu: Do you think digitalisation and technologies help us to bring more cultural diversity?

Lara: I like that I can use social media to contact my friends in Brazil, but it still doesn’t feel real to me. I would prefer having contacts in person, rather than sitting in front of the desk and looking at the laptop. However, during the pandemic, that’s the best thing we can do to maintain connections.

Thu: Thank you so much for your time and effort!

*Note: This interview was done in the form of audio.

Student profile: Lucas Wißmann, 24 years old, Psychology student

Thu: How do you define cultural diversity?

Lucas: I would see cultural diversity in society as people from different cultural backgrounds come together and interact with each other. That could be understood as an exchange.

Thu: Do you think cultural diversity and globalisation are the same?

Lucas: No, but I think they go hand-in-hand. If we live in a globalised world, people start to go abroad, trade internationally, immigrate to other countries, etc. That is when globalisation leads to cultural diversity, but for me, globalisation also refers to economics, business and other things. For example, Germany trades with the US or Vietnam, but it doesn’t mean that we are exchange cultures directly.

Thu: Which benefits does cultural diversity bring you?

Lucas: I would refer to my experience in my dormitory where I’m living in Trier. We have nearly 150 people from over 65 countries, representing perfectly cultural diversity, especially when we had the international cooking evenings. There we benefited from each other where we learn something from other cultures, learn how to cook food from other countries and get to know different perspectives. For example, when we talk to each other, sometimes we might have different opinions because of the experience we have made from our cultures. And to me that’s interesting. 

Thu: How is your student life connected with diversity?

Lucas: I have many experiences during my student life with other cultures, especially when I lived in my dormitory. Also, I made an ERASMUS in Spain where I had the opportunity to meet different people from various cultures. I am always happy to meet people from other backgrounds, and I enjoy getting to know about different views and learning new things.

Thu: Do you think COVID-19 has affected cultural diversity since it restricts social contacts and creates more inequality?

Lucas: Definitely, it is more challenging to live and experience cultural diversity since we can not meet many people at once and have to reduce social contacts. All the meetings in the dormitories or university or even cooking together is no longer possible. We all have to restrict our social circle to very few people. It is more difficult to live among different cultures in person, but I am grateful that I’m still in touch with my friends worldwide with the help of technological development. 

Thu: Do you think digitalisation and technologies help us to bring more cultural diversity?

Lucas: I think it makes our lives easier to connect with other cultures, absolutely. I use Skype or Zoom to communicate with friends all over the globe and get in touch with other people. For example, even with the government’s restrictions, I could still write my bachelor thesis using data I collected via my digital social networks from Tanzania, for instance. So I think it makes things accessible through the digital world, especially in times of a pandemic like this. 

Thu: Thank you so much for your time and effort!

*Note: This interview was done in  the form of Zoom video.