Cultural Diversity & The Youth: Project’s Background Ideas

Cultural diversity has always been a popular topic throughout history. In Germany, it all started after World War II, as more than 11 million immigrants arrived in the country. The term „cultural diversity“ has become more and more popular for several decades in Germany, and it is still on the rise at the moment, yet it is also a controversial topic.

Discrimination is not only a daily issue that many people are facing in every corner of the world, but it is also a harmful disease. It is an ongoing problem around the globe, and Germany is not an exception. While many young people are open to different social groups contacts and innovations, a lot of people turn their backs behind „learning a new culture“. What is indeed „cultural diversity“? What do young people think of „cultural diversity“? How do they benefit from it personally? What is their opinion on how cultural diversity contributes to society? Are we losing our cultural traits when we get together in a diverse world? 

Discrimination and racism are, despite cross-cultural exchanges become more and more popular in modern times, an alarming issue of the world. However, I believe every young person is the captain of a better future. With its title Cultural Diversity & The Youth: What cultural diversity means for young people and how it positively influences them, this project’s major goal is to spread the positive impact of cultural diversity on the youth to the audience and eradicate the negative stereotypes towards differences in Germany. The target group is young people, especially students from 20 – 25 years old who are currently studying in Germany, regardless of their race, genders, nationality, marital status, etc.  To help my audience attain these goals, I will bring a closer look at what cultural diversity means for them. Furthermore, the blog will focus on which positive impacts cultural diversity brings to the youth, how young people have changed by interacting with various cultures, and which ideas they have in mind about how cultural diversity positively influences society.

I plan to finish this project by the end of March, with the aim of uploading at least three articles per month, starting from the beginning of December. The articles will revolve around cultural diversity in Germany (its history, its present, its future), youth opinions about diversity and benefits that cultural diversity brings us in modern times.

The Research Process

1. The Research Theme:

The term „cultural diversity“ has become more and more popular for several decades in Germany, yet it is also a controversial topic. The topic fascinates me as an international student who belongs to the target group (20-27, a student in Germany). What is indeed „cultural diversity“? What do young people think of „cultural diversity“? How do they benefit from it personally? What is their opinion on how cultural diversity contributes to society? Are we losing our own cultural traits when we get together in a diverse world?

2. References:

Books from the library, newspapers and internet sources (statistics, graphics, images…). A list of references will be fully uploaded on page „REFERENCES“.

3. Research Field:

Students in Germany who are between 20-27 years old.

4. Working Devices:

Laptop, smartphone, camera, pen, notebook.

5. Methods:

A combination of narrative interviews (recordings) and visual anthropology (in the form of a video) will be represented in every article throughout the project.

6. Field Trip:

Due to the current lockdown situation in Germany, I would not be able to travel to the South and do face-to-face interviews with chosen people. Therefore, I will be using WhatsApp and Skype as two means of communication.

About Me

Hi everyone!

My name is Thu, I’m a 22-year-old Vietnamese who is now a student from the University of Bremen. I am an open-minded, humorous, sociable and emotional individual; a fair, creative mind; a global citizen. I am extremely passionate about discovering different cultures. It is so fascinating to see people from everywhere in the world gather in one place and share different opinions and personal experiences. There is nothing more exciting than being at a table with Chicken Tikka Masala, Schnitzel, Pho, Tacos, Tajine…Because it is the moment I acknowledge that not everyone uses chopsticks and eat rice three times a day like I used to do.

I look, observe and respect diversity. I take what I consider beautiful from each culture I encountered, learn from them and sharpen my personality. I stand for justice and fight against discrimination, racism and negative stereotypes. All these characteristics have driven me to the decision of taking cultural studies as my main subject for my bachelor program. 

My project is called „Cultural Diversity & The Youth„. To get a clear overview of the project, you can have a glance at this link. With this project, I have clear, positive goals for myself. I’m looking forward to getting into what actually „Storytelling“ and the goals of it are, how to carry out scientific research, how to use scientific methods on my products and how to make my scientific project interesting and attractive to the audiences. 

You can contact me via my university e-mail: thu@uni-bremen.de or via LinkedIn.

About My Topic

Link to video: DEFINE CULTURE IN ONE WORD

7 people, 7 different words have been used to describe the term „culture“. Everyone has his or her own word to define culture. Even when people might use the same word for their interpretation, the explanation varies from person to person. It is because everybody was born, raised, educated differently, and therefore have various beliefs, perceptions, and ideologies. I call it diversity.

Cultural diversity has always been a popular topic throughout history. To its simplest definition, when different cultural groups exist in a society, cultural diversity will be formed. When different groups come into contact with each other, we recognize differences, compare and contrast our respective cultural traditions.

With this project, I aim to bring my audience a closer look at what cultural diversity means for young people, especially students from 20-25 years old who are currently studying in Germany, regardless of their races, genders, nationalities, marital status, etc. Furthermore, the blog will focus on which positive impacts cultural diversity brings to the youth, how young people have changed by interacting with various cultures, and which ideas they have in mind about how cultural diversity positively influences society.