In this unit, we're going to be talking about boundaries, but boundaries of a specific type, cultural boundary. Let's start with an example. When I went off to college for the first time, I quickly discovered some small differences between the way I did things, my socially-acquired habits, in this case, from my family, and the way some other students did them. One thing that sticks with me all these years later has to do with brushing teeth in the morning. I had the practice always of brushing my teeth after breakfast. And I still do that today. But I discovered that many students brushed their teeth the first thing when they got up in the morning. Now we could discuss the relative merits of these two approaches or why some people do it one way and others do it a different way, but that's not going to be what interests us in this video or in this course. What is interesting to an anthropologist is the existence of such differences. Whenever such differences exist, there is a kind of mini-cultural boundary. Here is another example from one of my research assistants, Karen Pham. Karen is an American whose parents are from Vietnam. And here is what she had to say. >> My boyfriend and I were both born in Philadelphia, but neither of our families allowed us to forget our Vietnamese roots. So just like me, he can speak Vietnamese fluently. He knows when to bow his head and greet his elders. He loves his family, respects them, and treats his parents like parents, authoritative figures, not best friends, like some. But I would always pride myself on being the one who was much more well versed in the Vietnamese culture. I guess you can imagine my pride when my boyfriend turned to me and asked, babe, do you ever tua my parents when you eat? Because my dad asked me and my mom last night if he ever did. And in that moment, my throat clenched and my heart sank the way it does when my parents are scolding me. I said, yeah, I do, but I was so frustrated. And I had to sit him down and tell him, in my house, we don't do that. There is never a tua whenever we eat, there's only ever mai. And so the difference is mai means to invite your elders to sit down and eat with you. And a tua means to ask for permission. It also takes on the meaning of yes, and I just never felt that it was necessary to either ask for permission or to say yes before I began eating. And what was weird was, in my house, if dad was already sitting down, and if he was already eating, I didn't have to say a word. But in his house, regardless of whether or not his parents were eating or not, I always had to ask. And I always had to let them know, sir, madam, I'm about to eat. And it just felt so weird to me. I hated it so much that, nowadays, I'll often run and get my food, and then sneak into my boyfriend's room so fast that no one can ever turn to me and expect a tua ever. Regardless of whether that's food in the kitchen or food that we pick up and bring home, I rush to his room so that no one can ever turn to me and ask, has she said it or not? So that's basically what happens, the difference between my family and his. And if we're all there, and they're all looking at me, the Vietnamese obedient daughter will still mutter that tua, but only in his house, regardless of how much it makes my blood boil. >> In each of these two kinds of examples, there is a kind of mini-cultural boundary, despite the fact that so much of the rest of the culture was shared in each of these two cases. Those of us in college who brushed our teeth after breakfast were really no different in other respects from those who brush their teeth before breakfast. But there was an experience of difference in realizing that someone else might have a different preconceived routine than the one I had. Similarly in Karen's case, the difference was a small one since, otherwise, she and her boyfriend's families were very similar. But in Karen's case, the difference was upsetting. In her own family, Karen did not have to ask whether she could begin eating. Her father invited everyone to eat. In her boyfriend's family, despite their similar Vietnamese cultural background, she was expected to ask permission to eat. She found this demeaning. For purposes of this class, I propose to use the term cultural boundary to refer to any difference in culture. Such as socially acquired preconceived routines for a specific situation between two individuals or groups or between an individual and a group. Not only a small difference, mini-cultural boundaries, but even small differences can affect team performance. In this unit, we're going to be talking about situations that involve cultural boundary crossing or, a least, attempts to cross those boundaries.
