Dr. Archer:

Mr. Mach, you participated in the Culture Bump Workshop here at the Lilly Conference. Thank you for your presence and your contribution, and I am interested in your insights from the workshop.

Mr. Mach:

I thought the real take-away was that there was an introduction to a terminology so that a group of people can make sense of something that we don’t have a great way of describing.

Dr. Archer:

Can you give me example of what you mean by that?

Mr Mach:

Sure – I’ve been in a lot of different countries and had the experiences that we talked about in the workshop but this gave me a way to talk about something that was inexplicable pror to the workshop.

Dr. Archer:

Oh I understand.

Mr. Mach:

And this is not really a critique, but another take-away for me was wondering how and if this Culture Bump Approach transfers to other countries besides the United States.

Dr. Archer:

That’s a good point – and one of the things that distinguishes the Culture Bump Approach is its universal application. All humans have culture bumps; all cultures develop specific parameters for how people “should” respond to differences. All cultures have ways of explaining their own perspectives. So the idea of culture bumps is for everybody – in short, every culture has its own particular brand of ethnocentrism.

Mr. Mach:

Got it. When I saw the title of Culture Bump, I wanted to attend, because as a professor, I want to encourage people to go abroad – Culture Bump is an interesting way to put it into context.

Dr. Archer:

I think you are absolutely right. Thank you again.

(May 31, 2013)