Team Kenan

Almost everyone at Duke has a friend who is in a global health class or knows someone who has participated in a global health project abroad, but what is global health? This week, Team Kenan asked Duke students about their definition of global health and their general thoughts on the field. 

When asked about what global health is, many students said they were not sure or “think it is like health policy stuff”. However, students who were involved in the field described global health as the act of helping other countries. One student defined global health as “the idea that different health interventions can help developing populations”. 

Students who were involved in global health research spoke positively about the field stating that “it is important to exchange health knowledge” and “understand how different populations can be different health-wise”. However, non-global health students seemed to think differently about the field. Those students thought that global health programs were “white savior complex based” and that “it takes a particular type of doctor to believe that they don’t have to help the depravity in the US, rather they go abroad to tackle issues that are in their own backyard”.

This week Team Kenan couched on the ethics of cultural exchange and cultural appropriation. Our core question was what ethical parameters do people use as guidelines to determine whether a cultural exchange is respectful or a form of appropriation?

Power dynamics came up quite often in our discussions as a primary determinant of appropriation. Namely, many individuals listed examples of privileged subcultures dressing in ways that marginalized subcultures dress to depict what they deemed cultural appropriation. These examples brought about two additional questions: 1. Since privilege and marginalization is dependent on time and place, does cultural appropriation vary across different places and cultures? And 2. If a marginalized subculture were to dress in a way similar to how the privileged subculture dresses would that also be cultural appropriation?

To the first question, most people responded with an astounding “yes,” and then qualified their answer with “and that is why cultural appropriation is so hard to define and is inherently subjective.” One person even said “what is cultural appropriation to one person can be seen as respectful cultural exchange to another.” The implications of this are difficult to manage. Given that cultural appropriation is highly subjective, how can we operate in a multicultural campus in a way that doesn’t offend those around us, noting that the same action can be interpreted in such drastically different ways? Of course, given that Halloween is coming up, one way we could do this is by picking a neutral costume (we all intend on doing so!). But, after Halloween, this point remains a major question on our minds!

As for the second question, Team Kenan received multiple answers explaining that because “cultural appropriation” is linked to power imbalances among different subcultures, it is impossible for a marginalized subculture to appropriate a privileged subculture. That said, according to those we spoke to, it is still possible for marginalized subcultures to engage in problematic actions; however, those actions would need to be called something different.

In light of Black Friday, this past week Team Kenan asked the Duke community about consumerism, minimalism and the items that ‘spark joy’ in their lives.

Some students struggled with how their different values coincided, with one stating: “I don’t think capitalism or consumerism are sustainable systems, but I still participate in them”. Others mentioned how they carefully balance between materialism and spirituality -which often disincentivizes greed.

Spirituality wasn’t the only considerations that students took into account when considering a purchase. “I like to buy local products to be more environmentally conscious, but I understand why people sometimes buy cheaper corporate product,” One student said. “I think that if you can afford it, it’s much better to buy locally.”

When asked about Marie Kondo, whose Netflix hit Tidying Up launched a trend of reducing clutter, many couch participants responded that they valued minimalism. However, they acknowledged that they found themselves unable to commit with responses like: “[Marie Kondo] is an interesting way of living, but I don’t think I can ever do it myself” and “I think we need some things in life that don’t bring us joy all the time”.

In the season most known for shopping, students reflected not only on the value of their purchases, but also their greater impact on the world.

This week, Team Kenan asked Duke’s community how travels across generations. The variety of answers mirror the breadth of experiences on campus. 

We asked students if their ethics stemmed from their parents. Most students acknowledged that although their visions of ethics have changed, they originated from their parents. One student said that she “used to think that she was very different from her parents but now has more empathy towards their viewpoint.”

Another student said, “ethics have been a constant force in my life, even from a young age … my parents were very ahead of their time. However, although I don’t think my ethics and morals have fundamentally changed, I realize now that when I was young, I was simply following what others were teaching me. As I matured, I started taking ownership of my ethics.” Through this students’ observation we see how ethics is a generative process that constantly requires refinement. 

We noticed differences in responses when we asked older people this same question. A middle-aged woman from Durham said, “my ethical views do not differ from my parents.” She noted that her children are being raised in a different ethical framework; one that she does not approve of. She said, “ I think schools have taught children values that we don’t agree on.”

There were also differences in the students’ strategies for handling conflicting ethical views with their parents. One student said that he ignored his parents remarks. Another said that “when I disagree with my parents/grandparents about an idea, I tend to bring it back to a ‘practicality’ discussion.”

Overall, Duke students do not take ethical standards at face value. They consistently question their beliefs. They speak of refining their ethics more often than previous generations.