Frank Bures, author – “WEIRD” People in the Wide World: How Culture Shapes Us – 4/11/23
Frank Bures is author of The Geography of Madness, which Newsweek called one of the best travel books of the decade. His work has been included in the Best American Travel Writing, selected as “Notable” in the Best American Essays, Best American Sports Writing, and Best American Travel Writing. He is the editor of Under Purple Skies: The Minneapolis Anthology, and The Shape of the World: Essays on Travel, Culture and Belief from Rotary Magazine. He has lived in Tanzania, New Zealand, Italy, Thailand, and Wisconsin. He currently resides in Minneapolis with his wife and two daughters. More at frankbures.com.
Frank Bures has written more than 50 columns and 250 stories for rotary. He is the author of “The Shape of the World: Essays on Travel, Culture, and Belief from Rotary magazine” and “Under Purple Skies” among other fascinating topics. He spoke about “Weird” people in the wide world and how culture shapes us. The vast majority of research around culture has focused on “WEIRD” people: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. Frank focused on what culture is and what culture means through a variety of lenses and stories. One story went into detail about food and dining during Frank’s foreign exchange program in Italy. While eating rather quickly, the sister of his host mate said to him, “You’ll never get a girlfriend eating like that.” This experience made him more aware of the differences between Italian and American culture when dining. Frank shared another story about the differences in culture related to clothing by exploring those who wear shorts in Minnesota and the popularization of shorts in the United State. Shorts became popular in the 1920s and were further popularized during the Dartmouth Shorts Protest of 1930. In many countries, regardless of the climate, shorts are considered informal and should only be worn at the beach. One last story, touched on personal space. When visiting a school in Thailand, Frank and his wife were given a room: one that shared a wall with the principal’s office, walls that stopped one foot from the ceiling, and lacked the privacy we are accustomed to in the US. Culture is abstract, complex, and difficult to define but exploring it, understanding it, can help us better interact with those with different backgrounds and allow us to be better citizens of the world.