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Prof. Dr. Richard C. SCHULTZ

Iowa State Üniversitesi

Developing a Global Perspective in Students

Our planet has a fascinating combination of native ecosystems ranging from dry hot deserts, to cold
harsh tundra, alpine meadows to mixed tall and short grass prairies, boreal forests to lush temperate
and tropical rainforests. Each of these ecosystems creates challenges for human habitation which over
the millennia humans of different races have adapted to, creating ethnic groups with unique cultures that
can exist and thrive in the wide array of native ecosystems.
In general, peoples of colder climates have had to develop a more complex lifestyle to cope with
existence in the cold and warm compared to those living in primarily warmer and moister climates where
requirements for a satisfactory life require less energy inputs for survival. Thus, we separate the con-
tinents and their ranges of countries into the Global North and the Global South.
The United States was explored and settled by primarily white people of European ancestry who
ultimately displaced the Native Americans and forced them onto reservations. Officially the first African
slaves were brought to the US in 1619 although some were brought even earlier. As the US continued
to expand, settled by white people of wide European backgrounds the original ancestry of those white
people became a mix of the many nations of origin in Europe. Thus, my children for example, are a mix
of German, Swiss, English, Irish and Norwegian backgrounds.
These very diverse genetic backgrounds have resulted in white people thinking that each white

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